Fitness

If exercise can make you feel good, why do so many people hate doing it?

Published

4 months ago

February 23, 2026

If exercise can make you feel good, why do so many people hate doing it?

Meg Wingerter
| The Denver Post

Denver — The evidence is clear: Exercise has mental health benefits, although studies have come to different conclusions about how large it might be.

And yet, when February rolls around again, the gyms suddenly aren’t so crowded as New Year’s resolutions lose their shine. Nationwide, only about 30% of people meet the federal guidelines for physical activity, and even in famously outdoorsy Colorado, just 35% do.

So if exercise gets the endorphins flowing and gives a quick mood boost, why do many people find it hard to stick with?

The popular perception that exercise produces endorphins, which then raise mood, isn’t wrong, but it oversimplifies complex interactions between brain chemistry and mental states, said Katrina Oselinsky, a post-doctoral researcher at the Health and Wellness Center on the University of Colorado’s Anschutz Medical Campus.

The same person could experience the same workout differently from day to day, depending on how they’re feeling, what else is happening in their lives and the setting where they exercise, she said.

“While endorphins are part of the picture, there’s a lot more going on,” Oselinsky said. “The same workout can feel energizing for one person and uncomfortable for another.”

While a subset of people get an immediate “runner’s high” in response to intense exercise, not everybody has the same experience, which can set others up for disappointment, said Emily Hemendinger, an assistant professor of psychiatry at CU Anschutz.

Brains differ in how sensitive they are to rewards, so some people are primed to get more or less enjoyment out of exercise – though, obviously, factors such as past experiences with exercise matter, she said.

Exercise does trigger a release of chemicals that give most people at least some sense of pleasure, but it doesn’t generate a tsunami that could drown out a person’s lack of comfort in their body, fear that others are judging them, perfectionism, boredom, physical pain or exhaustion, Hemendinger said.

“It’s not like doing drugs, and what that lights up in our brain right away,” she said.

For most of human history, exercise didn’t exist as a separate activity: We moved because we needed to find food or because we were doing something inherently rewarding, such as dancing, said Marcelo Bigliassi, an assistant professor at Florida International University.

Now, people need to find a motivation for exercise, which isn’t always readily apparent, he said.

“We don’t do anything without a reason,” Bigliassi said.

While the brain releases dopamine, triggering the desire to repeat exercise, it can also get “really creative” in coming up with ways to avoid something uncomfortable, Bigliassi said. To get around that, people need to focus on finding something challenging enough to give them a sense of accomplishment, but not so tough that they give up, he said.

“We don’t want people to find something they don’t like, exercise at high intensity, probably injure themselves and… feel like a failure,” he said.

The data is clear that, over time, exercise improves both mental health and cognitive abilities such as problem-solving, Bigliassi said. But many people give up long before they see those benefits because they set themselves up to fail or aren’t prepared for bumps along the way, he said.

“Consistency is much more important than everything else,” he said.

People who believe they’ll be able to accomplish what they’re trying to do report more enjoyment from a workout than those who feel defeated at the start, Oselinsky said. Having support from the people around you also improves the experience, and new exercisers tend to develop more positive feelings as they get better at the activity, she said.

Of course, we humans aren’t always great at sticking to something we don’t like, even if we know it brings benefits. So a non-exerciser’s best bet is to choose an activity they like or to bundle exercise with something else they enjoy, such as getting outside, spending time with a friend or pet, or listening to music or podcasts, Oselinsky said.

“If you’re trying to force yourself to stick with something you don’t like, it’s going to be harder,” she said.

People often feel that they have to go to a gym, but movement throughout the day can be as good as a dedicated exercise session, Oselinsky said. That could look like doing physical labor at work, schlepping toddlers whose motivation to walk is shaky, or tending a backyard garden come spring.

Federal guidelines recommend 150 minutes of moderate activity or 75 minutes of vigorous activity each week, with some sort of muscle-strengthening exercise on two days.

But any movement that someone enjoys is a step in the right direction, whether that means jumping on a trampoline or playing with their dog, Hemendinger said.

“Joyful movement’s hard to find, but it’s important,” she said.

