The Saga of Someone who Hates Strength Training!

I am a cardio fanatic.  I can run or bike for miles, swim for an hour, and I have a blast doing it!  I keep my bike on a trainer or do cycle classes so I can ride all winter long.   I swim all year r0und.  I am just as happy to run on a treadmill when it’s cold outside.   I am exhilarated after a good cardio workout  and I look forward to exercising each day.  To me it is not work, it is fun.

But I am also getting old (the big 6-0 is nearly upon me).  So my doctor tells me that although my heart and lungs are in great shape, I need to start helping my bones by doing strength training.   But I hate it!    Let me repeat that: I. HATE. IT!

So my saga begins.  I only want to do cardio.  I know that strength training will help me in my swimming and running.  I know that leg training will make me bike better. It’s not a lack of knowledge and understanding.  I have been training for 40 years, but nothing, absolutely nothing motivates me to keep doing strength training.  Believe me, I tried it all.  I’ve done classes, worked with a personal trainer, worked out with friends, but i still hate it and absolutely cannot motivate myself to do it.  (As I write this, I am suffering pain across my body from doing a strength training class yesterday – I know no pain, no gain, but yuck!)

Something like Crossfit makes me want to puke.  And every time I enter the weight room to do a few exercises, I wander around aimlessly, bored and un-motivated. My husband is an avid weight lifter, and he doesn’t understand my aversion to weights. He is all about getting bigger and stronger.  Not me – I just want to make myself healthy and keep my doctor at bay.  She doesn’t like me to be breakable.

I So I need help and I am asking you – how do you do it?   How do you make yourself like strength training?   What motivates you?   What keeps you from whining?  Any ideas are welcome and appreciated.   Thanks in advance 🙂
Saga