Hate exercise? Michelle Segar on why it turns into a chore

If you hate exercise, look at the sessions you've tried before you blame yourself. Pick an activity you'd choose for fun, do it at a pace where you can still talk, keep it short enough to say yes to, and notice one thing that felt better afterwards. Those changes work on the feeling that decides whether you go next time.

Most people who "hate exercise" have a history with it: a gym membership bought in January, a running plan that hurt from day one, a class where everyone else knew the moves. Each try was serious and each one felt like paying a debt. Then it stopped, and the lesson people take away is that they're not the type.

Michelle Segar, of the Sport, Health, and Activity Research and Policy Center at the University of Michigan, reads the same history differently. In a short video for her book No Sweat (the video promotes the book, and so does the podcast below), Segar names the usual reasons people give for exercising: to lose weight, for better health or better numbers, to avoid a disease decades from now. "When we start exercising with the wrong whys, it turns exercise into a chore," Segar says. "It feels like a should, an obligation" (YouTube, 1:10). People keep it up for a while; then the motivation fades and they stop.

This guide gives you three things to use: a way to check why a session feels like a chore, three changes to the session itself, and a reason that pays off today.

Why does exercise feel like a chore?

1. Check the reason you're exercising for

Ask yourself why you exercise, and the answer is usually something far away. Segar's research found a problem with that. "Weight loss and body shaping is not a motivation that keeps most people motivated for the long term," Segar told Brett McKay on The Art of Manliness (YouTube, 5:29). The surprise, in Segar's account, was that health did no better.

That came from a study Segar led of 226 women aged 40 to 60 who worked at a US university, followed for a year. Women whose main goal was to feel better day to day took part in more exercise than women whose goal was their current health, though both groups valued their goals just as highly (Segar et al., 2011). It's a link in one group of women, not proof of cause. Other studies point the same way: across studies of New Year's resolutions, single exercise sessions and a three-month span, immediate rewards like enjoyment went with sticking at a goal, while delayed rewards like health did not (Woolley and Fishbach, 2017).

Health matters. As the reason that gets you out the door on a tired Tuesday, it's weak, because it pays out years from now. In practice, keep the long-term reason and add one you can feel this week: a clearer head after work, half an hour that's yours, time outside.

2. Notice what the forecast is reading

Before each session, a quick feeling answers before you've decided anything. One theory of exercise, from Brand and Ekkekakis (2018), describes it as an automatic gut response built from how past sessions felt. Sessions you dreaded teach it to say no, and a plan can only overrule it for so long.

That forecast is often wrong in a predictable way. In four studies with 279 adults, people underestimated how much they'd enjoy a workout, across yoga, Pilates, aerobics and weights. The researchers traced it to the start: people gave the first, unpleasant minutes too much weight. When they thought about the whole session, they expected to enjoy it more (Ruby et al., 2011).

And the feeling during a session matters for the next one. A 2020 review found a consistent link between feeling better during physical activity and doing more of it later (Stevens et al., 2020). In a small study of 37 inactive adults, those who felt better during a moderate session tended to be more active 6 and 12 months later, though the link weakened once the researchers allowed for how hard the session felt (Williams et al., 2008). These are links, not proof. They suggest that a session you dread today makes the next one harder to start, and a session that feels fine makes it easier.

Change the session, and the forecast can change after it.

How to make the session something you'd choose

3. Choose by fun, not by effort

Most people pick the activity that looks most effective. Katy Milkman, a behavioral scientist at Wharton, has a different suggestion, from the research of Fishbach and Woolley: "If you're at the gym, for instance, pick the most fun workout you can do instead of the most effective… You see better results" (Hidden Brain, 13:55). Only a small minority of people look for the fun way on their own, Milkman adds.

A year-long study of 250 new members at 25 Norwegian gyms points the same way. Of the motives the researchers measured, enjoyment was the strongest predictor of going regularly, ahead of confidence and support from others (Gjestvang et al., 2021). A review of 66 studies found that people who exercise because they like it, or because it matters to them personally, tend to keep at it (Teixeira et al., 2012). Both show links, not causes.

