Hey Reader,​

When I was a kid, I once scored a beautiful soccer goal during recess. For the OTHER team!

I remember hearing everyone yell as I ran toward the net, thinking, “This is it! I’m actually going to score!”

I kicked the ball as hard as I could.

Goal! 🙌

(Wrong goal. 🙈)

Between moments like that, always getting picked last in P.E., and several other athletic performances best left out of my official biography, I decided sports just weren’t for me.

Then I discovered swimming. I grew up near the beach and had always loved being in the water. Eventually, I joined a competitive swim team and found a sport I genuinely loved.

That experience became part of why I chose to become an exercise physiologist. I wanted to help people who believed exercise wasn’t for them recognize that they might simply not have found a way of moving that fit them yet.

These days, I’d choose hiking in the mountains over swimming almost every time. But I’m still grateful for those years on the swim team and everything they taught me.

Apparently, one humiliating soccer game wasn’t enough evidence to determine my entire athletic future. But that’s often what happens.

You try running and hate it. You join a gym, feel awkward, and stop going. You survive a workout class where the instructor keeps yelling, “Isn’t this FUN?” while your lungs attempt to leave your body.

Eventually, you decide you’re simply someone who hates exercise. (Maybe you really DO hate some forms of exercise! Fair enough.)

But you probably haven’t tried every possible way of moving your body. You may have only tried the versions that felt punishing, boring, intimidating, or completely disconnected from your actual life.

Here are 5 ways to make movement feel a little less miserable.

1. Take exercise off your plate for a while

You’re allowed to pause formal workouts.

Focus on another area of your health that feels more manageable right now. Get to bed earlier. Eat a decent lunch. Spend a few minutes outside.

Taking away the pressure may help quiet the constant argument happening in your head every time you think you “should” exercise.

2. Call it movement

The word exercise can come with a surprising amount of emotional baggage.

Movement might feel easier.

Walk while you’re talking on the phone. Pull weeds. Play with your kids. Take the dog around the block. Turn on 1 song and dance badly in your kitchen.

Yes, it counts. Your body doesn’t ask whether you were wearing matching workout clothes.

3. Do an almost ridiculous amount

Try 5 minutes.

Walk to the end of the street. Do 1 set of a few strength exercises. Ride the stationary bike until the first commercial break.

You can always do more, but starting with a tiny amount makes it easier to begin again tomorrow.

A heroic 60-minute workout followed by 3 weeks of avoidance probably won’t build much momentum.

4. Treat movement like a taste test

You don’t have to sign a lifelong contract with the first activity you try.

Experiment.

Swimming. Hiking. Pickleball. Strength training. Dance. Water aerobics. Yoga. Walking with a friend. A beginner class where everyone else is also trying to figure out which leg they’re supposed to move.

Give something a few tries before deciding how you feel about it. The first attempt often includes confusion, awkwardness, and muscles discovering responsibilities they’ve been ignoring.

5. Aim for tolerable

You may never love exercising.

You might enjoy the music, the people, the fresh air, the stress relief, or how your body feels afterward.

That’s enough.

Your goal can be finding a version of movement that feels manageable, useful, or even mildly pleasant. We’re aiming for “I can do this,” rather than “I can’t wait to leap out of bed for burpees.”

Here’s your experiment for this week:

Choose 1 way to move and shrink it until your brain stops arguing.

Maybe that’s:

• A 10-minute walk after lunch
• Stretching while you watch TV
• Dancing to 1 song
• Trying a beginner class
• Doing 5 minutes of strength exercises

Pay attention to what makes it easier, harder, better, or worse.

You’re gathering information, not proving anything. You may still hate treadmills. ( I certainly do!) That’s okay. Treadmills have survived worse.

Keep experimenting until you find a form of movement that feels like it belongs in your life.

A quick invitation for my Utah readers

I have 2 openings in a 3-session women’s semi-private strength series:

Wednesday, July 29 @ 7am
Friday, July 31 @ 7am
Wednesday, August 5 @ 7am

Each workout is already planned for you and held in a private studio, with coaching and feedback on your form along the way.

The cost is $150 for all 3 sessions.

Reply if you’d like to claim a spot or have any questions.

Until Next Time,