Discussion Exercise

[Imaginos]

Do you exercise? Do you feel it helps you? Would you still exercise even if I locked you in a room for 15 years?

I personally don't feel that exercise can fix my problems. In fact, it's damn near laughable to even suggest so. Still, I somehow keep on doing it. I honestly have no idea why, but I do. I'm also an agoraphobic hermit, so I have to work within the limitations of that. It's tough to do this sort of stuff even in the face of the fact that, since I never go anywhere or do anything, this effectively renders whatever gains I can manage to achieve deeply pointless. Anything done inside a vacuum becomes enormously difficult to justify doing. It just seems silly to think that if I ever do kill myself someday, how futile and pointless all this dumb exercising was. All that effort, all that sweat, and for what? No one ever noticed and no one ever cared. It made no difference whatsoever.

Many people say to exercise for the sake of one's health (which is funny since, being that I'm suicidal, what the hell does my health matter?), or to experience the positive endorphins that come with doing it. From my experience however, exercise does very little to improve my mood. I feel a little bit more energetic and perhaps a tad more relaxed, but such sensations are almost imperceptible and very short lived. As long as I continue to lock myself away, the benefits of exercise will always only be 1/100th of what they otherwise would be. The trouble is though; that I can never leave the tomb I've made for myself. I keep exercising in the face of utter futility. And as much as that's true, what else is there for me to do? I carry on out of a mixture of damage control and a desperate attempt to pass the time. Defeat and decay is certain and nothing I get from all my efforts will ever mean anything, but I put my sorry ass into it all the same.

 

[262653]

Yes. It makes me feel better and look better (if only for myself), but only when I feel like it, when the body is well nurtured and the technique is right. Yes, I would still do it, provided the conditions above will still stand. -5 might not be a positive number but it still beats -12 in "positivity".

 

[Sherri]

I don't exercise, my work is my work out. But I love long drives, it really help me with my mood.

 

[Mentalmick]

No, I certainly do not exercise. It takes decades of self appointed discipline not to exercise. My laziness known no bounds. I go for long walks with support workers.

 

[Last chance]

Nope it does nothing for me. Much like self love and doing things for me,its an alien concept.

 

[AE2021]

I exercise only because it helps me sleep better. I become totally miserable if I can't get any sleep.

 

[summers]

Do you exercise? Do you feel it helps you? Would you still exercise even if I locked you in a room for 15 years?

Yes, almost daily cardio and weight. I don't know if it helps - but it does make me feel better about myself. First, you do improve objectively - get faster, stronger. Second, you do look better.

15 years - that's like the hyperbolic time chamber in dbz haha.

 

[Imaginos]

Yes, I would still do it, provided the conditions above will still stand. -5 might not be a positive number but it still beats -12 in "positivity".

Hmm, I see. This would fall under the category of damage control for me and is about one of the only reasons why I still bother to do it anymore. It's not so much done to make myself "feel better", because often times I don't, but to simply slow the decline of my condition as much as is possible. In my case, I'm always at a -12 in mood and exercise never improves that figure, but it does stop it from slipping down even faster than it otherwise would be if I weren't exercising. In other words, if we look at it from a year by years basis, right now I'm a -12, but next year I'll be a -13. Nothing can stop this from happening, but exercise does achieve a slight mitigating effect where it can prevent that -13 from otherwise being a -13.5, which is a laughably small benefit, but that's all I can realistically expect to receive.

In addition, I guess it's also the small hope that if I can ever get myself in a "ripped" like condition someday, perhaps the ego boost from that will allow me some amount of confidence to finally do something with my life. I highly doubt it, but it's an idea my subconscious clings to all the same. If I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I'd remain trapped in this house until the day I die and that nothing and no one besides me will ever notice or care that I've stayed in shape, then I probably would never exercise again. Maybe it'll make the difference between meeting my true love someday, or something. As pathetic as it sounds, that's partially what I tell myself to keep on doing it.

Nope it does nothing for me. Much like self love and doing things for me,its an alien concept.

