Boxing. Constant movement, hell of a work out, and you get to punch shit
Anything competitive works for me. Boxing, BJJ, rock climbing…
Actually “competitive” is the wrong word. It’s any sport where I’m not in control of how much effort I’m putting in. Eg running doesn’t work because as soon as someone beats me, I just stop trying
Walking the dog while listening to podcasts or audio books.
Knowing I won’t feel like shit for the rest of the day.
I like to watch shows/videos while I workout. Made a rule that I can only watch certain things while I’m exercising. I look forward to watching those things and ‘tricked’ myself into being excited about the exercise, too! Also I feel much better after I’ve exercised, so I really look forward to that post-exercise feeling.
I try not to think about it as a punishment for what I ate, and more a celebration of what my body can do.
Yep. When you get old you won’t be as able, so enjoy it while you can. And the exercise will likely prolong how long you can be mobile.
This is a great perspective, I’m going to embrace it.
:)
I like to walk, I pick nice places with good/interesting scenery. It’s good mentally too, helps me unwind and work out problems and come up with new ideas.
Dance
Dance
REVOLUTION!!
(That rhythm game with the arrows on the screen and ground that you stomp on)
I’ve always loved sports; so that part’s easy, personally. But I’ve also learned to kind of savor the feeling of using my muscles and getting tired. Whatever I’m doing, or even on days where I didn’t have time to “exercise”, I make a point to check in on different parts of my body, maybe tense them or stretch; just trying to notice what feels good and then really savor that feeling. I find that building that mental practice helps motivate me to seek out exercise, or power through when I’m not really enjoying a particular activity.
Experiencing the benefits of strength training day to day (being able to move heavy shit easily and not struggle with things that I used to) also seeing how I look in the mirror after I do it helps.
Fast speed hike incline on treadmill
Put in earbuds, drum&bass
Disassociate for 1-2 hrs while staring at the food channel
Play is a good one for aerobics. Going for a run or bike? Try to find new routes or go places you haven’t before. Maybe run an errand. Maybe try to study wildlife or plants around while running one to another.
For strength training IDK. just pop in some absurd music and know that later it will feel good either just post exercise or weeks later when the exercise itself feels nice. It’s also going to be nice when you go to lift a thing or hike and recognize you’re actually stronger. Always a rewarding feeling!
In either case, it’s important to reflect positively on your progress. "Hell yeah i can do this thing now thanks to my effort!“ and not negatively e.g. “my goals are so far away I’m so weak”.
I like to bike, and my motivation is to see what is around the bend…. And so i needed to spend a week recovering after biking 50 miles, and hard bonking 35 miles from my car. But hey i absolutely had the motivation to do that to my self.
Now my next motivation is survival, because the Sun has totally gone down, and if i don’t make it back to my car, i might actually die. A very powerful motivator that one.
I just do it until I physically cant
Not sure if this answers the question; but, as soon as I learned about BDNF and how muscle building can increase the levels of it, I became a gym rat. I want my brain to keep working past 90 and be able to program well into my 90s (I wanna be yelling at everyone about my struggles with Rust).In all seriousness if you don’t wanna have dementia a little too early in life. Lift. Weights. Don’t ignore cardio though. But BUILD so you can reap the benefits of your lean mass into your elder years . Training also helps me improve my MTB performance, which I find really fun.
Sorry for the wall of text :D
Got any sources to read up on BDNF and working out? I just checked some stuff online but it’s mostly either ai-slop articles or science papers about the protein itself 😅
This stuff is incredibly complex to study. And every time I read a study I forget to archive it somewhere. We don’t have all of the answers, but studies like this one:https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37600508/
Really make me go, get your ass to the gym. No excuses.
And I suspect we are just looking at the tip of the iceberg here when it comes to things like BDNF. In short, exercise (specifically Strength Training and HIIT) seems well worth it since it is having some kind of effect on people who already have Alzheimer’s.
I wish the fitness industry promoted the practical and real cognitive benefits of strength training instead of using using people with eating disorders and six-packs(six-packs usually aren’t healthy by the way) to show/advertise the “perfect body”. When in reality they should be promoting how much it can help your cognition and mood. I might get heat for this, but I’ll say it anyway: I swear people would not have to take as many antidepressants in this country as they do if they just strength-trained twice a week. I see it in the software industry every day how people 15,20 years my senior (whom I respect since they are my mentors) and it hurts to see the beer gut and the lack of vitality (you can see this in someone’s face regardless of age) just because as programmers we are sitting all the time, and if you don’t fight the negative side effects of that with exercise your body will respond in nasty ways.