Here's what that looks like in practice. List three things you'd do for fun that involve moving: a walk with a podcast, dancing in the kitchen, a swim, a game with friends, cycling to see someone. Pick the one you'd look forward to most, even if it looks less like "real" exercise. The most effective activity only works if you keep doing it.

4. Slow down to a pace where you can talk

Of everything that shapes how a session feels, the 2020 review names intensity as perhaps the factor most robustly linked with it (Stevens et al., 2020). Most people's mood holds at a moderate pace and drops once the effort goes past a certain point, and that point differs from person to person. People who chose their own pace tended to feel better and stay active more than people given heart-rate targets.

So use a simple test instead of a number. At a moderate pace you can still talk, but not sing (NHS). On a scale from 0 (sitting) to 10 (all-out), moderate sits around 5 or 6 (CDC). If a session leaves you unable to speak, it's harder than you need while you're building the habit. For more on effort and soreness, see no pain, no gain?

Stop if anything hurts or you feel unwell.

5. Let a small session count

The second thing that turns exercise into a chore is the size of the session in your head. Segar calls it "people's beliefs about what constitutes a valid session of exercise." If the only session that counts is an hour of hard effort, then a tired day leaves you with "I can only achieve X, then why bother?" (YouTube, 9:10).

Public guidance has dropped that bar. UK and WHO guidance say any activity is better than none, and that bouts of any length count (WHO). A ten-minute walk at talking pace is a real session. It's also one your gut can say yes to on a bad day, which keeps the habit of starting alive. See do short workouts count? for the research on short bouts.

Give each session a reason that pays today

6. Name the reason you felt

At the end of a session, name one thing that felt better: more energy, a clearer head, half an hour that was yours, less wound up. It sounds soft, but it changes what the session is for. Segar's study found that women who exercised to feel better day to day did more exercise over a year than women aiming at their health (Segar et al., 2011). A reason you can feel this week keeps working; a reason for years from now gets outvoted by a tired evening.

You don't need a big feeling. On average, regular exercise lifts how energetic people feel by a small to moderate amount, in a review of 81 trials with 7,050 participants, some with health conditions (Wender et al., 2022). That's an average, not a promise for any one session. Noticing what you did feel gives your gut one more good memory to forecast from.

7. Save a treat for your sessions

Pair the session with something you already want: a podcast, a playlist or an audiobook you only allow yourself while you move. Milkman's research on this, called temptation bundling, is covered in our short read on temptation bundling. The pull tends to fade over time, so refresh the treat when it does.

Should you wait until you feel motivated?

Waiting tends to keep you waiting, because the forecast you're waiting on leans on the hardest minutes. Segar describes a "motivation bubble" that gets people started and then bursts when the reasons are the wrong ones. The fix she points to is a session that feels good enough to come back to, not more motivation beforehand. For motivation in general, outside exercise, see how to get motivated.

If you haven't been active for a while, the NHS suggests speaking to your GP first. WHO and US guidance say that for light to moderate activity, like brisk walking, that's generally not needed. If checking would put your mind at rest, do. If you have chest pain, fainting, a racing heart or unusual breathlessness when you're active, a heart, kidney or metabolic condition, or a doctor has told you to limit activity, check with a doctor first, then come back to your plan.

Back to the chore

The person who hates exercise usually hates a particular version of it: too hard, too long, chosen for someone else's reasons. Segar's research says that version was set up to fade. Choose the activity by fun, slow it to a pace where you can talk, let ten minutes count and notice what felt better afterwards. In her own words, the wrong whys turn exercise into "a should, an obligation." A session with a reason you can feel today stops being one.

