Why do so many people hate working out?

[Paul_Rockey]

Any theories? I'm sure that if you're on these boards, you love it. You love the feelings it gives you when you do it and the satisfaction you get when you see results.

Why is it that so many people are the complete opposite?

My personal theory: They don't know how to do it correctly. I would hate exercise too, if I didn't know I was supposed to eat every 2 hours, know to have half my calories coming from carbs, know how to make a perfectly balanced routine with proper recovery, know what signs to look for if I was burning out and not getting stronger, etc, etc.

Then again, I'm also training for MMA, so that gives me motivation. Maybe other people who don't have an activity to try to excell in just see exercise as an endless chore? What do you guys think?

[IWantGains]

A person feels intimidated by another gym goers. A person feels sore. A person would rather watch TV. A person feels no results. A person feels loocked into their current physique. A person is lazy. A person is physically unfit. A person feels as if they are physically unfit. That is why a person misses the gym.

[xxsupergman25xx]

its easy to sit around! it takes no effort.
people have no motivation anymore because people think it can eb fixed with gastric bypass. orrr they "diet" they dont see results after 2 weeks so the quit..dont see a reason to workout.
some people think its much harder than it really is.
some people dont see a point at all.
some just have no idea and are scared to try(ive gotten that a number of times).
some people have ZERO interest in it. like me and ballet..i have no interest..so i dont.

[askthetrainer]

The same reason I liked Algebra in High school but hated calculus in college...

1. It's a lot easier to lift a remote control and point it at the TV and lift chips out of a bag than it is to lift weights.

2. It's a lot easier to walk to the fridge and grab a beer or a pepsi than it is to jog 5 miles, or spend 30 minutes on an elliptical.

I think people hate it because it's much more than working out for some people. Some women even get make-up on.

you gotta get ready, make sure you have your membership card, keys, ipod, money whatever, then you have to get there, for some people it's a pain in the ass, then when you're there you gotta workout.

Some people don't like getting sweaty and feeling their lungs and muscles burn. After you're done you gotta get back home.

[JOSEF RAKICH]

Any theories? I'm sure that if you're on these boards, you love it. You love the feelings it gives you when you do it and the satisfaction you get when you see results.

Why is it that so many people are the complete opposite?

My personal theory: They don't know how to do it correctly. I would hate exercise too, if I didn't know I was supposed to eat every 2 hours, know to have half my calories coming from carbs, know how to make a perfectly balanced routine with proper recovery, know what signs to look for if I was burning out and not getting stronger, etc, etc.

Then again, I'm also training for MMA, so that gives me motivation. Maybe other people who don't have an activity to try to excell in just see exercise as an endless chore? What do you guys think?

I do not know.

I guess everyone is different and loves different things, some people love eating cake and chocolate. Well i hate that sh't.

Everyone is a individual, and i guess some just dont like pushing there limits and lifting heavy things.

You said: "if I didn't know I was supposed to eat every 2 hours, know to have half my calories coming from carbs"

Lol, you do not have to eat every 2 hours and no you do not have to have half your calories coming from cabrs.

[Big Slim DaDDy]

It takes effort and you have to bust your ass for a long time to see results. Few people are willing to make that sacrifice. These few I like to call "People with balls."

[KyleAaron]

It's hard work, and the rewards are rarely obvious and immediate.

[PopeGregorius]

.
1. It's a lot easier to lift a remote control and point it at the TV and lift chips out of a bag than it is to lift weights.

2. It's a lot easier to walk to the fridge and grab a beer or a pepsi than it is to jog 5 miles, or spend 30 minutes on an elliptical.

Too true. People are too lazy to put in the effort to exercise, play sport or look good.