Yes, I can relate. All the flowery "life changing" bullshit that's heaped on exercise is just that. Total bullshit. Perhaps it varies from person to person, but I've personally never felt much of a noticeable satisfaction from exercise. Even when I've worked out very hard on a consistent basis and can see my muscles growing; it largely means nothing to me. At the end of the day, I'm still a suicidally depressed individual with nothing to live for. Without someone or something to do it for, the whole effort just seems pointless. I should "do it for myself", as I'm sure some might say, but I fucking hate myself and want to die. If I was only doing this for myself, I wouldn't have started doing it at all. It's always been predicated on these make believe notions in my head that my life will magically change once I get ripped. If I stopped deluding myself in this manner, then I'd never be able to exercise again.

I become totally miserable if I can't get any sleep.

Same here. In my case, I guess that's a small perk to my type of existence. Insofar as that I can sleep for as long or as much as I want. Sometimes however, my sleep won't be as restful as it usually is (maybe because of the alignment of the planets or something), which can be frustrating to deal with. The exhaustion which sets in post workout can help with getting to sleep in a small way, but even that feels pretty marginal. At least for me anyway. I seem to always feel more exhausted in the lead up to working out, as opposed to how I feel afterwards.

Yes, almost daily cardio and weight. I don't know if it helps - but it does make me feel better about myself.

Yep, I do the same. I also do a full workout, cardio and strength training included, pretty much every day. Wish I could say it makes me feel better about myself. You're pretty lucky in that regard, or maybe you're just normal and I'm the one who has the luck problem.

15 years - that's like the hyperbolic time chamber in dbz haha.

I actually was more referring to the South Korean film Oldboy. It's a movie about a guy who's kidnapped one night and is then locked within a room for 15 years. In his case, he starts exercising as a means to learn how to fight and to someday get revenge on his captors. However, if he had never gotten out, what difference would it have made? All that effort would've been pointless. This is the main problem I keep having to face myself, being that I'm pretty much in the exact same sort of position. If I never get out of this room/house then all the effort I've made so far will be rendered pointless as well. Without his lust of revenge to motivate him or his attempts to escape, I also wonder whether the character in that movie would've bothered to exercise at all. In my case, I have no one to exact revenge on and all the doors of this house are open. What can I motivate myself with? Even this fictional character had more of a justifiable reason to warrant exercising than what I can come up with.

Nothing can be done in a vacuum without a compelling enough reason to warrant the effort made. In this sense, I'm fighting a perpetually losing battle, since I have no reasons/motivations beyond retarded and exceedingly unlikely scenarios in my head which will never happen.

 

[Makko]

I enjoy long walks when I can find the time for it. And basic stretches in the mornings. That's all the exercise I'll ever do. Gym workouts and all that are entirely too boring to put up with.

 

[signifying nothing]

Most of mine is incidental to other activities, eg cleaning, shopping, etc. If there's not a need then it's hard to justify and/or find motivation.

 

[Imaginos]

Gym workouts and all that are entirely too boring to put up with.

This is something I forgot to mention, but you're absolutely right. Working out is, indeed, super fucking boring. At least for me anyway. The inherent tediousness of the routines are always a challenge to deal with. In my case, I do the exact same thing every night. It'd probably be better if I mixed it up somehow, but considering the limitations of my situation there's really only so much I can do. Even new workouts quickly become dull in a matter of days, if not sooner, no matter how much they're rearranged. Listening to music helps, but even that does little to make up for how boring it all is. I think anhedonia plays a role here too. Since I can't derive pleasure from anything, exercise is no different. This itself greatly intensifies the boredom factor. If I get myself winded and sweaty enough that can also help to distract me from how boring it all is, since I'm so out of breath I can't focus on anything.

Assuming I had the wherewithal to step outside, even walks are pretty boring. I've lived in the same town my whole life. I've seen all the streets of this city a thousand times before. Walking around here would be dull beyond belief and that alone would probably make it impossible to go for a walk, even if my agoraphobia weren't a factor here. I like walking nature trails for the novelty and the complete absence of other people, but that's about it.

