I’ve often seen that when someone complains about being bored (not just about exercise), they’re actually not paying much attention to what they are doing. They have attention fatigue more than physical fatigue.
I’ve never met a human in my life who was perfect, and our performance of every exercise could always be a notch better, and there are endless things to pay attention to. Your form is a little off; you’re holding your left shoulder a little higher than your right; the ground has a little sheen and slip to it; the wind just changed and got a little gusty; the air smells like imminent rain; the person in front of you is bouncing a ton; the screen (for the treadmill crowd) is jarring a bit so you adjust your footfallls to make it smoother. The glass of the hotel gym is warped; the heat of the sun is causing little ripples of air over the hood of the cars; you feel sweat slowly running down your earlobe; the sidewalks in the neighborhood have little sparks of reflected sunlight at this time of day. The alliums under the shade of the old tree are still blooming even though the rest have washed away; your right arch is a little tight so you slow down a bit and look for less slanted ground; the dog is tired and hot, and looking mournfully at you for attention. If you are paying attention to what you’re doing instead of what you’re not, all this is there.
I suspect the endless & easy availability of devices designed to suck our attention to themselves has lead to a weakness in our being able to direct our attention appropriately when they are not available, and the primary stimulus is our body and physical environment. To me, one of the key joys of exercise is to *get away* from all the attention-sucking gadgets and just focus on what’s presently around you.
Good perceptive here. Nobody walks around complaining about breathing being boring. When exercise becomes part of your normal life, it can feel neutral, esp if doing something repetitive.
Past few years when I’ve been exercising regularly (5+ days per week), if it’s boring while doing it, I don’t pay that much attention. If there’s a sense of hesitation or dread- I don’t feel like riding the exercise bike again today - I mix it up. Go for a run or hike. Lifting I’m able to mix up enough that a good leg day gets me out of any kind of funk I have about lifting. I also do bodyweight exercises sometimes too just to keep it fresh.
up until my 50s, never at all. Every workout was an intoxicating joy..
As Roger Bannister wrote about running, "I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed."
Now that I'm old fat and breathless, all workouts hurt, I have to do my runs slowly because there is no fast option anymore, and some workouts are just tedious. I notice time passing slowly in workouts, this is new. I keep doing it because I don't know what else to do, and I'm afraid to stop. Once in a while there is that remembered joy, unpredictably, so it's like a drug that only works sometimes. But when it does it's all worth it.
I'm a big extrovert and going to the gym checks both the physical outlet & social outlet boxes for me - so I don't find it boring, because most of the time I'm chatting with gym friends! The type of exercise I do find boring are the things I would often do alone or don't lend themselves to talking - long runs, yoga, etc.
Pure aerobics––running or the elliptical I can do on my own and be distracted by television inside or music and people watching outside.
For strength, flexibility, and balance I need a trainer to tell me what to do and then I'm just a puppet following instructions and the time passes quickly.
This is low key why i HATE running - love lap swimming for some reason though?? With weight lifting I feel like the constant switch ups from breaks and different exercises keep me entertained. Maybe i’ll feel differently when i build up the stamina to go longer lol
I think the swimming thing is that it's so technical it takes up a lot of brain space for me, while running I'm sort of on autopilot so the brain has space to get a bit bored.
I always found swimming to be the most meditative practice for me, but I think it's because the water forces a zone of quiet that even the best yoga studio can never achieve. Perhaps I should revisit swimming for cardio...
I lift and run and it's one of my favorite parts of the entire day! Sure there are some harder runs that I'm mentally checked out of, but for the most part I love the energy of my gym and being there working out is incredible! I also attribute this to music...make the gym feel like you're in a club with soundcloud mixes! ❤️🔥
I find it boring most of the time 😔 I do mat Pilates, yoga, weight lifting, and associated cardio (treadmill, stairmaster) and I don’t love doing it, but it must be done. The best parts of the workout are seeing the numbers go up (I admit, when my newb gains started plateauing, I lost steam) and seeing the results. Mostly exercise just makes me tired and sleepy. I also do it bc I know it’ll help me age better (seeing really frail or wizened old people makes me nervous). So I grit my teeth and make myself wake up and do it.
My mom is shocked every time she learns exercise doesn’t do anything for me except exhaust me. She does get for real runner’s high apparently. I’m deathly jealous.
I enjoy the actual activity of lifting weights, but any gym-based cardio is pure torture. I have finally taken up day hiking instead and I have no idea why it took me so long. The stairclimber and treadmill are my worst enemies and I can think of nothing more excruciatingly boring.
