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Comment by apatters | Hacker News Reader

The article is ranty but I thought she made an interesting point. I'd like to exercise more but fitness fanatics--OK I'll be polite, enthusiasts take it all really, really seriously. The gym is not fun to me, all the structure is not fun, if I say this a lot of fitness enthusiasts will turn up their nose and basically suggest that I'm an inferior life-form who should just MAN UP and do the work(out).

I work enough as it is, can I do a playout instead?

It's like one personality type has a lock on the whole habit. Maybe a more fun approach could draw in other groups of people.

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I hope this doesn't come across as dismissive because I am genuinely curious: where are you interacting with these vocal fitness people? Because when I go to the gym I would say 95% of people are in their own world and wearing headphones. I've been going to the gym for 3 years and I don't think I've talked to another person there beyond "are you using this equipment" more than a handful of times.

I think these obnoxious people are experienced outside the gym - there's one or two at your office, one of two in your wife's friends, one of two of your old college friends. When the conversation turns to what's new in their life, or how's their day going, they recount their fitness ordeals.

Also outside of the classic gym - yogies, spinners, crossfitters - tend to be more social and evangelical during and after their workouts.

I think what your describing is gate keeping.

I've noticed this phenomenon as well I refer to it as working out in the prison yard. Everyone looks super serious and can't smile cause I might get shanked.

One suggestion to add on to what the others have said is find maybe a sport like tennis, racquetball, dodge ball, kickball and join a league. You'll meet people who take things seriously and you'll meet people that are having fun, ignore and lose to the serious people and laugh/learn from the having fun types. Find a buddy that has a similar mentality to exercise and go do goofy things in or out of the gym.

Also try a trampoline park(like Get Air). I work out several times a week lift weights, cardio, etc. Nothing was more sweat inducing than taking my kids to a trampoline park for an hour, I needed days to recover from under used muscles I didn't even know I had.

>can I do a playout instead?

Of course. That's why people do activities like hiking, tennis, surfing, basketball, biking, etc. For many people they are just fun activities that also help with fitness.

My experience has been that there are many different personalities.

Someone who goes to the gym to set PRs in weight lifting is going to be different than someone going spinning in winter to stay in condition for cycling in summer.

Also, different gyms have different styles. One gym I went to didn't have the largest weights because the owner felt that the people interested in that level of strength training would be better served at a different gym. This was also the gym where one of the members would practice his break dancing moves.

He later sold the gym to a chain, and the personality and member base changed. It went from a place I enjoyed going, with fun dance workouts, to the more "regimented dancelike experience" of licensed choreography, and their own line of exercise clothes and foods. I left that gym.

So, perhaps there's another gym that better fits what you want?

Here's how I see it -- and I don't like gymbros either. I once worked alongside a Crossfitter who worked out at noon, and once he'd changed out of his dirty, sweaty things, hung them over the supports of his desk to air them out, forcing me to lay down a protective barrier of spray Lysol to avoid choking on the fumes. So going to the gym is definitely not a core part of my identity, especially since I don't want to be that guy.

But I still do it. I've been out of it for a couple months and am trying to get back. I have to be somewhat systematic about it for two reasons: a) I have to do the proper lifts with the proper form; b) my body parts get tired and need a couple days' recovery before they're ready to go all out again so I have to do at least a two day split. But yeah, other than that it's just a matter of showing up, and finding and settling into a groove. I gamify it a bit: can I set a PR in squats today? Some days I'm just not feeling it, and I go home telling myself, well, at least you put in the work.

I think there have already been a lot of attempts to make workouts "fun", and the problem really is that the approaches that have worked, i.e, produced good fitness results, turn people into enthusiasts. CrossFit is notorious for being "cult-like" but it has inspired plenty of people -- especially women -- to get into fitness in a really hardcore way.

As someone who has been working out for the past 30 years, I consider the gym to be a commons. What ruins it for me are people who reenact the tragedy of that commons.

There's the guy who takes three towels and hogs three machines at once and gets all shirty if you ask to use one of them while he's elsewhere. Then there's the Iron Man who leaves at least 300 pounds of weights on a barbell after he's done with his sets. And there are the wolf packs of either women or dudes that alternate on a machine for 45 minutes straight exchanging war stories about WTFEver and not letting anyone work in with them.

I approach the gym like I approach work: as something to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible. One of them benefits my body and the other benefits my wallet. But even then, I genuinely enjoy a good run outside on a beautiful trail in the early evening or morning.

And all that said, I'll take my grim ritual over the sciatica, lack of endurance, and general lack of health I had previously.

Your story is a big part of why I invested (Probably $1,000 over 11 years) in some equipment for home. Just the basics. Squat rack, bench (two now), barbell, and weights. I realize this isn't an option for everyone. But, for those who can, and also can't stand people like three towels guy, it's a good alternative.

There already are more fun approaches, and have been for awhile. Do combat sports, Judo, Boxing/Kickboxing and BJJ. Any of those will give you a fantastic workout.

You should try rock climbing gyms. It's a really fun way to workout.

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