[dempsey_124]

time consuming, to much effort, dont see any results, lazy, once they hit the pain barrier they dont like it and stop

[Big Slim DaDDy]

once they hit the pain barrier they dont like it and stop

Oh owie it hurts

[Gx7Pyro]

i think its the society we are accustomed to. we live in the world of a quick fix. hungry? fast food. thirsty and tired? soda. not enough nutrients from them? vitamins. stressed? ciggarette. of course, these things take a toll on the body in the forms of diabetes and cancer. but its a quick fix, we get what we want almost immediately.

transforming your body takes years when dedicated and 100% motivated. a week of working out wont get you there. 1 week a month wont even get you there. it takes constant and consistant dedication to get where you want - and even then, it takes many things like diet and workout quality to determine if you are physically fit. that is why a good looking body is so revered in our culture. its casue its hard to get.

and the sucky thing is - if you drop the ball for a year or two, your results go away!! its not like your education, where spending time and money to obtain your diploma will stay with you forever. you can spend 10 years being fit, but 1 year being lazy will get you just as fat and unhealthy as someone who spent 11 years being lazy.

[coolhandlulu]

But having been a somewhat sedentary person for most of my life and having kept up with a workout routine for a little over 3 months now, I think you have to be a masochist to work out. You have to like pain. If you don't like pain, you're not gonna like working out. The pain that you feel is immediate feedback that you are increasing your strength. Once I stop feeling pain or failing to get all my reps in, I know that I'm gonna have to raise the bar higher. Maybe it's just me getting into condition, but on most days I kinda feel like a failure. Most people cant handle that feeling. For women, it can be frustrating after doing an hour of cardio four times a week and lifting twice a week for a month to NOT lose one pound. I dont know how I got over that one. Well, I decided to not weigh myself anymore. Anyway, I'm rambling...

[signature166]

I think you have to be a masochist to work out. You have to like pain. If you don't like pain, you're not gonna like working out. The pain that you feel is immediate feedback that you are increasing your strength. Once I stop feeling pain or failing to get all my reps in, I know that I'm gonna have to raise the bar higher.

I don't experience this pain you are talking about. Maybe you are doing it wrong? Or pain isn't the best word to describe what you are experiencing?

Maybe it's just me getting into condition, but on most days I kinda feel like a failure. Most people cant handle that feeling. For women, it can be frustrating after doing an hour of cardio four times a week and lifting twice a week for a month to NOT lose one pound. I dont know how I got over that one. Well, I decided to not weigh myself anymore. Anyway, I'm rambling...

First, if you did the above but did NOT lose one pound in a month, then you failed to eat to lose weight; you must create a caloric deficit. Eating more to compensate for the increased activity will not cause weight loss (it may cause fat loss, but you said weight). Second, doing an hour of cardio once a week is frustrating by itself--results or no results--I couldn't imagine doing 4 hours a week.

[coolhandlulu]

I don't experience this pain you are talking about. Maybe you are doing it wrong? Or pain isn't the best word to describe what you are experiencing?



First, if you did the above but did NOT lose one pound in a month, then you failed to eat to lose weight; you must create a caloric deficit. Eating more to compensate for the increased activity will not cause weight loss (it may cause fat loss, but you said weight). Second, doing an hour of cardio once a week is frustrating by itself--results or no results--I couldn't imagine doing 4 hours a week.

If you are not used to the "burn", then its gonna translate into "pain". You are probably younger than me and in a lot better physical condition so I'm sure your muscles and joints recover quicker than mine.

And I forgot to mention that although I had not lost in that month, the compliments doubled and so did the extra space in my clothes, that's why I stopped weighing myself. It was not helping with my motivation when I was actually making gains that were quite noticeable in other ways.

It's unfortunate that you don't enjoy cardio. I do.

[signature166]

If you are not used to the "burn", then its gonna translate into "pain". You are probably younger than me and in a lot better physical condition so I'm sure your muscles and joints recover quicker than mine.

And I forgot to mention that although I had not lost in that month, the compliments doubled and so did the extra space in my clothes, that's why I stopped weighing myself. It was not helping with my motivation when I was actually making gains that were quite noticeable in other ways.

It's unfortunate that you don't enjoy cardio. I do.

