What If You Don’t Love the Process of Working Out?
What If You Don’t Love the Process of Working Out?
Table of Contents
The Advice That Doesn’t Land for Everyone
A Conversation That Confirmed It
The Missing Endorphin Rush
Supporting Someone Who Hates Exercise
Aligning Exercise With Your Values
Why Effectiveness Still Matters
Making Exercise More Meaningful
Reframing the Mental Resistance
Working Smarter, Not Harder
The Advice That Doesn’t Land for Everyone
There’s a well-meaning piece of advice circulating the coaching circles right now around people simply needing to learn to love the process. The issue is, if you’re someone who genuinely hates everything about the process, this is not going to pique interest. In fact, it’ll just make them roll their eyes and hit the unfollow button.
A Conversation That Confirmed It
My point was validated just the other day when an herbalist I know saw my advice around effective training practices and stated the only way she’s been able to trick herself into working out is to stick to circuit style training. This gave me an opportunity to dig more into what someone like that feels and what I could possibly do to be a more effective coach for future clients that may share the same reservations.
The Missing Endorphin Rush
The first thing to address was how she felt post-workout. In general, she just hated any kind of exercise, felt disgusting whenever she would sweat, and never felt any sort of endorphin rush that we often hear about. She needed to be able to just show up, knock out the workout, and go.
I started researching. What I found interesting is that more than two-thirds of us do not get that endorphin rush, which explains why I too never got that euphoric runner’s high when I used to be a jogger. And although some people actually lack any ability to get a positive mental experience from a workout, they also have a very low ability to get pleasure from other areas of their life as well. This was not the case here.
Supporting Someone Who Hates Exercise
What I found was there was room for growth around improving the experience of exercise, but it certainly wasn’t going to come from telling someone like this to just learn to love it. No, there’s more thoughtfulness needed to support someone here.
If this sounds like someone you can relate to, then here’s what may be helpful for you.
Aligning Exercise With Your Values
It’s important to understand why you would workout in the first place. The best possible place for you to be mentally is to have it tied to your identity. As in, “I am a fit, active person who goes to the gym regularly.” However, that may be a tough thing to wrap your head around when there’s a big disconnect from seeing yourself that way.
The next best thing is to find how it aligns with your values, which is what she did.
For example, you value being able to move independently and function well as you get older, so working out is something you are committed to doing because you adhere to your values.
Why Effectiveness Still Matters
I do believe, however, that this can be deepened even more, which will turn up the discipline of stick-to-itiveness when you can value slightly more difficult exercises for the added benefits of greater bone density (so you don’t break when you fall), healthier joints (so stairs and getting in and out of vehicles never become a chore), and just overall health that carrying extra muscle mass provides.
Now, I realize many people, myself included, would say just remaining active is much better than nothing at all. But I would argue that we are now living in an age where our environment and a growing sedentary life lead to greater health problems than we’ve ever seen, and so it behooves us to be more thoughtful in our approach.
This is also because I have been here long enough to see people who were active most of their life still rapidly decline as they’ve gotten older because of their style of training. Where it just remained the same and they made some bad decisions in their daily nutrition that offset the good they were doing.
Making Exercise More Meaningful
Going back to what I was saying, I have some actionable steps in how to make the experience better and more impactful:
Deepen the meaning for exercise so that it’s fully aligned with your values and lifetime goals.
If your exercise regimen is more about just getting through it, then blend what you’ve been doing and the more effective exercises that will get you greater results faster. An example of this would be to add in one or two compound lifts (like a squat or deadlift) and then do the 10–15 minute circuit exercise you may like.
Feeling any mental resistance around this? Why? If it is highly aligned with your values, which includes being efficient, then this just adds to that. Especially as you can do this with just 2–3 times a week instead of 5 times and still get significantly better results. We want to reduce friction around workouts, which feeling results faster only increases satisfaction.
Reframing the Mental Resistance
Replace thoughts of dread with thoughts of gratitude.
Instead of “I don’t want to do this, this will suck,” you could try thinking, “I am grateful I have a working body that heals and improves through movement.”
Instead of “I’d rather be sitting on my sofa,” you could try thinking, “I’m grateful I don’t struggle to get off the sofa and am committed to keeping it that way because I am setting aside the time for it.”
These are just ideas, but what will truly stick for you is coming up with your own plan and thoughts of reframing negative thought loops into moments of gratitude.
Working Smarter, Not Harder
It’s ok that not everyone is going to fall in love with the process. What’s not ok is settling for less results while white knuckling your way through every workout.
Working smarter, not harder goes beyond how we spend our time in the gym, but in how we think about what we must do to live the fullest life that’s without restriction and endless doctor's visits.
My wish for you is that you see just how much potential you hold within yourself. Because if I can get to where I am at 41 years of age and joints that were chronically painful, then there is a good chance you too can see what’s possible.
Simple Action Steps
Identify why exercise matters to you personally.
Connect exercise to your long-term values rather than short-term motivation.
Add one effective compound movement to your current workout routine.
Reduce friction by simplifying your workout schedule.
Replace thoughts of dread with thoughts of gratitude.
FAQ
What if I genuinely dislike working out?
Not everyone experiences enjoyment from exercise. Aligning workouts with personal values and long-term goals can help build consistency even without emotional enjoyment.
Do you need to love the process to stay consistent?
No. Discipline and value alignment often sustain consistency more effectively than enjoyment alone.
Why are compound lifts recommended?
Compound lifts recruit multiple muscle groups and often produce greater strength and metabolic benefits in less time.
Is circuit training ineffective?
Circuit training, as in jumping from one exercise right into another with more focus on speed rather than weight, can help maintain activity levels, but adding strength-focused movements often improves long-term results.
How can someone reduce resistance to working out?
Simplifying routines, aligning exercise with personal values, and reframing negative thoughts can make consistency easier.
What's Next
If you’re tired of feeling overwhelmed by health advice, fitness programs, and lifestyle content, start with simplicity.
Choose one small habit today. Commit to it for a week.
If you want help building a system that supports consistency without burnout, join me inside M.O.V.E. Studio. It’s designed to feel calm, grounded, and actionable so you can build health that actually fits your life.
Simple. Sustainable. Repeatable.
That’s where real change begins.
