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I’ve restrained myself from talking about this previously for the following reasons:
Unfortunately it happens to be the only exercise regimen I can demonstrably stick to for longer than a few weeks. The times in my life I have paid for a gym membership, I have gone religiously at least three times a week for between one and three years.
(Parenthetical interjection: I would request that this not be taken as a cue for people to suggest that there are types of exercise that aren’t boring, and have I tried X, this amazing thing that you enjoy? Yes, yes, I have tried many things, including running outdoors, cycling outdoors, rock climbing, etc. The problem with them is that I do them briefly and then I stop because of weather or lack of gumption. I also do not do team sports.* The gym, on the other hand, I build into my day, and because I’m paying for a membership, I count down the ratio of times I’ve been in v. monthly fee and feel a warm glow of satisfaction as the cost per visit gets smaller.)
I joined a gym in early November, and have been using it as regularly as stated above. Thus I have once again proved to myself that this is the probably only way I am ever going to get enough exercise, and I shall probably be doing this for the rest of my life. I have difficulty accepting that this is not something I can or should eventually stop. It’s not like there’s an end goal, like a degree or an award. Or rather, the goal is “stay fit and healthy”, and to do that, I have to keep going to the gym. Forever. Sigh. It is boring and tedious, but it also makes me feel 9000 times better physically and emotionally than when I don’t. I also sleep very soundly, which is quite helpful when one is perpetually short on sleep.
Now to the really boring bit, in which I witter in detail about my exercise regimen. I have placed this behind a merciful cut.
I started off gently in November, with 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer followed by weight-lifting, for the first couple of sessions. Then I added in 20 minutes on the bike for a week. Then I cut the bike to 10 minutes and added 10 minutes on the treadmill.
I have gradually adjusted the ratios so I now spend either 20 minutes on the elliptical and 30 running on the treadmill, or 30/20, still followed by a quick weightlifting session. (The bike has been eliminated.) This is what I want to maintain, apart from when I have a bit of extra time and can spend longer on it all.
I do the above 2-3 times a week, and then at the weekends, we go to the gym as a family and use the rather nice swimming pool together. The children love it because they can bring their floats, and the whole pool is only 1.2 metres deep although it’s 25 metres long. The bloke and I take turns to sneak into the sauna for 10-15 minutes each as well. It’s great fun, good exercise for the kids, and it makes me remember that the gym can be enjoyable when used in this way although it won’t get me much in the way of exercise until the children can swim independently.
* Don’t get me started on the “if you don’t like team sports you must be bad at cooperation” argument. I don’t like team sports because I don’t like being jostled around or shouted at whilst I’m exercising. I am fully capable of cooperation in many other contexts, including whilst at work, tyvm.
- Talking about one’s exercise regimen is mostly boring to other people.
- Talking about exercising in a gym is boring, full stop.
- Exercising in a gym is boring.
Unfortunately it happens to be the only exercise regimen I can demonstrably stick to for longer than a few weeks. The times in my life I have paid for a gym membership, I have gone religiously at least three times a week for between one and three years.
(Parenthetical interjection: I would request that this not be taken as a cue for people to suggest that there are types of exercise that aren’t boring, and have I tried X, this amazing thing that you enjoy? Yes, yes, I have tried many things, including running outdoors, cycling outdoors, rock climbing, etc. The problem with them is that I do them briefly and then I stop because of weather or lack of gumption. I also do not do team sports.* The gym, on the other hand, I build into my day, and because I’m paying for a membership, I count down the ratio of times I’ve been in v. monthly fee and feel a warm glow of satisfaction as the cost per visit gets smaller.)
I joined a gym in early November, and have been using it as regularly as stated above. Thus I have once again proved to myself that this is the probably only way I am ever going to get enough exercise, and I shall probably be doing this for the rest of my life. I have difficulty accepting that this is not something I can or should eventually stop. It’s not like there’s an end goal, like a degree or an award. Or rather, the goal is “stay fit and healthy”, and to do that, I have to keep going to the gym. Forever. Sigh. It is boring and tedious, but it also makes me feel 9000 times better physically and emotionally than when I don’t. I also sleep very soundly, which is quite helpful when one is perpetually short on sleep.
Now to the really boring bit, in which I witter in detail about my exercise regimen. I have placed this behind a merciful cut.
I started off gently in November, with 30 minutes on the elliptical trainer followed by weight-lifting, for the first couple of sessions. Then I added in 20 minutes on the bike for a week. Then I cut the bike to 10 minutes and added 10 minutes on the treadmill.
I have gradually adjusted the ratios so I now spend either 20 minutes on the elliptical and 30 running on the treadmill, or 30/20, still followed by a quick weightlifting session. (The bike has been eliminated.) This is what I want to maintain, apart from when I have a bit of extra time and can spend longer on it all.
