Why Americans Don't Exercise More

(J) #21

Never underestimate the power of a 20 minute HIIT workout. I work full-time at a demanding job, married, with kids- I get up at 5 as much as I am NOT A MORNING PERSON to get my workout done. My mental clarity depends on it.

(Scott) #22

One day a few years ago I thought ā€œwhy am I driving to the gym?ā€ Unless its raining I run 3 miles and stop at the gym for a Nautilus set. After that I have a one mile cool down run. The difficult thing that I have procrastinating is my leg blaster workouts for skiing You Tube leg Blaster Workout This really make me feel pain but are very effective.

(Scott) #23

I disagree, energy doesnā€™t show up on its own. Exercise builds muscle fitness and makes you feel energetic. It doesnā€™t happen all at once but if you can give it a few weeks you will start to feel it. I was lethargic before exercise. Now I wake up at 3:30 and need to read for an hour so I am not to early and disturb others when I get back home. If you are sedentary and waiting for energy to start an exercise program its never going to arrive on its own.

(Doug) #24

In the 80s and 90s, working out-of-town or even out of the country, Iā€™d often get a rental car the day before we left, then pick up the other people at our home business base the next day and take us all to the airport, then drop off the car.

It was a ten mile run to the airport, and in hot weather there Iā€™d be, T-shirt totally soaked with sweat, standing in line at the rental counter. Got some strange looks from other peopleā€¦

#25

Really, because I get tons of energy just from my eating habits, which I then use to do boxing at the gym. But it isnā€™t the boxing thatā€™s giving me energy.

(Scott) #26

Should of mumbled something like ā€œThey make me unload the baggage but hey, I get to fly freeā€

(John) #27

My preferred exercise for cardiovascular health is walking. Itā€™s not intense, but I get a good workout at my age and weight, and generally enjoy doing it. IF the weather is nice. Problem is during the winter, I either have to get up and go out for a walk at the coldest time of day (5 AM), or get in what I can on weekends, if itā€™s not raining. So my main challenge during the colder season is just keeping up the habit of getting outside and doing it.

I got in one walk this weekend, in between bands of rain, and had to cut it a bit short because it started to rain while I was still out (and it was cold).

Light weightlifting and bodyweight stuff I can do enough of at home, or in my companyā€™s fitness room at work, no matter the weather.

I can deal with the cold, just not the rain. I remember getting up at 4:45 AM every day and heading out for a 3-mile walk and just bundling up well, the last time I was focused on getting lots of exercise (10 years ago). I suppose I need to get back into that habit instead of waiting for the nice days.

(Scott) #28

I run fasted and it was very difficult (had to walk a lot) until I became fat adapted. Now no issues.

Boxing! I remember getting in the ring for several two minute rounds in high school. To this day I feel that it is one of the most demanding workouts I ever had. I think I would need some carbs for that.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #29

If that is so, then how does expending energy make us feel more energetic? Iā€™m not following you.

I tend to agree with @anon2571578. I have much more energy from eating a ketogenic diet than I did before, and my activity level (for all my jokes about exercising) has increased concomitantly. I have a fatigue syndrome that used to mean I needed a couple of daysā€™ recovery time in bed after a bout of any kind of physical activity, such as vacuuming the carpet. I mean that literally; it used to take all my energy to cope with getting up and going to work; there was nothing left over for even basic household chores.

Nowadays, however, I can spend four hours mowing the lawn and be up and doing the next morning with no ill effects. On my old way of eating, I would have had to stop after an hour or so, and spend two days resting in order to have enough energy to finish mowing. So it is pretty clearly the ketogenic diet that has given me the energy, not the exercise from mowing the lawn.

Part of the explanation is that by eating to satiety I am getting more energy in, so I have more energy to expend. The lowered insulin also makes the energy stored in my fat cells available to be metabolized. But part of it also has to be that my lowered insulin has also promoted metabolic recovery at the cellular level. It is an observed fact that I can walk faster and longer without getting winded than I used to be able to, and again, that happened without exercise.

(Scott) #30

I was lifting and damaged my shoulder so I started walking. I had to rule out running due to knee pain. I got up to several miles a day and started playing Ingress.com a GSP game. I then started short intervals of running to attack faster. One day I looked at my phone and it said I had run seven miles. I stopped playing and focused on running after that. Anyway walking is a great workout but I just wanted to get more burn in a shorter time window.

(John) #31

I am not against running. I used to be a runner when I was much younger (and thinner). My goal right now is just to keep walking enough during the winter so that when the weather warms up I will have the habit in place and keep the levels of cardio endurance I was able to achieve during the fall.

A mistake I have made in the past was to worry about improving times, distances, and intensity, to where every workout was harder than the last one. That resulted in me dreading doing it and finding excuses not to. So this time around I am focusing on building sustainable habits and not so much trying to push myself to do more all of the time. Improvements in performance or increases in intensity will have to come naturally.

I used to really enjoy taking long walks of 5 to 7 miles on early weekend mornings so I hope to get back up to that by springtime for when the weather is nice again.

#32

Snap! My biggest competitor was always myself & despite what some will say that is not always the healthiest way :slightly_smiling_face:

(Doug) #33

I agree too - for me it accompanies the desire for quick results, i.e. going longer and faster just has to be good.