My neurospiciness requires me to mix it up often hahah but I found a fun dance/Pilates/ballet combo channel that has a routine for every type of music and theme you can think of, including a lot of musicals. And she almost always includes lower impact options for people like me with bad knees and a downstairs neighbor. So that is keeping me pretty engaged atm.
Once I get locked into a strength workout, I wouldn't say it's boring. I do find warming up and doing mobility stuff boring. I know it's good for me, but I just want to get into the "actual workout". Also, if I have a lot of time between sets I can find myself getting distracted pretty easily, so I'll usually superset to keep myself engaged. As I'm writing this I'm like huh I could do mobility work between sets?! Running outside I don't find boring at all, I'm usually people watching and listening to something at the same time. Interval workouts also keep me very engaged. I also run with friends regularly and sometimes call a friend on easy runs, which makes the time fly by. Indoor cardio is where time passes the slowest, but I'll still do it if it's my best option.
I used to find the gym really boring, but everything changed once I started going to yoga studios, doing Pilates, home workouts, running, or swimming. Now I follow a simple rule: I try to switch things up and try something new every month.
I'm in the same boat as you - I feel somewhere in the neutral to great spectrum depending on the day. I do some workouts at home and others at a gym where I've found a wonderful community - that's actually the main reason I joined a gym because I didn't have trouble sticking to my routine. I just knew I needed more social exercising in my life. And I think that starting group exercise is the thing that made it possible for me to create that solo routine. I'm motivated by wanting to be strong as I age and to do everything I want to do without fitness being the limiting factor. It also gets me out of my head, which I really need.
I’ve often seen that when someone complains about being bored (not just about exercise), they’re actually not paying much attention to what they are doing. They have attention fatigue more than physical fatigue.
I’ve never met a human in my life who was perfect, and our performance of every exercise could always be a notch better, and there are endless things to pay attention to. Your form is a little off; you’re holding your left shoulder a little higher than your right; the ground has a little sheen and slip to it; the wind just changed and got a little gusty; the air smells like imminent rain; the person in front of you is bouncing a ton; the screen (for the treadmill crowd) is jarring a bit so you adjust your footfallls to make it smoother. The glass of the hotel gym is warped; the heat of the sun is causing little ripples of air over the hood of the cars; you feel sweat slowly running down your earlobe; the sidewalks in the neighborhood have little sparks of reflected sunlight at this time of day. The alliums under the shade of the old tree are still blooming even though the rest have washed away; your right arch is a little tight so you slow down a bit and look for less slanted ground; the dog is tired and hot, and looking mournfully at you for attention. If you are paying attention to what you’re doing instead of what you’re not, all this is there.
I suspect the endless & easy availability of devices designed to suck our attention to themselves has lead to a weakness in our being able to direct our attention appropriately when they are not available, and the primary stimulus is our body and physical environment. To me, one of the key joys of exercise is to *get away* from all the attention-sucking gadgets and just focus on what’s presently around you.
totally! thanks for this comment
YES!!!! “Pay attention to what you are doing instead of what you are not” forever!!!
Good perceptive here. Nobody walks around complaining about breathing being boring. When exercise becomes part of your normal life, it can feel neutral, esp if doing something repetitive.
Past few years when I’ve been exercising regularly (5+ days per week), if it’s boring while doing it, I don’t pay that much attention. If there’s a sense of hesitation or dread- I don’t feel like riding the exercise bike again today - I mix it up. Go for a run or hike. Lifting I’m able to mix up enough that a good leg day gets me out of any kind of funk I have about lifting. I also do bodyweight exercises sometimes too just to keep it fresh.
up until my 50s, never at all. Every workout was an intoxicating joy..
As Roger Bannister wrote about running, "I had found a new source of power and beauty, a source I never dreamt existed."
Now that I'm old fat and breathless, all workouts hurt, I have to do my runs slowly because there is no fast option anymore, and some workouts are just tedious. I notice time passing slowly in workouts, this is new. I keep doing it because I don't know what else to do, and I'm afraid to stop. Once in a while there is that remembered joy, unpredictably, so it's like a drug that only works sometimes. But when it does it's all worth it.
love this.
I'm a big extrovert and going to the gym checks both the physical outlet & social outlet boxes for me - so I don't find it boring, because most of the time I'm chatting with gym friends! The type of exercise I do find boring are the things I would often do alone or don't lend themselves to talking - long runs, yoga, etc.
yes! when i see friends or go to workout classes with friends, it's like a party
Pure aerobics––running or the elliptical I can do on my own and be distracted by television inside or music and people watching outside.
