Moving Around: Physical Activities, Exercise, etc.

[fablefound]

Hello, Melonland!
It's a week into 2026, and if you're anything like me, you think the whole Resolutions thing is kind of a pain... but gave it a shot anyway. Most of my Resolutions, I think I'm meeting halfway decently: I'm making art, making my bed, and making time to call my friends and family, all things I wanted to do more of in 2026.
One thing that's been daunting me, though, is the goal of finding a physical activity I like and sticking to it. Not in the name of any quantitative goal like weight loss or a six-minute mile, more just because I think it'd be good for my physical and mental health, as someone who's quite sedentary (and quite frail haha).
My problem? I have no idea what would work for me! All I'm doing right now is borrowing the family treadmill twice a week, and even that can take a lot of bandwidth somedays. Sometimes I'll go swimming, but that takes a lot of prep: getting into a swimsuit, heading to the pool, etc... and I used to quite enjoy walking around my neighbourhood, but the weather's pretty hostile to that right now. The only other thing I've found that presently works is following the occasional full workout on YouTube, which does feel quite silly. There're also yoga tutorials there, but I have some joint issues so I'm a little scared of overextending haha.
Being in a not-so-transit-friendly area and being too disabled to drive also doesn't help. The nearest YMCA is a ten-minute drive away but an hour by bus...
Taking to the contemporary web for solutions, I'm hit with ads for pay-to-join digital run clubs and pay-to-use AI personal trainers that'll "generate" your workout routine. It's all very bleh. So I figured I'd ask what y'all are doing to move around. :) Thanks for reading this little ramble, and hope to hear back from some of you!

[elliebees]

Hello ! I relate to this quite a bit, I have various disabilities that can make keeping active difficult both from a physical and a mental energy/sensory standpoint. One thing that really helps me is linking it to an interest of mine for motivation and to make it fun. For instance I love old tech, physical media, etc, so I have a collection of those old aerobics VHS tapes from the 1980s which I dance along too. It's very silly but that's part of the fun for me ! I also have a Wii Fit which is great for fun and gentle exercise as well as hitting the retro tech interest spot.

Also identifying and removing as many mental/physical barriers to activity as possible. For instance, changing into my Exercise Clothes from my regular day to day clothes was a barrier I identified as being difficult for me. So now I either put my exercise clothes on first thing in the morning, or I just exercise in my regular clothes. Either way, I don't have to get changed and its one less step.

Also making things physically accessible can be helpful. For instance if the weather is hostile outside (it is here too !) you can go on the treadmill inside where the environment is controlled. Or if you have problems doing a full yoga routine (same again, the poses make me instantly ouch, if I can even get into them) I've seen chair yoga videos which can be helpful for reduced mobility. Also worth looking up if there's any free or low cost exercise options in your area. For instance, there's a dance class near me for people with disabilities that I can use my disability funding to pay for. Or maybe community one runs that are a small donation to enter, or free ?

Best of luck on your getting active journey, I'm on a similar one ! 

[ThunderPerfectWitchcraft]

I was a giant couch potato for most of my live; with mid 20, I had a horribly aching back and a generally fucked up health. What worked for me is doing some light exercises; I began with 3 sets consisting of

1. 10x knee bends
2. 10x push ups
3. 10x a )sit-ups b) 20x dead bugs c) 20x an exercise where you get on all fours and then connect the knees/elbows over cross, dunno how this is called

I did this 4 times a week, increasing the number of the single exercises by 1 (2 for ones that started with 20) each day, until I hit the 100. I then added a fourth set, again with 100 knee bends/push ups/and an exercise that is like the 3.c) one, but done while standing. Somewhere in between, I started to do half of the push ups one legged, lifting the other leg to the air - around from that time on, my aching back got better; I don't have any issues with it nowadays. You don't need anything for this - only some sort of mat is recommended, but for the beginning, an old mattress does the job, there are no obligations/payments, and you are free to follow your own schedule.

I also started running at around the same time. I didn't go for speed, and I don't give much about using running shoes, but often use my Sandals or Winterboots - this way, I can just go running when I have some spare time. I started with 10 minutes a day, and increased up to ~1 hour per day. This got me from a COPD-diagnosis to being able to do half marathons.

At my height, I also went swimming once or twice a week - but I stopped this during Covid, and never got into the routine again; but I still go from time to time. I also love to go hiking; it is the only kind of sport I enjoyed for my whole life.

Have fun, and godspeed!

[batgal]

I am not sure if it will be helpful to you, but I was able to lose a significant amount of weight and get regular, daily exercise by playing DDR in my tiny studio apartment via the Stepmania emulator.