To build this around your own week, try the 1h Protocol to Build an Exercise Routine, a program of practical education. Its free first chapter starts with a quick check, asks how your last try went and how it ended, and finds your pattern: the Big Plan, the Floating Slot, the Long Gap, the Chore, the Wrong Room or the Tune-up. For the Chore, your first step is a version you'd enjoy, at talking pace. The full program takes about an hour, over seven chapters, from why the last one stopped to the slot after a miss and your week. You leave with up to three changes to start now, each with an alternative, your own line for the slot after a miss, a log that counts the week with planned skips, your slots in your calendar, and reviews on days 7, 14 and 30. Four one-tap check-ins follow by email on days 1, 7, 14 and 30, if you're signed in. Start free

For the routine as a whole, see how to make exercise a habit. If the gym itself is the problem, see gym anxiety.

Frequently asked questions

Why do I hate exercise?

Often because of the version you tried: sessions that were too hard, chosen because they looked effective, done for reasons that pay off years from now. Michelle Segar's research suggests those "wrong whys" turn exercise into a chore (YouTube, 1:10), and hard sessions teach your gut to forecast the next one badly (Stevens et al., 2020).

How can I make exercise more enjoyable?

Choose an activity you'd pick for fun, keep the pace where you can talk but not sing, pair it with a podcast or playlist you save for sessions, and notice one thing that felt better at the end. In a study of 250 new gym members, enjoyment was the strongest predictor of going regularly (Gjestvang et al., 2021).

Is it better to do the workout I enjoy or the one that works best?

The one you enjoy, if it means you keep doing it. Katy Milkman says people told to pick the most fun workout instead of the most effective one "see better results" (Hidden Brain, 13:55). Any activity is better than none (WHO).

Should I wait until I feel motivated?

No. The forecast that decides whether you feel like it leans on the first, hardest minutes, and people tend to underestimate how much they'll enjoy a whole session (Ruby et al., 2011). Start with a short version you can say yes to, and let the session change the forecast.

Does health make a good reason to exercise?

It's a good reason to start and a weak one to keep going on a tired evening, because the payoff is years away. In Segar's year-long study of 226 women, those exercising to feel better day to day did more than those exercising for their health (Segar et al., 2011). Keep the health reason and add one you can feel this week.

Sources

This article draws on Dr Michelle Segar's video No Sweat, interviews on The Art of Manliness and with the Next Big Idea Club, Katy Milkman's interview on Hidden Brain, and the studies and guidance listed below.

• Dr Michelle Segar, No Sweat: lasting motivation to exercise (author video, 2015)
• Counterintuitive advice on making exercise a sustainable habit, with Dr Michelle Segar (podcast episode, The Art of Manliness #575, 2020; YouTube upload)
• Dr Michelle Segar on the science of getting motivated to exercise (interview, Next Big Idea Club, undated)
• You, But Better, with Katy Milkman (podcast episode, Hidden Brain, 2021)
• Segar, Eccles and Richardson, Rebranding exercise (one-year observational study, 226 women aged 40 to 60, 2011)
• Brand and Ekkekakis, Affective-Reflective Theory of physical inactivity and exercise (theory paper with evidence summary, 2018)
• Woolley and Fishbach, Immediate rewards predict adherence to long-term goals (five studies, abstract only, 2017)
• Gjestvang et al, What makes individuals stick to their exercise regime? (one-year cohort, 250 novice members of 25 Norwegian fitness clubs, 2021)
• Teixeira et al, Exercise, physical activity, and self-determination theory (systematic review, 66 studies, 2012)
• Stevens et al, Affective determinants of physical activity (narrative review, 2020)
• Williams et al, Acute affective response to moderate-intensity exercise predicts physical activity 6 and 12 months later (study, 37 sedentary adults, 2008)
• Ruby et al, The invisible benefits of exercise (four studies, 279 adults, abstract only, 2011)
• Wender et al, The effect of chronic exercise on energy and fatigue states (meta-analysis, 81 randomized trials, 7,050 participants, 2022)
• NHS, Physical activity guidelines for adults aged 19 to 64 (health information page, 2024)
• CDC, How to measure physical activity intensity (health information page, 2025)
• WHO, Guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour (guideline, 2020)