#34

Pain is fear leaving the body according to some but sometimes itā€™s just an overuse ouchie paired with bog standard exhaustion :slightly_smiling_face:

(John) #35

Already re-learned that lesson with trying to ā€œgo heavyā€ with weights on the bench press too quickly this time around and now waiting for tendinitis in my elbow to fully heal up so I can start up again a bit lighter. Maybe another few weeks and I can ease back into some bench presses.

(Scott) #36

I started running way before keto. When I started it didnā€™t feel anything like energy I just had to keep pushing. After awhile it wasnā€™t like I had to push anymore. I felt like I was getting stronger and my energy level increased. I started basing my route on where the best hills were so I could charge up them. I guess what I am saying is I donā€™t all of a sudden think I have energy and head out for exercise. I start training until it increases my energy level by becoming a habit. In my case some would call it ā€œrunner highā€ but it donā€™t happen on the first run for sure.

(KetoQ) #37

Regardless of why people do or donā€™t exercise more, it might be more productive for people to rethink the concept of exercise ā€“ why do it and what to do and for how long.

The concept of you have to exercise to lose weight is becoming yesterdayā€™s news. Iā€™ve heard it said before, and based on my experience tend to agree that for many people, especially overweight and middle aged, that weight loss is 70% diet and 30% exercise.

That said, the value of exercise may be in that movement, activity, fresh air and recreation are just as good for your mental health as it is for your general physical fitness. A positive mental attitude and having an optimistic outlook on the future is a huge factor for keeping motivated to eat right and maintain healthy living and personal habits.

Furthermore, given that I have seen the inside of a number of nursing homes, respite care and dementia care facilities over the past several years, Iā€™m convinced that exercising to build muscle mass is very important to long term health. Many people in those facilities do not have the strength/muscle mass to live independently. Many are in wheelchairs and need help using the facilities and even feeding themselves.

As far as what people should do, you donā€™t have to join a gym. Finding something like yoga, golf, hiking or swimming can be productive because it can be an enjoyable activity that happens to be a form of exercise.

Doing endurance sports or long workouts are not necessary. In fact, I think they are counter productive for many people, in that many dread the time and effort. I have been thinking about how to keep myself motivated, and I am coming to the conclusion that doing less, but doing it consistently, might be a better option.

Same thing with weight lifting. Iā€™m not going to try to lift too heavy and/or too high reps and injure myself. Iā€™ve just been reading too many stories about guys who try to lift too much in order to get big, and end up with injuries they can never shake. You donā€™t have to go balls to the wall to get strong, just enough to stimulate muscle growth. Lift lighter. I also am getting good cardiovascular conditioning from my weight training.

This ā€œless is more approachā€ is very different from what I have thought about training most of my life, or even six months ago. So hopefully I can incorporate activities that wonā€™t be a time suck and will have a greater long term health benefit.

(Laurie) #38

Right on. In my 40s I had a fast food job (cooking hamburgers) for 5 hours a day. Even with those short hours I was totally exhausted after work. I tried going to the gym after work (on foot, opposite direction to where I lived, bad weather), but it was stressful because of too many people, etc. I was sleeping on my sisterā€™s couch and there was no room to exercise in the small apartment. I suppose I could have done so if Iā€™d known more types of exercise, etc.

But people in such situations are seldom studied, because no one can make money off them.

Iā€™ve been exercising off and on since age 30. For me part of the problem is constantly changing locations and lifestyles, so even if something works for a while (gym, home workouts, hiking), I might not be able to continue doing it. And even if I can, a constant theme in my life is developing good habits without getting to the ā€œkill me nowā€ stage of boredom. But I keep trying!

(Pete A) #39

"Then a curious thing happened: The more I exercised, the more my body craved it. These days, I even take spin class and do [high-intensity interval training].

And while I did lose weight during this process (which was pretty nice ā€” I am now at a healthy weight), thatā€™s not whatā€™s kept me going."

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2019/01/14/684118974/from-couch-potato-to-fitness-buff-how-i-learned-to-love-exercise

(Troy) #41

SimplifyšŸ˜„

FOR ME

Just like my Keto WOE
Change things up here and there
Cue, routine ( change here ), reward ( to each their own )
Create a habit
Life is full of other distractions self inflicted or external factors , time consuming or not

Pre Keto ( thinking out loud ):joy:
I got to eat more?
Need more carbs for fuel?
I have 10 apps to track, not syncing?
Need better gains at the gym?
Need to read the lasted on supplements?
What to the experts say?
NEED to workout again today?
What do I take to ā€œ look betterā€ ?
No time?
Need to cycle for 45-60 minutes
Iā€™m unhappy w my looks?
Iā€™m way to stressed out?
GOT to work out!
Iā€™m full, bloated, canā€™t workout todayšŸ¤¢

Agree. Some I still do through today
Not near the same!

Now
Cue-Eat once, maybe twice a day
Routine -Mix in some walking, bodyweight, and weightlifting
Reward-All in WAY less time
Feel better tons of energy
Better sleep

They now go together in some form
My form. Lol

SimplifyšŸ˜„