I always loved DDR since I was young--I used to live in a small town where we literally had nothing to do but play DDR at the movie theatre arcade after school. So for me it was a lot easier to convince myself to jump on DDR for an hour than to drag myself to a gym or go outside for a run.

It's really easy to get started too! You can start with the cheap plastic USB DDR mats which you can usually find online for like 25 bucks. Stepmania is free, and there's a huge database of official DDR songs, but also K-Pop songs, anime songs... really anything you wanna find, you'll usually find.

You can even download themes, characters, announcers, etc. to make your Stepmania look like official releases of DDR--right now mine is set up to look like DDR Supernova.

After a while, if you start regularly playing DDR daily and find yourself playing on higher difficulty levels above standard, you may find the plastic mat isn't working out anymore. Once I found myself playing very regularly, I invested in a metal USB DDR mat made by someone who sells them in Poland for about $350. A little pricey, but I've had it for over 3 years and still use it daily without issues, and it helped me increase my scores in more difficult level songs, which makes me play harder/work out harder.

I guess this isn't helpful for people who have no interest in DDR, but it was helpful for me so I figured I'd share!

[fablefound]

@elliebees
YESSSS i have some of the aerobics vids uploaded to youtube in my queue of videos to try >:) my music and pop culture tastes are about what you'd expect for someone dwelling this forum (e.g. nerdy) so the contemporary pop music workouts aren't scratching that itch, but i'm looking forward to hitting the retro stuff.
as for wii fit, the first thing i remember when i think of it is the darn thing calling my entire family overweight. fun times. x_x it's a cute lil device tho and i DO also remember loving some of the activities. that also reminds me of my covid-era obsession with the nintendo switch jumprope game?? i forget what it was called but it was free and kept me very busy haha.


@ThunderPerfectWitchcraft
that's so sick!! i'm currently working on building up my stamina on the treadmill--mostly walking, hoping to run more though once i can get strong enough--but it's nice to think that doing it means it'll get easier with time. i'm also doing a liiiiittle bit of strength training (physio-recommended, literally just reps with 5-pound weights) and those have gotten easier over time, which is really nice...
also, congrats on half marathons! that's incredible.


@batgal
wait this might be my favourite option yet oh my god. i LOVED ddr and similar games as a kid, and get excited whenever i have the rare opportunity to use a machine in an arcade. this is something i might seriously have to check out... thank you so much for the recommendation hehehe

[rhyswynne]

Okay, I realise I'm probably the wrong person to ask, but I'd thought I'd share my experiences.

My two things are cricket, and running.

Running I started because I hit the big 4-0 and got a warning that my health wasn't great. Nothing un-reversible, but something I needed to look at. Two things that got me through was a "Couch to 5k" app, which takes you from not being able to run, to 30 minutes running (it's still not 5k for me, probably about 4.5k!). It starts with nothing (I genuinely couldn't do the first one), but I ended up at the very least enjoying it a bit, plus it's outside. I feel outside does help a lot.

Dependent on where you are in the world, there could be a Parkrun. They are free community events which is a 5k run or walk to do. It gets quite addicting doing it. It's not everywhere in the world alas, but most of Europe and the big cities in Commonwealth countries, the US and Japan have at least one going on.

Also I do cricket. this is my summer activity as I've joined a team. I enjoy it as it gets me out and meets people, and it's something I can switch off to. It's completely different.

I think the thing for me which is crucial for physical exercise is that it's something you enjoy doing. If you don't then you'll stop.

[TheFrugalGamer]

A few things I haven't seen mentioned yet, and could be considered "light" in terms of exercise, are yardwork, gardening, and house cleaning. I know we don't usually think of those things as exercise, but if you wear a step counter while doing them, you'll find that you don't have any trouble meeting your daily step goals.

Working in the yard, when the weather is nice, makes you feel good, even if it's just raking up leaves or picking up trash. It also lets you connect with nature, which always lifts my spirits. If you're hauling around buckets of dirt and/or bricks, it also can help you build muscle.

House work is great for when the weather keeps you indoors, and there's usually always something to clean. You can practice squats really easily, since it almost always involves picking things up off the floor. Plus, you'll have a cleaner house afterwards.

I'll be honest, though, I don't usually do housework as exercise--I do it when I'm angry or frustrated. It has the same effect, though--it makes me feel better when I'm stuck feeling helpless!

You might also look into "bodyweight fitness", which focuses on doing exercise without equipment. It can help to keep you from feeling like you have to invest in expensive gym equipment in order to see results.