The inspiration for this post came from reading a column on the All About Romance blog by Leigh Davis entitled Do Readers Exercise?

I’m not somebody who enjoys exercise, and I generally hate going to the gym (it’s so bloody boring) but I do enjoy swimming and running, and because I’m aware that the older I get, the harder it gets to keep in shape, I try to make sure that I do at least one of the above physical activities per week. At the moment I run three miles (5km) every week, and various friends have been trying to get me to go to Zumba classes and spinning classes with them.

I’m going to Zumba class this week with one of my besties, but if I don’t enjoy it, or I don’t feel as if it’s actually doing anything for me, I wont bother going back. When I exercise, I want to see results. I want to sweat, and I want to feel energised. I’ve been reassured that I will experience all of the above after my Zumba class. We’ll see.

I go through periods of not exercising, but this certainly hasn’t been through excessive book-reading. Luckily for me, my work life is pretty active, and as I travel a lot, I never really feel unhealthy. Well, that is until my jeans start pinching, then I’m forced to cut out carbs and fat for a while.

The following excerpt from Leigh’s post struck me the most:

While poverty does play a part in the same states continuing to top the list, part of the reason also seems to be that if your friends are heavy, then it more acceptable for you to be heavy. If your friends exercise and incorporate a healthy lifestyle then you are more likely to do so, too.

This totally rings true for me. Most of my friends go to the gym regularly, and make it part of their every day life, so I guess I unconsciously feel the pressure to make sure I do the same.

Leigh also mentioned in her post about combining the two things by way of the audio book. I’d probably enjoy going to the gym more if I had a great book to listen to whilst on the treadmill.

I wonder what the stats would be if we got together all the avid book readers in the world and assessed the amount of exercises they undertook on a weekly basis. I suspect that at least 70% of us would be declared unfit, and unhealthy.

What say you? How often do you exercise?