 

[summers]

I actually was more referring to the South Korean film Oldboy. It's a movie about a guy who's kidnapped one night and is then locked within a room for 15 years. In his case, he starts exercising as a means to learn how to fight and to someday get revenge on his captors. However, if he had never gotten out, what difference would it have made? All that effort would've been pointless. This is the main problem I keep having to face myself, being that I'm pretty much in the exact same sort of position. If I never get out of this room/house then all the effort I've made so far will be rendered pointless as well. Without his lust of revenge to motivate him or his attempts to escape, I also wonder whether the character in that movie would've bothered to exercise at all. In my case, I have no one to exact revenge on and all the doors of this house are open. What can I motivate myself with? Even this fictional character had more of a justifiable reason to warrant exercising than what I can come up with.

Nothing can be done in a vacuum without a compelling enough reason to warrant the effort made. In this sense, I'm fighting a perpetually losing battle, since I have no reasons/motivations beyond retarded and exceedingly unlikely scenarios in my head which will never happen.

Well, my dream would be to live in the htc for a while. I wish there were some real way of training and living in something like 2x gravity for a sustained period of time, like some kind of room on a pendulum that rotated to create that effect.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I hate exercise and I laugh whenever anyone thinks it'll help me. All it did was make me more miserable and gain more weight because just the thought of exercise makes me want to go out and consume multiple meals in one sitting.

A few years ago I tried to get in shape. I had a gym membership and I consistently went for about three times a week. I would lift weights, go swimming, and use the treadmill. Every day my body was sore all over. "But it gets easier the more you do it" Yeah right. I call bullshit. I kept it up for over six months and it never stopped hurting the same way, the pain never got better, and I never improved. All the working out just made me hungrier and thus more irritable.

I don't know what the reason is but I can only be content while living as a fat slob, the kind that consumes over and over. It didn't even matter because I got diabetes anyway. Exercise might as well just be another religion, it's just fake positivity that doesn't work on me.

These days I go on walks for maybe like 30 minutes but I try to avoid them if I can because even those hurt too much.

 

[Spiral]

I feel the same futility towards exercise so I don't do it anymore, it doesn't make me feel better, it just makes me stress about making myself do it and gives me another thing to beat myself up about. Also it gives me too much energy which always results in insomnia and I like sleep so exercise can get lost lol
Ain't nobody got time for that (says me in my busy schedule of doing absolutely nothing at all xD)

 

[BeansOfRequirement]

 

[Fehler]

It make me feel good, I am a nerve and I need to move every day even a little and either with the rollerblade or walking. Even being locked up, I think I would continue with my routine of doing some exercise every day, even if they were dumbbells, but they bore me. If I exercise it is because it entertains me, feels good and helps me to disconnect a little.

 

[Imaginos]

Well, my dream would be to live in the htc for a while.

In my case, I kind of feel like I'm already living in a place like that. Perception-wise, time is at a complete standstill existing like this. I feel like I'm trapped here, which doesn't make it as appealing if I had otherwise chosen to be here. I guess it beats the breakneck pace madness of the outside world, but something in the middle between the two would be nice.

I wish there were some real way of training and living in something like 2x gravity for a sustained period of time

Yeah, agreed. I use ankle weights sometimes for leg workouts and that's sort of like going 2x gravity, although not really. Sort of like how Piccolo's clothes were super heavy, so that when he took them off he could move even faster.

I kept it up for over six months and it never stopped hurting the same way, the pain never got better

Yeah, that sucks to hear. Exercise isn't all it's cracked up to be, that's for sure. Maybe I'm a masochist though, but for me I actually enjoy that post workout pain. However, it only ever happens if I haven't worked out for a while and, even then, still disappears really quickly. In my case, I'd rather experience the pain because it makes me feel like somehow what I'm doing is working. When the pain is gone, it can be hard to know whether or not my muscles are really getting worked out that much. It just is more satisfying to feel the pain, since it means that I must've done something right.