Though I am younger than you, I am older than most of the whipper-snappers on here, and when I started working out a year and a half ago, I was approx 35% body fat--so def not "a lot better physical condition". I guess I just don't experience the '"burn" as pain, but rather as weakness leaving the body.

Re: bolded portion above--Thanks for leaving out all of the important details that, when included, completely change the meaning of your first statement about NOT losing a pound.

I don't enjoy your kind of "cardio," but I enjoy my kind of cardio. Recently I've been pushing the Prowler (see below) and sprinting stadium stairs.

[Tinoo]

Yea lol i was talking to someone and he was like wow i wish i had time to work out... You have to make time and get off your ass. Id say most are afraid of being ridiculed and imagine the gym as everyone being huge with 18" bi's but its not like that everyone varies so you wouldnt look out of place even if you were bigger than most people guaranteed there will be someone else your size trying to lose weight aswell.

[Simmo0508]

Just like anything else, not everybody has the same interests and hobbies.

While fitness is in our blood, a part of who we are etc. not everyone else is like that. Whilst we may think that a daily routine of healthy diet and exercise is normal and a given, others feel it's something that is way over their heads.

It's a change of lifestyle.

[Mr_Kinney]

almost all the clients that I turn down are due to the fact they dont like to sweat.

I laugh and flatly say I can't help them.

[735735]

Its all preference for people. Like some people hate the beach, or golfing. It's just some people hate working out, i dont get it myself either LOL but just how some people are. Most people i think its the beginning they hate, You know being weak/skinny/small or dont have the right guidance imo.

[MVP]

Any theories? I'm sure that if you're on these boards, you love it. You love the feelings it gives you when you do it and the satisfaction you get when you see results.

Why is it that so many people are the complete opposite?

My personal theory: They don't know how to do it correctly. I would hate exercise too, if I didn't know I was supposed to eat every 2 hours, know to have half my calories coming from carbs, know how to make a perfectly balanced routine with proper recovery, know what signs to look for if I was burning out and not getting stronger, etc, etc.

Then again, I'm also training for MMA, so that gives me motivation. Maybe other people who don't have an activity to try to excell in just see exercise as an endless chore? What do you guys think?

Because it's "work", and people hate to work. It's easier for someone to say no, and pop a pill, go for lap band surgery etc.. Our country is spoiled, and people want instant results overnight. People want things handed to them, since they don't understand the words "earn" and "hard work"

Some people go to the gym, just to tell their family, friends, co-workers etc.. that they go to the gym, even though they may just go there to do a few things on any ab machine, and socialize.

[sarcasticsmiles]

It can mean a lot of different things for a lot of different people. To just assume that because someone has negative feelings towards the gym because they're lazy is just not always the case. I am just now beginning to love working out. And it has taken me some time to get here. And the reasons are far from laziness.

I was in an emotionally, verbally, and, in the end, physically abusive relationship. I didn't go to the gym because I wanted to. I went because he demanded it. He demanded to know every single exercise I did. Weight. Sets. Reps. Cardio stats. He would show up to check on me and berate me if he didn't feel I was working hard enough. He weighed me daily. Controlled what I ate and when. And told me every day that everything I was, every success I ever had, was because of him. And every failure, every moment of weakness was because I simply wasn't good enough. I thank my lucky stars that I was smart enough to get out when things got physical and wonder every day why I let it go on for as long as I did.

After we broke up. I ballooned. I ate everything he wouldn't let me have. And in large quantities and avoided the gym like the plague. Until one day I just wasn't happy with the way I looked anymore. I started to eat better and tried to go back to the gym. And at first I couldn't do it. I wasn't ready. All those memories would come flooding back and I would have to leave. I stuck to it and have gotten past most of those issues. Now I love the feeling (though occasionally I still have a rough day). I have a very long way to go in my fitness endeavors, but I am thankful that I have gotten over my issues and can now pursue my health and happiness.

So just keep in mind when working with clients, it's not always as simple as lazy vs motivated. And while it's not your job to be their shrink, it is, IMHO, your job to help them find a road to success.