Thanks! I took a look at the studie and it’s “citations” and “cited by” articles. Sounds promising! I’ve got dementia / AD in the family, pretty sure I’m next in line in about 50 years. I’ve never heard about the topic but it seems pretty rigorously researched!
I climb, but not very often. Time to get the running shoes out and start getting some regular exercise in again.
Weight lifting can get stolen for all I care, I hate it 😂 But we have a forest exactly 3 minutes walk away, so time to get out in nature again!
I understand weightlifting/resistance training is not for everybody. It is crucial to prevent sarcopenia a little too early in life. And it doesn’t take a whole lot to get 90% of the benefits from strength training. Two sessions/week of 1hr each is all you need to reap most of the benefits.
find an activity that you legitimately enjoy. that’s it
Well, shit.
Trial a load of sports. One will click.
wasn’t trying to be flippant or trivialize this but at the core it’s what is needed
I found that trying to distract or occupy my mind while trying to work wasn’t enough, for example watching a show or listening to music while using my row erg as a primary workout. Still found myself counting down the time and minutes
I climb shit. In the gym and outside. It feeds my inner child, it’s fun, it’s exciting, and it involves problem solving so stimulates the mind. Rowing and biking are now secondary exercises or activities to support my climbing fitness and ability. I find doing them with less intensity, less often, and as support (shorter duration) makes it easier for me to digest because I know it will better me for what I truly enjoy. Along the way you just may find yourself growing to accept, like or love something.
Kinda gotta find workable angles that suit your mind and goals. eventually you’ll have tricked yourself into becoming a healthy bastard who has some fun along the way
Sorry, I totally wasn’t trying to be dismissive either, but I think it came across like that. When depression gets bad it’s just hard to find anything enjoyable, and sticking with it anyway is real hard. I’ll just have to keep at it until something clicks I guess.
The other side of the coin is that it should be something that you do on a regular schedule with other people who you enjoy being around.
Fun and accountability are the keys.
Not the person you replied to, but I’ve also experienced depression. Just let me add that exercise doesn’t “feel good” either during or after a workout, but once it becomes part of the weekly routine, yes, let me repeat that- routine - the impact on mental health starts to show as well. It’s tricky because it’s not so much a “positive feeling”, instead, it takes the edge off the blues and anxiety.
I’ve also noticed the thoughts that swim in my head all the time tend to be more positive after a workout. This feels completely out of my control, if you ever tried meditation and found it really hard to clear your mind of thoughts you’ll know what I mean. But, for example, immediately after exercise I have a tendency to think or remember positive moments in my life or positive people. Worst case scenario, if I was on a trend of self sabotaging thoughts or constantly going over resentment and painful memories, those thoughts are likely to stop after a workout for a while. If I really want to I can of course think of whatever I want, but soon again I’ll catch myself with some positive thoughts.
My two cents. Hopefully this adds up.
I can emphasize.
I only found out with past 40 why that is, because I am a medically very curious case. Happy to have found out it’s not my fault but it still sucks the same.
I hike/walk daily with my dog. ~8km per day, although some days are shorter, some are longer.
is your dog Clifford?
No, not last I checked… Why?
I’ve never enjoyed anything at all in my life.
So we need to harness your disdain and hatred and work with that…
what do you hate most?
Opinionated software.
Perfect, Grok it is
Get a sword and hit things.
This is what I did. I joined a football league for fatties and it’s helping keep me active whilst not being massively outclassed by people younger and/or fitter than me 🤣 there’s no pressure to be ‘good’ at it, as the weightloss aspect of the game is more important.
Holy crap, How does one find something like that
And ideally also something that doesn’t require too much preparation. If it takes a long time to prepare for or get back after you are usually less likely to do it.
This is the way.
well thats not going to happen.
activity causes pain and exhaustion, both things i am very much not fond of.
Have you tried biking? I like it because it’s so easy to zone out with (and easier on the knees than running).
You can buy a cheap standing bike and watch shows or read books; and, if you go outside to bike, you get the benefit of the sun and trees. If they have rentable electric bikes, those can make the exertion part easier (and, if it feels like cheating, it’s still more exercise than you’d’ve otherwise been getting; plus studies have shown that some people, with electric bikes, ride for longer periods than those who don’t because they’re having so much fun).
still trying to get laid daily as a form of exercise…
