I wonder how much longer it’s going to be until I can say that I actually enjoy doing a workout on this cross-trainer…any ideas? I’m starting to think I won’t ever get there. I mean it’s been two months now since it moved in and spoiled the feng shui in my bedroom, and I still have to force myself to climb aboard the damn thing and show willing.
If I’m brutally honest its very presence annoys me, and whilst I’m grateful for the effect it’s having in helping me build my fitness from the lowest possible base, I wish I could tuck it away somewhere unobtrusive. I guess that’s the drawback of living in a cottage the size of a shoebox, especially when you have a grown up man-child who shows no inclination of leaving home!
Everyone who knows about these things tells me that I’ll get to the point where I can just go into a zone for hours, without batting an eyelid. I’ve stopped calling it the hurt machine now because the reality is, it doesn’t really hurt that much any more. I no longer climb off feeling like I need hooking up to an iron lung and my legs function normally even after 45 minutes of activity…mind you I haven’t tinkered with the harder settings yet so I’m sure there’s more pain to rediscover at some stage. To be fair it’s not the pain I’m bothered about. It’s the boredom.
I’ve tried listening to music whilst I’m beavering away, and if the music’s not helping me get into my stride it’s planted right in front of a TV , so there’s no shortage of entertainment. I’ve got five hundred channels at my fingertips right there, but I still lose the will to live within the first ten minutes. Pushing through pain became the norm, certainly in the early days and I got quite adept at that but I’m here to tell you that pushing through the boredom is proving a much harder nut to crack.
How is it, that I can be completely gripped by some drama or other when I’m sitting in the armchair doing nothing more strenuous than stroking the dog, and yet the minute I’m strutting my funky stuff and breaking a bead of sweat upstairs in front of the same entertainment menu, nothing holds my interest beyond the first five minutes..? I invariably end up risking life and limb flicking through the channels whilst I’m mid-stride and given the amount of moving parts I know that one of these days it’s not going to end well.
I’m thinking maybe its Asshole driven, you know? Maybe there’s some kind of trip-switch in my head where as soon as the cavernous yoga pants come out and the trainers go on, he sprints from his stool in the corner of my head and flicks the switch to ‘bored’ since pain failed to dent my determination and it’s one of the few options open to him. Hell, he’s probably got KPIs to hit like the rest of us, right?
I know what the experts say, about exercise being like a drug and once it gets you it really gets you. I just don’t get it. And that’s a bit of a bummer. I want to get it. I’ve tried really hard and I swear I’m not going to give up but it would be lovely to stride towards it, even just one time, without wishing I could take a lump hammer to the dratted thing and burn the equivalent amount of calories smashing it to smithereens 🙂
Hello
I know that you are starting from a low base and the hurt machine is a good place to start but the thing with exercise is it is supposed to be fun as well as get you fit. I would suggest that you start to explore moving/exercising with some activity that you actually enjoy. Don’t set any limits – try dancing, hiking, swimming, yoga, pilates, exercise videos – basically anything that gets you up of the couch, hell even housework is exercise.
Look for the fun!
Hi Moira, welcome to the posse! I really like walking and I do actually like the thought of Yoga and Pilates. I need to be more bendy!
I was talking to my co-worker the other day who is my exercise inspiration. We had a super busy day at work and she didn’t get to the gym (she goes every day at lunch). She was complaining and I laughed at her because I didn’t understand it. But later I got to thinking, that is my ultimate goal… to get to the point that NOT exercising ruins my day. Someday…
I hear you! Never ever achieved that…but I live in hope!!
As always, I just LOVE the way you write! Thanks for being you…
Hey Donna, welcome and thank you! What a lovely thing to say 🙂
Running is my drug of choice, but if I have to use the elliptical I need to cover the clock! and also have a book (ebook is easiest), TV with subtitles AND music to survive the experience. Props to you for keeping at it 5 days a week! Maybe if you get up to running, you could that for the 45 minutes instead. Lots of couch to 5K programs on the internet, if you want to give it a shot. I see all shapes, sizes and ages out on the roads. (I am over 50.)
