[cyphar]

> Many people, including myself, find exercise to be mind numbingly boring, and intellectually insulting.

I used to think the same way but decided one day that I was going to walk/jog ~10km every day and eat healthy. Now, I really enjoy walking. It gives me a chance to think about the problems I've been trying to solve during the day, what I'm going to do tomorrow, etc. And at some point I actually started enjoying the _feeling_ of doing exercise. It's hard to describe, and I know that myself from 12 months ago would believe me but I definitely wouldn't want to stop exercising.

So my recommendation is to spend your time while exercising thinking about whatever was bothering you during the day. It's quite relaxing, frankly. To be fair, my exercise routine doesn't include the gym but the same logic applies there.

> (Pick up a weight and put it down? That is quantitatively zero work, buddy. No thanks.)

While true if you're using the strict physics definition of work, its not true if you use the common meaning of the word.

[Swizec]

To add to this: find a sport you enjoy and keep doing it. Don't be afraid to test and iterate.

And remember, if it took you 20 years of practice to become a hardened couch potato, don't expect to change overnight.

[greenshackle]

I get utterly bored with new sports within 3-6 months. This has happened with every sport I have tried, no matter how much I loved it at the beginning.

Some people enjoy repetition. Some... really don't.

For me the challenge is to keep finding new interesting sports.

[Swizec]

Hey whatever works :)

I've been boxing almost every day for almost 6 years now. The more into it I get, the more there is to discover and the tougher my sparring partners get. It really doesn't feel like repetition at all.

So maybe you just haven't found a sport you liked yet. Or haven't given them enough time to reach a level of mastery where it doesn't feel so repetitive anymore.

[Symmetry]

Personally, deciding to exercise more plus books on tape has done wonders for the number of books I finish each year.