For strength, flexibility, and balance I need a trainer to tell me what to do and then I'm just a puppet following instructions and the time passes quickly.
"a puppet following instructions" is such a funny and accurate way to put it
This is low key why i HATE running - love lap swimming for some reason though?? With weight lifting I feel like the constant switch ups from breaks and different exercises keep me entertained. Maybe i’ll feel differently when i build up the stamina to go longer lol
I think the swimming thing is that it's so technical it takes up a lot of brain space for me, while running I'm sort of on autopilot so the brain has space to get a bit bored.
I always found swimming to be the most meditative practice for me, but I think it's because the water forces a zone of quiet that even the best yoga studio can never achieve. Perhaps I should revisit swimming for cardio...
I lift and run and it's one of my favorite parts of the entire day! Sure there are some harder runs that I'm mentally checked out of, but for the most part I love the energy of my gym and being there working out is incredible! I also attribute this to music...make the gym feel like you're in a club with soundcloud mixes! ❤️🔥
it's truly all about the tunes
I’ve been storing up episodes of You Must Remember This and only allowing myself to listen at the gym. Infotainment makes a good soundtrack
yes! i love that pod
I find it boring most of the time 😔 I do mat Pilates, yoga, weight lifting, and associated cardio (treadmill, stairmaster) and I don’t love doing it, but it must be done. The best parts of the workout are seeing the numbers go up (I admit, when my newb gains started plateauing, I lost steam) and seeing the results. Mostly exercise just makes me tired and sleepy. I also do it bc I know it’ll help me age better (seeing really frail or wizened old people makes me nervous). So I grit my teeth and make myself wake up and do it.
My mom is shocked every time she learns exercise doesn’t do anything for me except exhaust me. She does get for real runner’s high apparently. I’m deathly jealous.
you've got all the right ideas!
I ran for YEARS and never experienced that "runner's high." I so wish I could.
I enjoy the actual activity of lifting weights, but any gym-based cardio is pure torture. I have finally taken up day hiking instead and I have no idea why it took me so long. The stairclimber and treadmill are my worst enemies and I can think of nothing more excruciatingly boring.
My neurospiciness requires me to mix it up often hahah but I found a fun dance/Pilates/ballet combo channel that has a routine for every type of music and theme you can think of, including a lot of musicals. And she almost always includes lower impact options for people like me with bad knees and a downstairs neighbor. So that is keeping me pretty engaged atm.
this sounds great! what's the channel?
EMKFit: https://www.youtube.com/c/emkfit/videos
Once I get locked into a strength workout, I wouldn't say it's boring. I do find warming up and doing mobility stuff boring. I know it's good for me, but I just want to get into the "actual workout". Also, if I have a lot of time between sets I can find myself getting distracted pretty easily, so I'll usually superset to keep myself engaged. As I'm writing this I'm like huh I could do mobility work between sets?! Running outside I don't find boring at all, I'm usually people watching and listening to something at the same time. Interval workouts also keep me very engaged. I also run with friends regularly and sometimes call a friend on easy runs, which makes the time fly by. Indoor cardio is where time passes the slowest, but I'll still do it if it's my best option.
oh good point, if i find anything more boring it's the stretching + mobility ... eek
I used to find the gym really boring, but everything changed once I started going to yoga studios, doing Pilates, home workouts, running, or swimming. Now I follow a simple rule: I try to switch things up and try something new every month.
Lifting weights = never boring. Stretching and yoga (about 50% of the time) = such a drag but feels so good after
I'm in the same boat as you - I feel somewhere in the neutral to great spectrum depending on the day. I do some workouts at home and others at a gym where I've found a wonderful community - that's actually the main reason I joined a gym because I didn't have trouble sticking to my routine. I just knew I needed more social exercising in my life. And I think that starting group exercise is the thing that made it possible for me to create that solo routine. I'm motivated by wanting to be strong as I age and to do everything I want to do without fitness being the limiting factor. It also gets me out of my head, which I really need.
100000%. maybe you'd enjoy this piece i wrote about group exercise for The Atlantic (free link) https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/11/group-fitness-exercise-friendship/680713/?gift=U91cjk6PBGoHLQxXjp2bZ9Vu0EjHeg8NJBBdQE96KdM&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share
Oh yes! I shared this in my gym slack channel when it came out! I loved it
yes
vouch 😔
lol -- a no-fuss response. asked and answered!