All my immediate family do regular exercises.
My son has been going to the gym for many years; before he married he was a bit of an exercise addict, particularly weight lifting. He developed a huge amount of muscle which in my view looked rather uncomfortable. Fortunately he got over that period and now enjoys going to the gym just to keep fit.
My daughter has always been sensitive to her weight and body shape. She took, and qualified a course aimed at dieticians so now carefully controls her diet. For exercise she took inspiration from the daughter of a neighbour of ours and started an organised regime of specific exercise to keep fit. She really enjoys it and has to be careful not to overdo it.
My wife has always like running, but not always been able to participate. She has had a series of illnesses that keep holding her back. She used to take the dog for a run in the Forest, which he loved. We now have a treadmill which allows a lot more control over the type of run she can do which, although very boring, she really gets a “buzz” from.
My history is quite different. I have not done any serious regular exercise since I was at school. I have always done a lot of walking, mainly for pleasure rather than exercise. Now we have a dog the walking has increased in distance and is now every day, come rain or shine.
There was a brief period where my wife and I would have a very tame game of squash, which we didn’t take seriously (we didn’t even know how to keep score) but I quite enjoyed it. After a period of illness in the mid 2000s I was recommended to take up some exercise, so I joined the local gym for a while, but it didn’t last more than a year.
About two years ago I began doing some strength and flexibility exercises using some podcasts from the NHS, which I still do religiously every day. About the same time I started the NHS Couch to 5k running course, but for various reasons it did not get off to a good start. There is a whole post dedicated to it.
Anyway, you may ask where this is going; well, my family all report they enjoy their exercise very much and get a “buzz” from doing it; and I have heard other people say the same thing. However, I do not get this “buzz”, and I want to know why.
I now do the strength and flexibility exercises and running almost every day because I think they will be good for me but I get no enjoyment from it, I find it boring – I certainly do not get any reward in the form of a “buzz”. I find this rather sad, disappointing and frustrating.