Comment by Herring

Really sad that modern life/society is generally not structured for actual wellbeing. One thing I will complain about forever is the sheer lack of time one has. After work/study, chores, and basic self care, there is no time left in the day. I would exercise more if it wasn't competing on a list of 100 other things I need to do today in the 1 spare hour I have. By the time it gets to the weekend, I'm so tired I don't want to do anything much, let alone difficult exercise.

> Advising people to exercise doesn't work and doesn't scale.

Agreed, in so much as telling people to exercise leads to a relatively small increase in the number of people exercising.

> Gyms are for people who have plenty of intrinsic motivation and money and time.

I'd say yes most people who regularly exercise at a gym have some kind of intrinsic motivation, but that's generally true of anyone with any activity.

Gyms with almost any kind of equipment, classes, and amenities are absurdly cheap: ~$30 / month. For the vast majority of Americans, that cost is well within a reasonable budget.

Time: TFA's time of 3 hours a week as an example is not insignificant but I wouldn't categorize it as extreme or "plenty of time." This investment could easily take from the amount of time Americans spend sitting and looking at a screen for entertainment. (Saying this as an American)

> To improve physical activity at the population scale and over a lifetime, it literally has to be built into the design of the cities, so people get enough exercise while walking to work or grabbing groceries.

I'm a bit more cynical as I believe a significant increase in the percentage of Americans who get a good amount of exercise is extremely unlikely. Any program or proposed change to policies necessary to affect such a change is DOA.

People don't go to a gym because the vast majority of folks are uninterested in exercise for exercise' sake: they want to look good. Unfortunately, improved physical appearance due to exercise takes longer than folks expect it to take.

Don't need a gym. Yoga mat and 4 weights are more than enough. I've been doing this for years and happy with the results.

I think that one huge factor is that people almost seem to be intent on turning sport onto a chore and moral duty. And tests of characters end up being around as appealing as cleaning the toilet.

Sport can be pleasant and fun. It can be social for people who want social. It can fulfill more then one goal.

But, instead the expectation is that people will pick the most boring thing (running, gym), that they will commit to amounts of times and periodicity that makes life's harder and that nothing fun enough actually counts.

What? Every city and small town I have ever lived in has had publicly accessible outdoor workout stations and running paths. A pair of running shoes is about 120 USD and good for ~500 miles.