I hate exercising

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Now I do like stimming, but I hate exercising. When I run and have nothing to work toward, I hate the pound pound feeling on my kneews as I do so and I feel like I cannot think abut anything other than that pound pound feeling. I can think of other stuff, but it's pound pound. The same happens when they tried to teach me to dance as a kid. I hated the feeling on my body parts of each step that I had to take. I would do the exercise program faithfully at first, but like a 3-day monk, I would end up not going through with it. I would lose interest and "skip" until I stopped going.

Now what I do like are stimming and playing a game of an actual team sport (like Ultimate). I guess it's because I have something other than the exercise itself to focus on.

Any other aspies/auties here the same?

Even though I used to be in to lifting weights in the late eighties, I find it hard to get enthusiastic about exercise, especially in the summer when it's hot. I do it for my dogs, and because I sleep better. I don't exert myself much during the day as I have a desk job.

I've found what helps me is to go for a brisk walk in a quiet place without a lot of commotion. If I had to walk or ride bike alongside a busy road, I would give it up in a hurry too.

I need lots of physical activity to stay calm and sane, but could not do running for the reason you mentioned or any repetitive movements on a machine (boring!!), especially in a gym with lots of other people around. For me, physical activity must include:
1. working towards a goal (I'm far too clumsy to compete in anything but have specific group hikes to prepare for.)
2. being outside most of the time, in the woods on hiking trails, moving at a brisk pace but with plenty to look at.
3. doing exercise dvd's for weight training, general conditioning, and yoga (all make me feel so relaxed when I'm done and prepare me to carry a backpack).

In the past, I enjoyed group fitness classes but don't have the opportunity where I live now. Even though I felt shy in the group, something about the group effort, with a good teacher, just lifts your mind above the effort, like magic!

Well, so maybe there are some activities you haven't tried yet that would suit you better and that you would end up really enjoying.

The key is:
get a routine and stick to it; we all like to have a routine, it gives us structure and helps us feel calm.
I'm not saying this is the way to go for everyone, but this is my routine:
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, I drag the exercise bike into the living room in front of the TV and stereo.
I either put on some music, or put on the TV, and watch something I have recorded or a DVD.
I do 25 minutes on the bike, at an average speed of 20 km/h.
I also do 100 abdominal crunches.
Don't get me wrong, I hate doing my exercise, it sometimes hurts, and its' a pain in the butt to have to get the bike out and do it.
I also make sure that when I do my exercise, I put on a pair of lycra shorts (not bike shorts, but just above the knee swimming shorts), and a sleeveless t shirt - it's an exercise shirt, and it wicks away the perspiration.
If I didn't wear these, I would not persevere, as the chaffing and friction and distraction of wet clothes would prevent me continuing.

I also go to the pool every weekend, and do 300 squats and 40 laps.
Again, I hate doing it, but I take my wife with me, and pop her in the pool first.
If she can commit to swimming every weekend - and I have to lift her out of her wheelchair and put her in the pool to do it - then who am I to say it's too hard and I don't want to do it?

The problem many people face is they don't feel motivated to exercise, and they want to feel "in the mood" to do it. Guess what; if you wait until you feel like it you'll never do it. The only way is to do it even when you feel like crap, when you feel like you'd rather go to bed, or you just can't see the point.
Why? Because when you do, you'll burn off the stress, the hormone imbalance that feeds your depression and anxiety, and you'll get your body in better shape in the long run.
That and you'll eventually feel as fit, if not more so than others your own age.
You don't want to be in your 40's wishing you could go back to having the body you had at 20 - you can't do that, but you can work on having the best body you can manage to have for your age.

You don't have to be a gym junkie, or even go to the gym, you just have to make an effort when it feels like there is no point, because otherwise crap is as good as you're going to feel.
I'll never be an Arnie Schwarzenegger, and I may not even get rid of my spare tyre; but at least my body can usually do what I want it to, and I can feel there is some hope for keeping the anxiety and depression from crippling me, and that's got to be worth the effort.

I hate exercise too. It's very monotonous for me, and I never feel good afterward. I do not like the feeling it gives me.
As for team sports, I am far too clumsy for that sort of thing, plus the interdependence in a team sport makes it an ordeal for me.

And that is why I partake in little to no physical activity!

I hate exercise for its own sake. I'd rather do manual labor.

benh72, I wish I had your determination.

I am terrible at sports and my stamina is embarrassingly low. My co-ordination is bad with most sports and I always hated doing sports in school because I was always the weird person told to go stand really far away so that no-one would have to play with me. I used to be picked last every time, even after the physically disabled kids. Probably I still let this effect me more than I should.

That said, there are some sports I enjoy if I can find a friend willing to play with me. Basketball, which is fun even though I'm bad at it, and racquet sports because my hand-eye co-ordination is better than my body co-ordination. I also enjoyed doing self-defence as long as it wasn't too physical or embarrassing. But since my fitness level is low I'm always sweaty and dying for air, I have cramps, my head pounds, my throat kills...exercise just isn't fun.

Occasionally I'll try and do a bit of exercise because I feel ashamed of my body. Then I remember how much I hate it and when everyone makes fun of me I lose any confidence to try. So nowadays, the only 'exercise' I do is walking to the shops instead of driving.

I'd rather run on the Elliptical machine in the gym. It think it is lower impact on the knees.

Also, the gym machines have TVs and sometimes I can distract myself from the monotony of the elliptical or treadmill if there are any good shows or movies on.

I see diet and exercise as the lesser of two evils. before when I ate yummy food and just lazed around, I was sick all of the time. so I determined that I would rather feel good than taste good [IOW feel healthy by avoiding yummy but unhealthful foods, and be tired from exercise rather than tired from being in poor shape].

I don't get what this madness about exercising is all about, it's never I've really considered or really done except for PE in grade school or something. Nor my family except for the jock types. If you don't want to do it, why not do something else? Sometimes I stroll around in the city center with my friends while hanging out but that's about it. What's the big deal?

True. I can walk. I know some nice areas for that; too bad, they're not within quick reach of my house. Walking through my neighborhood sucks because of all the concrete.

I like to bike, hike, skate, and ski.

I hate running.

Walking is OK, with music.

I like to take walks in the evening after the sun goes down. It's cooler, quieter, and no sun.

I miss being able to run. I vented lots of nasty humors that way, back in the day, when no physical ails got in the way of my feetsies and legs having their say.