I feel the same futility towards exercise so I don't do it anymore, it doesn't make me feel better, it just makes me stress about making myself do it and gives me another thing to beat myself up about.

Yes, the element of stress is a big one. Each night I'm always pressuring myself to put in another workout, even when I'd MUCH rather go to bed and sleep. If I start missing days, I feel like complete shit since I can't shake the feeling that I've failed myself and am risking falling off the horse altogether. In this way, the sense of obligation can feel downright suffocating and only manages to make me feel worse overall, not better. I mean, heck, even right now as I type this I know I still need to preform my due diligence for the night and put in another workout. Although it's a hassle, doing nothing carries with it just as many bad feelings. It's like I'm damned if I do, and I'm damned if I don't. Story of my life.

Also it gives me too much energy which always results in insomnia and I like sleep so exercise can get lost lol

Agreed. Even with the energy I might gain from exercise, it does me no good. As an agoraphobic hermit, there's nowhere else I can channel that energy anyway. It just gets me in this zone where I feel slightly pent up and tense because right after I'm done exerting myself, I go right back to being complete sedentary. It's a very jarring kind of back and forth between the two, and one I've never gotten used to.

If he's anything like us, I bet he's still dead inside. Even the heaviest lifts imaginable pale in comparison to the crushing weight which exists within a broken and empty soul. Not even the strongest amongst us can ever hope to deadlift the void.

 

[Spiral]

In my case, I kind of feel like I'm already living in a place like that. Perception-wise, time is at a complete standstill existing like this. I feel like I'm trapped here, which doesn't make it as appealing if I had otherwise chosen to be here. I guess it beats the breakneck pace madness of the outside world, but something in the middle between the two would be nice.



Yeah, agreed. I use ankle weights sometimes for leg workouts and that's sort of like going 2x gravity, although not really. Sort of like how Piccolo's clothes were super heavy, so that when he took them off he could move even faster.



Yeah, that sucks to hear. Exercise isn't all it's cracked up to be, that's for sure. Maybe I'm a masochist though, but for me I actually enjoy that post workout pain. However, it only ever happens if I haven't worked out for a while and, even then, still disappears really quickly. In my case, I'd rather experience the pain because it makes me feel like somehow what I'm doing is working. When the pain is gone, it can be hard to know whether or not my muscles are really getting worked out that much. It just is more satisfying to feel the pain, since it means that I must've done something right.



Yes, the element of stress is a big one. Each night I'm always pressuring myself to put in another workout, even when I'd MUCH rather go to bed and sleep. If I start missing days, I feel like complete shit since I can't shake the feeling that I've failed myself and am risking falling off the horse altogether. In this way, the sense of obligation can feel downright suffocating and only manages to make me feel worse overall, not better. I mean, heck, even right now as I type this I know I still need to preform my due diligence for the night and put in another workout. Although it's a hassle, doing nothing carries with it just as many bad feelings. It's like I'm damned if I do, and I'm damned if I don't. Story of my life.



Agreed. Even with the energy I might gain from exercise, it does me no good. As an agoraphobic hermit, there's nowhere else I can channel that energy anyway. It just gets me in this zone where I feel slightly pent up and tense because right after I'm done exerting myself, I go right back to being complete sedentary. It's a very jarring kind of back and forth between the two, and one I've never gotten used to.



If he's anything like us, I bet he's still dead inside. Even the heaviest lifts imaginable pale in comparison to the crushing weight which exists within a broken and empty soul. Not even the strongest amongst us can ever hope to deadlift the void.

