For most of my life I always hated the idea of exercise just for the sake of exercise. I would try to find activities where exercise was an associated benefit. Hiking, skateboarding, rock climbing etc. Eventually being an adult slowly killed all of my recreational fitness outlets and I ended up teetering on the edge of overweight.

With the goal of getting back in shape, I tried a few gyms but I never got into it. It always felt like a chore. Turns out the problem for me was that I am a cheap bastard, and I was only considering the least expensive discount shitty gyms. One of my friends convinced me to try out a pricier more fully featured gym and it made a huge difference. Well maintained equipment, group classes, child care while you work out, showers that didn’t scare me. It was a lot less intimidating, and it switched the gym experience from feeling like a chore to feeling like a break.

It’s been a couple years now, and I’ll say, having once thought I’d never be a gym person, I’m now definitely a gym person.

Not saying it’d be the same for everyone, just what ended up working for me.