I realised I really don't like bodyweight exercises, ehe

Noen

Member
Alchemist from Germany
Posts: 9
"Plural life"
Heya, after a while of being absent I return to preach that indeed even for me there exists a type of exercise I don't hate while doing and actually look forward to.
Clickbait title, I know, but if any of you still remember me it's probably alongside my struggles of trying to do any exercise whatsoever and always failing and going back to doing nothing. I was always jealous of you guys enjoying your challenges and programs and workouts while the most I could ever hope for was not hating it completely and maybe feeling accomplished afterwards if I was lucky.
And now that I'm doing a very different form of exercise, a traditional gym with machines, I suddenly don't struggle any more, the workouts are fun, I almost look forward to going, my progress feels nice... it's like everything I previously disliked about exercising has been whisked away.
For one for me that's the exercises not taxing the entire body. In most bodyweight exercises many muscle groups are active at once, stabilising, enabling the movement, and for many people that's a plus, but for me that just means every single exercise is completely exhausting and I don't like exhaustion, I think it's a terrible feeling (my husband loves exhaustion, so this is clearly a me thing).
Secondly I finally don't have to sweat any more. Due to the muscle groups being so isolated I barely work up a sweat which means I look neat and tidy and at most a little flushed the entire two hours. That is a gigantic relief and made me realise how much I heavily disliked being sweaty and worked up before.
The third is that there is no more cardio component. I cycle to work and back and am on my feet at work so I have the luxury of not having to care about my cardio... because I despise cardio. Not only does it make me super sweaty and exhausted, it also doesn't offer the joy of using my muscles. All I do is a nice 50 Watt warmup for ten minutes that I genuinely don't mind.
I didn't think it could ever be this way.
I realise it goes pretty counter to the darebee method, but I feel like I can't be the only person on the planet, or even in this forum, who is trying hard to become friends with bodyweight exercises and despite years of trying, simply can't.
 

Noen

Member
Alchemist from Germany
Posts: 9
"Plural life"
Thanks you all!
I do strongly suspect that many bodyweight exercises will actually become much more enjoyable once I've built up some muscles so as to make them less fatiguing.
Not me realising that the reason why I always hated warmups as a child is because they were way too high intensity for my fitness level and when I do it at the 100 - 120 bmp recommended it's actually quite alright and almost enjoyable. I know I'm definitely not alone with the hating warmups thing :LOL:
 

Nevetharine

Well-known member
Viking from The Depths
Pronouns: She/her
Posts: 868
You're not alone. I'm more of a walking/cardio person myself, it allows my mind to run loose. Which is why I prefer it to strength training, bodyweight or otherwise. During strength training it's impossible for me to let my mind go - too demanding physically.

And that's a little counterproductive because women in particular need resistance training.

So in that sense I get where you're coming from. I force myself to do strength training, but can never keep up with it for long enough to make a true difference. I can't finish those kinds of programs anymore, I just resort back to cardio-type exercises almost on autopilot.
 

Noen

Member
Alchemist from Germany
Posts: 9
"Plural life"
During strength training it's impossible for me to let my mind go - too demanding physically.
I know exactly what you mean. That was me always during bodyweight exercises. With the machines my brain can go to a cosy place because I'm sitting down and the exercises are straining to one muscle group, but all the other ones are resting and chilling out.
 

Ratio Tile

Active member
Jedi from Poland
Posts: 30
I do strongly suspect that many bodyweight exercises will actually become much more enjoyable once I've built up some muscles so as to make them less fatiguing.
Basically this.

I remember when I started doing workouts from Darebee with literally 0% muscle mass I was struggling a lot. If not for my natural stubbornness I would surely quit back then.

A few months ago I was struck with how much my capabilities changed. I did a workout the involved an up-and-down-plank (where you have to lift yourself from an elbow plank and then back down again). I was doing it somewhere at the start of my journey and it was a always a nightmare. Now I could do all the reps, all sets without much effort. Those are the moments when you realize what you do really makes sense.

The baseline? Being stubborn goes a long way :LOL:
 

Noen

Member
Alchemist from Germany
Posts: 9
"Plural life"
The baseline? Being stubborn goes a long way :LOL:
I'm extremely stubborn. And my stubbornness says that if I hate something I won't do it no matter how much pressure people from the outside put on me.
So... yeah. Whenever I had a lot of motivation I would manage for a month or two, but it was never long term because it sucked too much.
 

Gandhalfit

Well-known member
Druid from TLV
Pronouns: You there
Posts: 920
"Every world spins in pain. If there is any kind of supreme being... it is up to all of us to become his moral superior. Vetinari/Pratchett"
Belated :birthday:
 
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