What psychological barriers prevent people from exercising regularly, and how can these be overcome?

[Kellyamy]

[Finchie40]

Depression or sadness or failure to thrive , when someone gets so low with their life , they tend to not give a shit about anything , they are pretty much hoping to drop dead because they see no future with their life or tired of the struggles they are constantly going through , I had a few friends’ kill themselves because they suffered from severe depression, they pretty much sat around all day and no longer cared about anything , they did drugs all day and started stealing and lying to people like no tomorrow , their whole outlook on life went down the tubes , they didn’t care if they got fat , they didn’t care about anything pretty much , some of my friends’ overdosed on drugs and a few of them killed themselves. So it’s definitely a mental disorder that eventually makes someone throw in the towel pretty much. I have felt depressed from time to time but lucky for me I am able to snap out of it , but their were times I felt like throwing on the towel as well and just giving up on life. Especially this past year and a half my life did a big 360 , I lost my mom and my older brother 3 months apart from each other , then I lost my job that I really liked and thought I would retire from , but my company decided to close down the doors after Covid hit us , Finding a new job hasn’t been easy for me , I been applying like crazy and getting nowhere , my finances are getting tight and I can barely pay my bills , my wife decided to ruin our marriage because she is a selfish POS person , so my life lately has been nothing but shit , but for whatever reason I am holding on and
Keep trying even though at times I feel like just throwing on the towel and saying fuck this life , like what’s so great about it after being shit on for the past year and a half. I use to exercise regularly but that all came to an end once I started feeling depressed and pulling my hair out

[Sonorous]

For most, it's just a lack of true want.

For them, the pros of working out don't outweigh the perceived cons of the lifestyle change & discipline involved.

To be consistent with working out at first, we have to be very disciplined & smart with how we train, eat, sleep, etc.

And in terms of it being a new introduction into a life, we really need motivation at the start. Then it gets easier of course, becomes routine, & motivation isn't needed as much.

But many don't get past that first stage. Because that stage comes with inevitable setbacks & if a person either doesn't know how to or doesn't have much interest in navigating them, they'll likely just give up because it's much easier. Especially if they don't see the reward of continuing to outweigh the cons.

[Sonorous]

And I personally don't think people will overcome this. I'm cynical. People need to be forced to. Not at gun point. But in a creating an obstacle kind of way. We would walk more if there were no cars. We would move more if we had to hunt & gather our food. We would sleep better if we didn't have so many toxic substances & other sources making it more difficult. We would have more time to take care of our bodies if everything wasn't so expensive relative to the average wage.

There's a reason why wealth is correlated to physical health. They can afford better recourses which translates to better health.

[DrPepper12]

⬆️⬆️⬆️THIS!!! ⬆️⬆️⬆️

[DrPepper12]

Lack of partner
Lack of role model
No family history of gym
Already unhealthy
Denial
Excuses like no time or $
Not prioritized
Fear of beginning
Fear of being ridiculed
Fear of looking like a noob

[Billlewis]

Most of the time, the hardest part about getting in good physical shape is the beginning. Once you start making some progress, it gradually becomes easier, because you are seeing and feeling the results. So the biggest challenge is getting started, and sticking with it for the first 2-3 months.

[LiamJHayden]

I think @DrPepper12 answered better than I ever could. I am addicted to being healthy, so my problem is the opposite. Sunday is my day off and I still feel like going for a run.

[exitseven]

People are inherently lazy and can make excuses for not working out

[Kaizer000]

Depends on who the person is and what their goals are. A few could be lack of motivation/fear/insecurity

[Wise4myage]

Weight and laziness.