And for the record, yes, I am aware that for SOME, it's just a matter of laziness.

[Burial]

Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.

People have this attitude about most things, even more so with exercise.

[Samsonator]

Yeah people just dont have motivation to work out.They feel like if they are not training for a sport or a big event then there is no need to work out anymore.Also,many folks priorities are just out of wack.They got to work and come home to eat junk food and watch garbage T.V instead of making sure they simply stay healthy.

[josephinedalton]

Any theories? I'm sure that if you're on these boards, you love it. You love the feelings it gives you when you do it and the satisfaction you get when you see results.
Why is it that so many people are the complete opposite?
My personal theory: They don't know how to do it correctly. I would hate exercise too, if I didn't know I was supposed to eat every 2 hours, know to have half my calories coming from carbs, know how to make a perfectly balanced routine with proper recovery, know what signs to look for if I was burning out and not getting stronger, etc, etc.

Then again, I'm also training for MMA, so that gives me motivation. Maybe other people who don't have an activity to try to excell in just see exercise as an endless chore? What do you guys think?

Oo I like this thread....


Many people are just plain out lazy and impulsive. We want want want, but don't want to have to do anything for it. They have not learned the value in working hard for anything. not all of course.

I do have some potential theories (and I mean, it's just a ideas). We Americans are "status" driven. I mean, either continually striving to improve our place in the pecking order, or keep others from getting ahead of us on that pecking order. If you haven't noticed, people want to get rich quick with no effort. Or they think being rich means less work. I mean, it's natural for creatures to take the easier path to anything; less energy expended (which ends up being my 2nd theory) And it's assumed that if you have to work, or work physically, you are somehow lower in status. Females being naturally thin or guys being naturally built seem to be a higher status than those who have to work hard for it. Even within the bodybuilding world, those with the genetics are hated on by those without.

Touching up on my 2nd theory- it's natural for organisms to conserve energy. Not to expel energy unless needed. That's what the body does with exercise; the body adapts to exertion so to use less energy thus to improve performance efficiency. (Kinda like the way I wish my car would run). But overall, if conserving energy just requires inactivity, with no exertion necessary, that's what the body wants to do.

My 3rd theory is because somewhere in the past, exercise might have been used as punishment. And that is what the individual has learned to associate it with.

My 4th theory is that exercise is only associated with improving one's physical appearance. And in some parts of the US, that is vain and unacceptable. I learned about this when I was in the midwest. Often criticism and jealousy was used against people who worked out. A hostile environment can be very motivation killing.

Maybe it's a combo of the 4, or all of the above. I think what you stated above is another good reason; maybe not the entire reason and definitely not a wrong one. But any way you put it, it's a complex matter that has been proven difficult to conquer over the past few decades, despite the rampantly growing epidemic of obesity and weight related health issues.

[otongki]

Because.... to wake up from your bed, preparing your first meal, getting ready with your training equipments, drive to the gym in a blind morning, busting your *ss for an hour in a closed environment along with other sweaty people, and doing all over again the next day to lost 1-2 lb a week is much harder than just... SLEEP

[DANDIESEL]

working out is one thing.
but bodybuilding is a sickness, a obsessive compulsive behaviour....a warped self image and a psychotic state of mind is what brings you to the point of no return.

normal people dont have the drive or compulsion to push their body to the limit.

too bad for them

[bulkingitup]

Look at it this way, if everyone worked out you wouldn't be able to be bigger or stronger than other people would you.

[debrovnik]

Why do so many people hate working out?

Probably because you're a really bad personal trainer.

[Krique]

I think most people don't hate working out, they just don't like working out either. It takes a little while to see noticeable gains or get hooked on the adrenaline and endorphins.

[spicytunaroll]

working out is one thing.
but bodybuilding is a sickness, a obsessive compulsive behaviour....a warped self image and a psychotic state of mind is what brings you to the point of no return.

normal people dont have the drive or compulsion to push their body to the limit.

too bad for them

I fully agree. We are odd. No doubt.