Click to comment

Fitness

The Best Fitness Trackers for Your Lifestyle, Workouts, and Goals

Published

7 hours ago

June 20, 2026

Press Room

The Best Fitness Trackers for Your Lifestyle, Workouts, and Goals

Like every piece of gear you wear on your body day in and day out, fitness trackers are incredibly personal. The right tracker for you should be comfortable, accurate, and tailored to your lifestyle, including your preferred workouts and health goals. Do you bike, row, or strength train? Do you run on trails for hours at a time, or do you just want a reminder to stand up every hour? Do you want to wear it on your wrist or your finger, or tuck it into your sports bra?

No matter what your needs are, there’s never been a better time to find a powerful, sophisticated tool to help optimize your workouts or jump-start your routine. We test dozens of fitness trackers every year while running, climbing, hiking, or just doing workout videos on our iPads at night, to bring you these picks.

Our top choice for most people is the Garmin Vivoactive 6 ($300), which works well with Android and iOS, but we also vouch for the latest Oura Ring 5 ($399) and the budget-friendly Google Fitbit Air ($100). For more wearables, check out our guides to the Best Smartwatches, Best Smart Rings, and Best Sleep Trackers.

Jump To

Best Fitness Tracker Overall

Garmin makes some of the most accurate fitness trackers on the market, and the Vivoactive 6 is the best midrange option for most people. It strikes a solid balance between smartwatch features and fitness tracking, with support for both iPhone and Android users.

Why WIRED recommends: The Vivoactive 6 is accurate, comfortable, and packed with useful wellness features without feeling overwhelming. It uses Garmin’s proprietary algorithms to power features like Morning Report and Body Battery, which provide daily insights into your sleep, recovery, and readiness. It also has built-in satellite connectivity and GPS, so you can track outdoor workouts without bringing your phone along. There’s also incident detection, which alerts emergency contacts if it detects a serious fall.

Garmin’s biggest advantage remains its free Connect platform, which enables health and fitness tracking without requiring a subscription. The company also continues to add new software features through regular updates without putting them behind a paywall.

The trade-offs: Garmin launched Connect+, a $70-per-year subscription with extras like live tracking and access to Garmin’s AI-powered Active Intelligence. Former editor Adrienne So doesn’t think most people need it, but it’s worth noting if you’re looking for a completely subscription-free experience. The Vivoactive 6 may also feel like overkill for casual users who only want basic activity and sleep tracking.

Fitness

Why this unexpected exercise is most effective for building arm muscle in your 50s – and how to do it properly

Published

18 hours ago

June 19, 2026

Press Room

Why this unexpected exercise is most effective for building arm muscle in your 50s – and how to do it properly

When it comes to building strong, defined arms, traditional fitness advice will usually point you toward endless sets of bicep curls and tricep extensions. But according to Dr Stacy Sims, a leading women’s exercise physiologist specialising in perimenopause and menopause, isolation movements like these aren’t necessarily the most effective. Instead, she advocates for one functional compound movement: the farmer’s carry.

Speaking on podcast A Life of Greatness, when host Sarah Grynberg asks how to get arm muscles like Dr Sims, the 51-year-old explained: ‘In order to get shoulders like this, heavy farmer’s carries. I’ve been travelling so much this year, and I haven’t been in the gym being consistent with all the push presses and Olympic lifts that I love to do, but what I have been consistent in doing is heavy farmer’s carries.

‘It’s good for grip strength, learning how to walk properly, core strength, shoulders – so if there’s one move everyone should do, it’s heavy farmer’s carries.’

The magic of the move lies in its ability to engage your biceps, triceps, shoulders, forearms and hands all at once. And because your arms are working continuously to stabilise heavy loads against gravity, the exercise activates the deep muscle fibres that don’t fire up as efficiently in single-joint arm movements, like bicep curls. Here’s how to do it with proper form, plus how heavy to lift and a workout to try, straight from Dr Sims.