Hi Mary, lovely to meet you! I’m not sure my dodgy knee would survive running, after years of being built for comfort over speed it might just finish me off! But I’m loving the multi-pronged multimedia approach, you might just be on to something there 🙂
Also occurred to me to tell you – I don’t always want to run either, but I think about exercise like brushing my teeth – not always a party, but non-negotiable and I never regret doing it when I am done. Love your blog!
Thanks Mary…that’s not a bad way of looking at it. Might help me to get over myself!
Way back in the beginning of my last attempt at permanent weight loss (1997)
I started going to a gym it took me 6 months of going before I really liked it
after that I was hooked. My gym closed in 2007 and now days I work out at
home. I have my treadmill parked in my living room by a sliding glass door
I can see out of. I walk for 2 miles 5 times a week. I have a set of dumb bells
and a Pilates ball that I use for weight training purposes a couple of times a
week. I also have a TV in that room but I usually don’t turn it on while working
out. I use that time to let my mind wonder and think weird thoughts etc.
Yes sometimes I am bored, bored to tears but I just suck it up its only a half and
hour and I can get through anything for that long wish I had better news but I don’t.
Have you seen that saying ” It never gets easier you just get stronger” I find its true.
I am not sure what kind of exercise machine you are using but maybe
find another one if you truly hate this one. If you want this fitness thing to stick you are going to have to find something to do that you like/love. Hang in there you can do it!
I really appreciate the words of encouragement Susan. Six months, right? Well, two down and four to go. *Deep breath* – keep pushing then hm!
It might just not be for you. The only exercise I find that I do for a long period of time without counting down the minutes until I am done, is cycling.
Audiobooks and music can help be a good distraction. (I don’t listen to anything while riding outdoors.)
Do you know what, I can’t wait to get back out on my bike – it’s the only exercise I’ve ever truly enjoyed. I’m thinking by June 🙂
If it doesn’t hurt so much any more but is boring for long periods, then I suggest you get the same amount of total exertion by increasing speed/intensity and doing if for less time. “They” say you can get as much benefit or more by going hard for a short period.
Yes, I think you’re probably right. Harder but shorter is definitely one way to combat the boredom 🙂
Have you tried hooking up some kind of book holder to the machine and reading? That’s the only thing that holds my attention.
It’s a great idea Mimi but I’m not sure how I’d do it…audio book might work though…hmmm 🙂
Any thoughts on this possibly not being your thing? Do you have a gym in the area with classes or something like that to experiment? Or how about long walks with your doggie while listening to a podcast?
I love Zumba – I really try and go 3x/week and on the other days I’m walking. I really, really like both of those activities. And it took me a long time to figure out that I really hate the gym machines. I would go and do it sometimes, I even have a treadmill in the basement, but I hated it. Last year someone in my WW meeting suggested walking in the mall — LIGHTBULB MOMENT. Now I do that all winter.
Point is — if you hate it you’re not going to do it, you’ll resent it, the whole experience will be negative.
Hang in there 🙂
Ah thanks Beth…it’s a time thing for me. Because I work long hours and have a long commute on top, I need something here at home just to be able to fit it in.Kind of fall out of bed and I’m already at the gym kind of thing. I must admit I love Saturdays and Sundays when I don’t go near it and walk the dog for miles instead!
Yes, yes, yes! Thanks for the belly laugh. So true, (“lose the will to live,” ROFL!)
There is something that wants to get that object out of our Living Space, but: once the exercise machine gets banished to some outpost of my real life, it is frightening how easily it might develop the first cobwebs. If my sweat (and boredom) machine wasn’t getting daily use here in the garage, I would panic & remove an armchair in the living room to install it there. (Gaakk!)
When some bright young thing in the home design world puts their mind to it, new houses might be built to incorporate the flippin things more harmoniously. Hell, how much does a girl need a walk-in closet with dual pocket doors, if she only ever wears the same 3 pr of elasticized capris?? Or, a whiz-bang techomarvelous alcove with light show, subliminal pep talks & watering system, timer-activated doors?? Geez, kids, get on it! Until then….
Sometimes I realize that tv remotes ought to have a scan button like car radios, when [someone] is just changing channels for 3/4 of an hour.
Ah a garage…I wish I had one of those! I know I’m lucky having it in the first place but it’s so ugly!!