Cycle commuting to work and running. Nothing else has stuck
Same here. Exercise being a means to an end such as transportation works much better for me than regimented exercise for the sake of fitness.
I did this tricking myself by telling me "Im not exercising, I'm just commuting." went from a 10 minute daily ride to 1+hrs.
Same here. I'm cheating though because I'm Dutch, so cycling is really accessible here. I don't even have a car, so I pretty much have to go by bike.
Running works for me because it's so easy to start with. For most other sports I have to go somewhere to do it or prepare all kinds of gear. For running I just change clothes, put on my running shoes, and I'm ready to go. The low threshold before I can start, and the low complexity thereafter is what made running stick and what doesn't make most other things stick.
Running from my problems
Cycling - saves me gas, often as quick as driving would be (we have epic all day congestion here). And its fun except when the weather is really bad. Only drive if I have a heavy load to go somewhere, or if I'm picking someone up or it is pouring
Also swimming - can be done year round indoors, and I dont sweat! Having a waterproof MP3 player helps me with motivation too
Buying stuff at shops further home.
For example, there's a bakery a block far from home, but I don't buy my bread there unless I'm in a hurry; instead I buy it from a bakery 2km away - by doing that I'm walking 40min already (and their bread is better anyway). Same deal with cat food and some groceries.
I’ve been doing Ring Fit Adventure on the Switch for a couple years now. It’s more interesting than running, I don’t have to get ready and go out to a gym, and I can do it in any weather.
Basically, it’s easily accessible and novel enough that that’s the one that has stuck with me since 2018ish.
I used to play WiiFit Plus all the time as a kid, I need to look into Ring Fit Adventure
Yeah watch some videos of people playing for sure!
My complaints are that the tutorials are repetitive and intrusive—like c’mon game, I’ve been playing for years, I know how to do a squat. The “story” is 100% forgettable but not skippable. With a couple of the rhythm based exercises, the switch loses track of where the joycons are and counts those reps as “wrong”. (Fortunately it’s pretty simple to avoid those specific exercises most of the time.) And I wish there were an easy way to incorporate weights during the times I’m trying to build muscle mass.
But overall it’s interesting and engaging enough that I don’t mind it as much as more traditional types of exercise I’ve done.
Taking walks. May last three hours at a time, though I never bothered to measure the distance physically. I also check on my neighbors sometimes along the way and/or stop at the library or church temporarily. Did you know walking is better for you than jogging/running?
I’ve destroyed my ankles and feet from running, which sucks because I really enjoyed it! Now I just walk up hills and it still gets my heart rate up pretty good.
What's worked for me personally is just walking to/from my car at work, it just fits so naturally into my schedule that I don't have to put any thought into it or have any struggles with willpower, I just do it. I park as far as possible away from the building, so there's no conflict with just walking in the door, then take a few laps around the building. I work on the 4th floor, so I take the stairs and also do a few laps up and down the stairs before getting to my desk. I do that twice a day (when I get in, again for lunch), then at the end of the day I take one more lap before I get back to my car. I get in +10k steps on a daily basis when I'm in the office consistently and without even really thinking about it or putting in "extra effort".
My problem is actually keeping it up when I'm not at the office, because then my routine sort of falls apart. I've tried building up routines for when I'm at home or on the weekends, but one thing or another seems to come up consistently and I haven't been able to get them to stick.
For me I bought some dumbbells to work out from home and just do a little but of excessive whenever I get the chance, spend 10 mins doing 1 set in the morning before work, another when I get home, maybe another after dinner and then one more before bed.
Or if I'm working from home I'll do a little bit throughout the day, sometimes while watching stuff on my laptop, or in between rounds on a videogame.
It works really well, but for me thr biggest issues with exercise was always the time commitment of going to the gym and how boring working out is, so this way mitigates those 2 a lot.
Edit: oh and for cardio, i dont drive, so i walk a lot and go to open volleyball sessions which also doubles as socialising, so still pretty time efficient.
Exercise is kind of personal / varies depending on what you like to do. For me there was actually 2 pieces to improving my exercise routine:
1. Starting a habit of exercise.
This was a necessary first step if you don't already have exercise as a part of your regular life. For me, my goal was just to just arrive at the gym every day. I didn't workout every day; sometimes I straight up walked in, walked out, and went home (or used the sauna haha). But inevitably, I ended up working out a good amount, and start making it a part of my routine. Basically, my recommendation is not to try and optimize anything at first; just try to make it as easy as possible to succeed at habit-building. Find some kind of activity that is fun and make it a regular part of your schedule. Social sports activities are also great if you can get peer-pressured :P
2. Making exercise more effective
Once I was training regularly, I found things I wanted to improve, and so I started to create goals. I'm a rock-climber, so there are certain things that I want to do to improve that. Once I started working on those goals, I wanted to improve the effectiveness of my gym time. At a certain point, I made an actual daily schedule of what exercises I do. If you want to improve the quality of your exercise, putting in the effort to make an actual workout schedule is the biggest thing you can do imo. It doesn't even matter if it is a "good" plan. Just actually following the plan, you will find the areas you can fix/improve that plan.