How to do a farmer’s carry

Standing with feet hip-width apart and weights at the outside of the ankles, hinge your hips back and bend the knees, keeping your back flat.
Tighten up your lower back and abdominals before reaching down to grab the weights.
After gripping the weights, begin to stand tall by driving your heels into the ground, maintaining a tight form. Once you reach full standing position, tighten your armpits and make sure your shoulders are pulled back to activate the muscles in the rotator cuff area.
Finally, begin to take small steps forward, maintaining a strong grip and form. If you’re returning in opposite direction, set the weights down, turn around, and then grab the weights again before walking in the opposite direction.

Set/reps for results: Aim for three sets. Try timing your farmer’s carry for 25 to 30 seconds or go for 10 steps forward and back.

Form tips: Start out with a light weight to ensure you don’t end up leaning too far forward or towards one side. Make sure to keep your back straight for safety. When it comes to moving, small strides will do. They’ll keep you balanced as you increase your weights.

How heavy to lift

As for what “heavy” means to Dr Sims, she says: ‘How many people have heard that you should be able to farmer carry 75% of your body weight for a minute? That is made up from bro science. It’s a good metric but there’s no science behind it. So, a heavy farmer’s carry is you have two very heavy dumbbells by your side and you’re walking back and forth.’

Here’s a weight guide to follow:

Beginners: 2x 4-6kg
Intermediate: 2x 8-12kg
Advanced: 2x 12-20kg

Farmer’s carry workout

Dr Sims shares a descending ladder workout to try.

500m ski
500m heavy farmer’s carry
400m ski
400m heavy farmer’s carry
300m ski
300m heavy farmer’s carry
200m ski
200m heavy farmer’s carry
100m ski
100m heavy farmer’s carry

‘If you really have anything left in the tank after this workout, you go back up in 100m,’ she adds.

womens health magazine cover featuring a fitness theme

One of our most frequently asked questions here at Women’s Health? How to build muscle and burn fat at the same time. So, we asked superstar trainer Oyinda Okunowo exactly how to do it. In this 4-week plan – created exclusively for Women’s Health COLLECTIVE members – you’ll get the workouts and nutrition guidance needed to help you on your way to better body composition. Tap the link below to unlock 14 days of free access to Oyinda’s plan and start training today.

Get the plan

As Women’s Health UK’s fitness director and a qualified Pilates and yoga instructor, Bridie Wilkins has been passionately reporting on exercise, health and nutrition since the start of her decade-long career in journalism.

After earning a first-class degree in journalism and NCTJ accreditation, she secured her first role at Look Magazine, where she launched the magazine’s health and fitness column, Look Fit, before going on to become Health and Fitness writer at HELLO!

Since, she has written for Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Elle, The Metro, Runner’s World and Red. Today, she oversees all fitness content across Women’s Health online and in print, spearheading leading cross-platform franchises, such as ‘Fit At Any Age’, which showcases the women proving that age is no barrier to exercise.

She has also represented the brand on BBC Radio London, plus various podcasts and Substacks – all with the aim to encourage more women to exercise and show them how. Outside of work, find her trying the latest Pilates studio, testing her VO2 max for fun (TY, Oura), or posting workouts on Instagram.

Fitness

When is the best time to exercise in the heat?

Published

1 day ago

June 19, 2026

Press Room

When is the best time to exercise in the heat?

The sun is a welcome addition to our exercise routines come summer – but the novelty of a sunny run or hike can quickly wear off as the temperature climbs. With heatwaves and record-breaking temperatures already this year, it’s important to know the best time to exercise in the heat for the weeks ahead.

Obviously, if you don’t like the heat and would rather be inside, then you can exercise in an air-conditioned gym or studio at any time of day. A good swimming workout is another way to stay cool. However, if you enjoy running, hiking, cycling, or a garden strength training workout, it makes sense to choose the coolest times of day. In the peak of the summer, this is before 10 am and after 5 pm, but the earlier (or later) you can go, the better.

The body reacts differently in the heat, making exercise above 20°C degrees feel harder, even if you’re doing the same workout you did in the cooler months. As the temperature climbs, blood vessels dilate to push blood towards the surface of the skin to cool it down, which means there is less in the muscles. This means your heart has to work harder and beat faster.