I do the above 2-3 times a week, and then at the weekends, we go to the gym as a family and use the rather nice swimming pool together. The children love it because they can bring their floats, and the whole pool is only 1.2 metres deep although it’s 25 metres long. The bloke and I take turns to sneak into the sauna for 10-15 minutes each as well. It’s great fun, good exercise for the kids, and it makes me remember that the gym can be enjoyable when used in this way although it won’t get me much in the way of exercise until the children can swim independently.
* Don’t get me started on the “if you don’t like team sports you must be bad at cooperation” argument. I don’t like team sports because I don’t like being jostled around or shouted at whilst I’m exercising. I am fully capable of cooperation in many other contexts, including whilst at work, tyvm.
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I think the secret about exercise is that all forms of exercise are boring and/or unpleasant to most people; fortunately, many people have at least a few forms of exercise they can tolerate if not enjoy. If we're lucky, we find one that works for us physically as well as mentally. It took me a while to get from "I can tolerate this, and I suppose it's good for me" to often enjoying the weight lifting, either with actual weights or with resistance machines and bands.
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I've been taking up yoga in the comfort of my own home in the last couple of weeks, trying to do it at least four or five times during the week. I think I'm going to be managing that quite well for a while, because Husband has become interested in joining me, and he's got a lot more stick-with-it-ness.
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Fingers crossed you have success in sticking to yiur yoga routine.
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Booooorrrrinngggg.
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Soooo boring.
So very very very boring.
BOOOORING /cabinpressuremode
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Sister does barbell lifting, and I want to get into it - but having access to the proper weights is tough. Basically, I do yoga by app and some indoor cardio when I can't run because it's what I've found that's tolerable, that helps me feel better, and that I'll keep doing when agoraphobia and/or bad weather hits.
Anyway, your routine sounds very nice, and anything you can tolerate doing is really a win. The family bit in particular sounds great.
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The routine is good, thanks! The family swim is lovely. I always look forward to it.
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I would like to be a gym person but I find them immensely boring and all the ones in Home City are basically only accessible via car. I don't really enjoy running, though I do reluctantly go (admittedly not very much in the cold and damp) and I even find yoga boring. I do it because I have a sedentary desk job, but not willingly. I'd go swimming more but a) the prices are amazingly high here in Home City, b) you have to share a pool with other people and they annoy me and c) Home City's pools have not worked out the concept of 'lane swimming times which fit in with the standard 9-5 working day' and much as I enjoy swimming there is no way come hell or high water that I will manage to get home from work, potter around my house for an hour or so and then leave it again to go swimming.
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1. I should probably start a pick-a-letter-topic grab bag near where I keep my postcards and stationery.
2. It will have things like "specific work anecdote" "offspring kvetching" "gym routines" and "the delicate balance of fitness shackle use" in it.
3. Oh God I cannot exercise without structure and the only two that work for me are "I am doing [event] on [day] and I wish to perform to [standard] so training!" and "I am paying for this monthly and can schedule it so it becomes habit esp because it is three blocks from work/home." Sometimes they overlap. So, uh, as usual, you are welcome to come sit next to me.
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*clinks glass*
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Exercising in a gym works really well for me. I have a lot of hang ups from PE about being fat and out-of-breath when other people aren't and lack of hand-eye co-ordination etc etc. So competing against myself with the side benefit of creating glorious spreadsheets is much better. I used to run but I damaged my knee and I am wary of damaging that more. I really bloody miss it though.
I had never come across the idea that this makes me bad at cooperation and I reject it completely! I can contribute more and be a better team member if I am not battling my inner demons and internalised shame or even just feeling cold and miserable.
Because of the dieting and the requirement to *make myself smaller* (blech), there is a risk that this could get self-punishing so I am focusing really hard on thinking of exercise and eating well as a way I am looking after my body in preparation for pregnancy, while also jumping through this stupid bureaucratic hurdle of weight loss.
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I'm glad you are finding that exercising in a gym is working for you, nevertheless. And I hope very much that feeling strong and powerful and healthy is something you can carry with you though the pregnancy. <3
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Of course, now that all of my time isn't being eaten by someone else, that makes it easier to find things that might be enjoyable.
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I also hate team sports - I find exercise quite meditative and don't like being disturbed in that - do you?
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Yes! Exactly this. I think this may be part of why things like snowboarding don't appeal to me that much. It's not very meditative. Cross-country skiing might be...
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Three minutes of exercise is just as beneficial as a half-hour gym workout...it just has to be pretty high-intensity.
Haven't tried it myself but am keeping it in mind for That Day When I Know I Must Deliberately Exercise, a day I'm honestly dreading. And I'd prefer to do weights over anything besides dancing but have so much arthritis in my wrists, hands, fingers, knees, feet that I'm afraid weights would just worsen it.
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