With my current routine, I have a 10 minute warmup mobility routine every morning, climb 3 days a week, workout 3 days a week (sometimes at the gym, sometimes at a nearby calisthenics park), and avoid the gym for 1 day a week.
But it started by just trying to arrive at the gym every day.
I play Switch games while on my treadmill. The split controller works perfectly for that and makes it easy to forget I'm walking.
5km low soeed running at lunch when I work at home.
I started swimming once a week, last December. That really works for me bc I love the build in cooling system. Sure it has its annoyances but overall it's my favorite sport, plus almost daily cycling cause I don't own a car and live in a very cyclable city.
Swimming is the one routine I've been able to maintain long-term. For many reasons, but built-in cooling is really up there
5km walk for 1hr. No less. Doesn't matter where, just walk 5km.
Powerlifting, hiking and walking/playing with my dog
3 days a week gym minimum, any days but usually mon wed sat. Some football, volleyball and walks in between.
Running chest tris, back bis, shoulders legs at the gym. Once I plateau ("hit a wall") and my lifts no longer increase I swap to strength work / heavier lifts for a bit until the same thing happens and I switch back to hypertrophy
Beat Saber on high difficulty. Fun, mild cardio.
Another VR game Thrill of the Fight is fun also. Its a boxing game that burns as many calories as rowing! https://vrhealth.institute/portfolio/thrill-of-the-fight/
PPL did great until I realized my back was by faaaar the most overdeveloped part of my body and so I went on a chest/tricep, tricep/ shoulder, shoulder/chest, back/bicep, leg split (thats 5 days not in that order) With some hamstring work with every workout since they were incredibly weak.
Walking the dog. I can't be bothered to exercise, but hate to have to clean up, so walking the dog is the best option.
I got a dog. I have to take her on walks. I would never prioritize walking alone but now I have to. It sounds silly but now I hit 200 cal every days (according to my phone) when I used to barely make it to the 100 before.
I had trouble sticking to exercise for years, only thing that worked was setting my alarm an hour earlier and doing 30 minutes of exercise every morning.
Reformers pilaties. The strengthening and stretching makes it gold standard.
Honestly the best workouts I've had were from CrossFit.
The biggest issue with Crossfit (and I say this as someone who tries to make a class minimum 4 days a week) is that a good coach is 100% necessary. Our trainer walks a really good line between encouragement and respecting peoples boundaries and limits.
Some coaches at other gyms just push people too hard, encourage people to try and "push through" when they are bordering on injury. Shouting motivational slogans "No pain, no gain" and other bullshit like they are a fucking drill instructor.
It REALLY works for me because the workout changes every day and its a good mix of cardio and weightlifting, if left to my own devices I would just lift weights. Fuck Cardio. But Im there for an hour a day, theres a trainer who actually watches and makes sure Im stretching and warming up correctly and that after half an hour I dont decide "this is hard" and just fuck off home.
Completely agree having the right coach and a respectful culture is vital.
The social aspect really works for me.
Getting up and going to college twice a week, plus the times I visit my friend at her work. Also has done wonders for my mental health
Long walks (4-7mi) and cycling. Cycling if the weather is decent and walks all year long. If I’m not very motivated, I’ll still get prepped and take a cannabis edible, then I’m good to go lol. Like Popeye & his spinach and I’m enjoying the exercise again
Ok, it's the routine that stuck the longest with me. When working from home, I will pause work to do something like 25 push-ups, some squats, sit-ups, or some weights every hour. Just switch them up between. That way I can do up to 100 push-ups in a day and other exercises. It has worked out pretty well so far.
Not a particular routine for me, but something every day or I don't feel good. Loved Jazzercise, like yoga, sometimes walk to work. Ran in the early morning when I had no time or money. Always something. So I guess I'd say the general habit is what works. Right now I lift 2-3x a week and yoga 3-4x a week and walk 5k 2-5x a week.
What I find motivating are athletic goals. Lifting more, running faster or farther, standing on my hands in yoga, or back when I did dance getting the control over the body, that feeling of being one with the music and knowing you can express any movement at all. It's not possible but as a goal, getting close as you can.
Go whenever I want without a clear goal in mind. Make it fun instead of a chore.