View attachment 62252

I'm an agoraphobic hermit too xD that is why exercise is pointless for me, it's not like I need to be strong for anything, I'm not going anywhere, I'm not trying to look hot for anyone, people looming at me is my worst nightmare because of my social anxiety so making myself nice to look at is counter-productive lol
I 100% get you with the guilt and anxiety around sticking to a routine for workouts, there was a time when I also used workouts for pain too, like a secret self harm that nobody notices, they don't know if you worked out for 12 hours straight every day for a week and skipped all the rest days xD everybody thinks exercise is good so nobody will call you out on it or guess that you are just doing it for those delicious owwies xD
As for doing nothing at all I agree it's hard to distract my brain from negative thoughts when it's unoccupied but I am easily distracted so playing stupid clicker games on my phone is just as distracting but less effort than exercise lol.

 

[summers]

It make me feel good, I am a nerve and I need to move every day even a little and either with the rollerblade or walking. Even being locked up, I think I would continue with my routine of doing some exercise every day, even if they were dumbbells, but they bore me. If I exercise it is because it entertains me, feels good and helps me to disconnect a little.

I used to love rollerblading. Switched to cycling now, but I would love a pair of these, just don't want to spend $600+ The 3x125 speed skates look so sick, could hit some wicked speeds.

 

[Fehler]

I used to love rollerblading. Switched to cycling now, but I would love a pair of these, just don't want to spend $600+ The 3x125 speed skates look so sick, could hit some wicked speeds.
View attachment 62260

With this you get impressive speeds *__* (problem that where I live there are no sections where I could enjoy them)
The ones I want are worth 400€ but still I can't afford it right now

Spoiler

Being difficult to find and with that price I was also thinking of buying a bike x-)

 

[strangeceleste]

Exercise helps me when I'm working towards a goal (marathon training for charity) otherwise I'm not motivated. I enjoy sports though, I miss school PE lessons

 

[summers]

With this you get impressive speeds *__* (problem that where I live there are no sections where I could enjoy them)
The ones I want are worth 400€ but still I can't afford it right now

Spoiler

View attachment 62285

Being difficult to find and with that price I was also thinking of buying a bike x-)

I managed to find these on clearance for a very good price. Nice thing is the upper cuff is removable, so you can use them as either marathon or speed skates:


I built my bike from the frame up. It can be much cheaper to get a Chinese carbon frame and the components you want that way. If you want, PM me when you find a bike, and I'll let you know if it's a good deal. Some cheap bikes are absolutely terrible.

 

[Mentalmick]

I managed to find these on clearance for a very good price. Nice thing is the upper cuff is removable, so you can use them as either marathon or speed skates:
View attachment 62391

I built my bike from the frame up. It can be much cheaper to get a Chinese carbon frame and the components you want that way. If you want, PM me when you find a bike, and I'll let you know if it's a good deal. Some cheap bikes are absolutely terrible.
View attachment 62392

I'm confused by that bottom image. I can't seem to fathom for the life of me where the engine goes. It's very disturbing.

 

[saltshaker]

I'm confused by that bottom image. I can't seem to fathom for the life of me where the engine goes. It's very disturbing.

You've made basically this same joke like 5 times now. :) I dig it lol.

 

[BeansOfRequirement]

You've made basically this same joke like 5 times now. :) I dig it lol.

We all have to raise our post-count somehow.

 

[saltshaker]

We all have to raise our post-count somehow.

What is he? Some kind if guy with a high post count? I can't even imagine having a post count that high. It's perplexing.

 

[summers]

I'm confused by that bottom image. I can't seem to fathom for the life of me where the engine goes. It's very disturbing.

Don't an engine when you have these (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Förstemann)

 

[BeansOfRequirement]

Don't an engine when you have these (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Förstemann)
View attachment 62420

At the end of the vid they asked me how many Roberts I "needed", felt kind of gay tbh.

 

[Mentalmick]

Don't an engine when you have these (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Förstemann)
View attachment 62420

There's only one person capable of responding to a picture of such magnitude:

 

[TotallyIsolated]

I never do any exercise. It really bothers me and I hate being a disgusting fat blob, but I just cant summon the motivation nor the confidence to try anything. I'm too unfit to run and just the thought of going to a gym makes me want to cry. If I tried I would just fail.