Conquer Exercise
- joeruddock
- Feb 2
- 2 min read
Did you see the news last week (https://www.npr.org/2026/01/12/nx-s1-5667599/exercise-is-as-effective-as-medication-in-treating-depression-study-finds) highlighting research showing that exercise can be as effective at treating depression as medication?
Great news if you’re already on a January health kick.
But what if exercise is something you struggle to make time for, or simply don’t enjoy?
Here are two stories from my coaching work that I hope take some of the pressure off, plus a few tips to make exercise easier and more enjoyable.
What do you actually enjoy?
Not what YouTube influencers tell you to do. Not what you “should” be doing. But you. Listen to your body.
Yesterday, I worked with someone who told me:
“I hate sport and exercise.”
We explored whether that had always been true.
“Well… I did love boxing at school…”
As she talked, her face lit up. Being a southpaw, she spoke of the edge she had over the other girls, the exhilaration she felt after sessions.
So I asked: “Do you still box?”
“No, with the kids and everything, there’s hardly time.”
“How much time would you actually need?”
By the end of the session, she’d identified a local gym with a one-hour boxing session on Thursdays and had emailed for more info.
Exercise. On her terms.
But what if you feel so unfit you don’t know where to start?
Very understandable. I’m working with a client right now who’s limited in movement due to his weight and breathlessness.
His aim is to join a gym, but he fears being laughed at. A fear many of us carry from school.
The reality? Most people will either think, “Fair play, good on him,” or more likely, not think anything at all. People think far less about us than we imagine.
Alongside mindset work, we came up with a simple but powerful strategy.
Postcards.
Yes, really.
He’s super creative, thoughtful, and loves staying connected. So he designs and sends postcards to friends and family.
The postbox? 200m away.
That’s 400m there and back.
Three times a week.
That’s 0.74 miles a week. Nearly 3 miles a month. Over a marathon a year, from someone who lives a pretty sedentary life.
More importantly? It feels achievable. And it’s building a bridge to the gym 💥
So, some top tips:
• Tune out the noise. What do you enjoy?
• Don’t expect time to magically appear, it won’t. Make time instead. Walk during a Teams call, cycle to work, do the ironing standing up.
• Reframe “should” and “have to” into “I choose to” or “I want to.”
• Use what’s already around you; your area, your support network, even your local post-box.
• Start smaller than you think you need to. Confidence grows from success, not punishment.
Exercise doesn’t have to be extreme to be effective (although as the picture shows, extreme-ironing does exist!).
It just has to be yours.
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