What You Can Do If You Think You Hate Exercising | #33

Click here to access a written transcript of this episode.

While nobody has to exercise, there’s no denying that exercise can be great for our physical and mental health. In a perfect world, everyone would find exercise intrinsically enjoyable and always be motivated to do it. Unfortunately, those who despise exercise find themselves having to choose between being miserable and abandoning movement altogether.

Is there any hope for the exercise haters of the world to reap the benefits without the experience sucking so much? I think so, and I make that case in this episode.

If you think you hate exercise, it’s worth exploring where that hatred comes from as a first step. If you can unpack your feelings about exercise and deal with them at the source, it might change your relationship with movement for the better. And even if it doesn’t, there are still a handful of things you can try to make exercising itself less awful.

Even if you never love exercise, hopefully this episode will help you learn to tolerate it more so it can still be a part of your life (assuming you want it to be).

Mentioned in This Episode

• Linda G’s Instagram post on not finding joy in movement
• My Instagram post with tips for people who don’t find exercise particularly joyful
• Linda’s fat activism blog, Fluffy Kitten Party
• HAES-Friendly Fitness with Karen Preene | #28
• ClassPass
• Joyn
• Blog post: 20 Reasons To Exercise (That Don’t Involve Weight Loss)
• Why I No Longer Coach Intentional Weight Loss | #10
• Couch to 5K program
• Visualization technique

Featured in This Episode

Shohreh Davoodi (she/her) was the host of the Conjuring Up Courage podcast during the show’s three-year run. Currently, Shohreh is focusing her attention on being a writer and creator. You can keep up with Shohreh by subscribing to her newsletter, The Queer Agenda, and following her on Instagram and TikTok.