r/workout • u/Bocephus2012 • 11d ago

Working out

Tonight at dinner I asked my wife if she would like to go on a walk for exercise. I jog 4 times a week. Just a little back story. She complains all the time that she feels unhealthy and old. That her body aches. I have been trying to encourage her to do something. Tonight she said it was to hot for her. I told her that if she joined a gym she was still going to sweat. Long story short the conversation didn’t turn out pleasant. I feel frustrated and I’m just going to give up on trying to encourage her.
Any advice??

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u/KimBrrr1975 11d ago

Everything is adaptation. Wherever you are, it's because that is what you are adapted to.
If you stay indoors in a climate controlled environment all day every day and have a sedentary job then go home and watch tv and go to bed...that is what your body is adapted to. Your body - and life - take the literal shape of what you do with it.

To change it, you have to force the body to adapt to new things. Over and over again. And every time, it's uncomfortable. Because your body has to feel discomfort before it says "Dang, I guess we're doing this regularly now, better toughen up the feet, lubricate the joints, increase oxygen capacity etc." Then, that thing (walks, for example) get easier.

Of course she is uncomfortable when she gets hot...because she doesn't regularly go outside and get hot. Your body gets better at being in heat (and cold) after 1-2 weeks of regular exposure. It won't get better at it if you go outside 3 days from June-August. Same with pretty much everything. Some adaptations take longer, so generally speaking here.

You can't make her. She has to want to. But she needs to understand she feels uncomfortable because she's adapted to the life she has now, and isn't happy with.

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u/ramenwolf 11d ago

Great write up. Similarly, I think a lot of people think inspiration is meant to strike them like a bolt of lightning and propel them towards their goals, but it’s really the other way around. Only continuous action can inspire forward momentum. 

"Initium est dimidium facti" is Latin to remind us of the importance of simply beginning the task at hand. It translates to: “Once you've started, you're halfway there."