I can imagine people having fun getting lost in the flow of playing a competitive sport. I’ve also heard some people experience a post-workout high. But does anyone actually feel pleasure in the moment while lifting weights, jogging, cycling, etc?
If so… what does it feel like? Is there anything the rest of us can do to cultivate such a mindset?
Ive made the argument for years that working out in the gym is by far the worst possible way to work it. Its just so boring and depressing and take sup your limited time.
Why would I spend an hour at the gym working out when I can play football with freinds, or go to a skate park or go mountain biking, or even just go for a run through a park? Its like trying to learn something by just doing math problems over and over again instead of working through actual problems.
Because all those things you mentioned are sporadic and rely on good weather and scheduling of others. So how often can you even do them? Most people at my age can’t just whip up a game of football when ever.
It’s just easier to go to the gym if you want any chance at a regular routine.
There are always ways to make it work. Like for me I have regularly scheduled volleyball for a couple hours twice a week. Which because its inside I never have to worry about the weather and theres enough people that other peoples schedules arent an issue. And while volleyball can be pretty niche you can find regular open invite football anywhere even in small towns. Then I also go to the skatepark twice a week too which doesnt rely on other and the weather rarely interrupts it, and if it does I go to the one under the overpass instead. Ive been doing this for years, extremely regularly, and the fact that its actually fun and I look forward to it has made it far more regular than when I went to the gym, plus ive made loads of friends, learnt actually skills and dont have to put up with gym bros. So to me there is really no downside.