General talk: physical activity/lack thereof in society

[justregularguy]

Disciplin doesn't exist, you either like to do something and are happy to put in the work or you don't !
There is no obstacle that I need to overcome to motivate myself to train. I'm craving for my workouts. It's a desire deep within me.
Wasn't our body designed to move afterall?

I can't talk about women but isn't every man craving for strength, muscles, a fit, healthy body?
Why are there so many obese, out of shape guys then? Isn't there a desire in every man to become the best, strongest version of himself?
Or are people simply overwhelmed by the amount of information there is on training science so they don't know where to start and don't even bother to get into it?

I remember a classmate who always talked about going to the gym and within 3 years he made zero gains. How much do you need to do wrong to make no gains within 3 years? Boggles my mind. Sometimes I wonder what people are doing wrong.. I mean putting on some muscle is not rocket science. Eat clean, put in the work, rest, repeat. I think people fundementally misunderstand working out. They ask "fitness experts" for training plans online, how many sets and reps they need to do, which exercise is "the best" ... how could another person tell them that? Everyone is different. Just do as many reps as you can perform with good form and try out different exercises and training systems to find out what works best for your body. Most importantly listen to your body. Isn't it very simple?

These people put more effort into finding "perfect" plans and diets than moving their body, actually doing something. Personally I think it's much better to try out things by yourself, experimenting and making changes in between, exchanging knowledge online with like-minded people and learning on the job than begging fitness youtubers in comment sections for advice or buying their training programs that aren't even individually made for you.

I think people are just lazy, they want a perfectly layed out path to muscle growth, (which doesn't exist) without trying out things by themselves and constantly learning by experimenting, reading online articles, watching online tutorials and taking bits and pieces from everywhere.

I also don't understand why it isn't deeper engraved in our culture to keep your body fit and in shape. Why are so many people obese these days?

It's a nice sunny day and I'm the only guy out there running. I don't understand why these people outright refuse to move their bodies. Yet they will be always quick to complain about knee pain, back pain or whatever. People even get issues with their hands from typing too much on keyboards, WTF !?

They rather go to massage studios to get short time relief than actually moving their bodies fixing the problem longterm once and for all. It doesn't even cross their mind! I'm speaking from experience, I know these people. They complain all the time yet they don't do anythng about it. Well, get your ass off the sofa and workout how about that? Of course I don't tell them that, they would be offended, but that's what I'm thinking within myself. It's really not that hard to stay in shape.

What do you think?

[Mr Average]

Well I love being a couch potato, why should I workout? I am not obese, yes I have body fat, but how many people who workout are totally ripped? How fit are the workout people really? Can they keep working out for 8 hours a day, for 5 days a week? Can workout people maintain the same level of exertion all day? Can workout people keep on working out for 3 hours before their first break?

JRG not all the people who do not workout are lazy. JRG if you think people like me are lazy, just try it for yourself, workout for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week using the same intensity and see how long you last. Your about 28 years younger than me, so by rights it should be easy, shouldn't it?

[Michael]

I don't think there's anything wrong with people who exercise or just do physical labor. I do both about 6 days a week with no problem. I think the problem is when people get obsessed with working out. There are people that can get obsessed with work also. For myself exercise is used for fun, to feel good, my health, and for injury prevention. But You have to have a balance with the rest of Your life. If You take it so far as to not enjoy family, friends and other things it's more of a sickness. In that case, You should be wearing blue speedos and a ponytail.

You can't change what other people do health wise. If You share something with them it's ultimately up to them to make the changes. But I wouldn't obsess over others. Family and Friends You always want to try to get them on a better path with health. It's not always because someone is lazy. It can be many factors like motivation, know-how, too much information, etc....

[Dave Reslo]

I think much as you said in the first line, some people are enjoy exercising and put in the effort and some don't. Plenty make some effort for a while but they are only chasing results, not enjoying the process, so they quit. Yes, some get obsessed and flounder for a long time and injure themselves, again these people aren't doing it because they savour the moment.

As for cultural factors, gym classes in the west are focussed heavily around sports, particularly team sports. In team sports, fat kids don't do anything and become even more sedentary. Getting everybody to do 15 minutes morning exercise would probably yield much better health results.

[trog]

As thinman said, when I was a lad, you rarely saw fat people and never fat kids. We used to play outside; one huge advantage of growing up in Australia was the brilliant climate, which is conducive to being out in the fresh air. Of course, kids in colder climates played outside too. There wasn't the distraction of mobile phones, PC games and we only had three TV channels to watch. At school we did all kinds of activities in PE. I was never a fan of team sports (I was always on the skins team, which I hated in winter). I did like athletics though, even though I was rubbish, and I really loved it when they took us roller skating. I spent a lot of my childhood skating. Swimming was good too.

Why do I exercise now? When I was in my thirties, I was in a bad motorbike crash and the doctors said I needed to exercise my legs. Back than I was the 7 stone weakling featured in the Charles Atlas ads. I met a ageing bodybuilder in the gym and he helped me a lot. After a few months, I noticed that I wasn't a 7 stone weakling and things in life became easier. Simple things like hoiking my motorbike onto the centre stand, carrying the groceries, etc. So I carried on lifting. I'm not 100% sure that I really like being to the gym, but I do like the results, especially if I feel wrecked after a heavy session. I also feel very guilty if I don't go.

[josepz]

Apr 17, 2019 18:19:59 GMT justregularguy said:

Disciplin doesn't exist, you either like to do something and are happy to put in the work or you don't !

You clearly never had to quit smoking, man

Also, you don't need discipline when you've already learned to enjoy your routine, but you definitely need it to start exercising.

I enjoy working out and can't imagine myself being sedentary, but that's now. When I started exercising at age 13 I was a nerdy lazy f·u·c·k who had just decided to stop taking his asthma medication. Therefore, my father forced me into going to the gym and running with him. And well, bye bye asthma. Welcome, fit life. But note that he had to force me into it, and I required a lot of discipline during the first few months. I didn't get addicted until I started to see results.

I can't talk about women but isn't every man craving for strength, muscles, a fit, healthy body?

Clearly not every man, or we'd all follow the same route in life.