Can't pay attentio..oh look a chicken!

I think i have a problem exersizing because i can't EVER pay attention to what i am doing, get distracted, don't do myself any good and then stop and go home. Before i go to the gym i try to decide what i am going to do since i am a total space cadet when i get there, i try to start with a 10 min warmup on the treadmill and then as long as i can on the eliptical (i have a fused spine so i can't run like normal) but i inevitable start thinking aboult something else i should be doing at home, lose my drive and go home after 15-20 min...I think i need a slave driver to sit over me and whip me into shape, wait, dont they call those personal trainers? I would love to have a personal trainer but i sooooooo can't afford one, and i have no friends who workout near me so i can't even use a buddy while working out! My new goal is to walk 4 miles 3-4 days a week but my feet start hurting at around 3 miles so i lowered the goal to three, but i find i want to give up at 2.5 and i am starting to get frustrated!!!! Any ideas to keep my mind focused enough to actually do my body some good at the gym?????

Music!!! Fast paced music will make you move. It's simple, music makes you move. Whether it be on the dance floor, in the shower, or in the gym.

Thats a tough one... I'm thinking you have to suck up the pain and focus on the task at hand (thats what I do) When I start to feel pain I know my workout is doing me some good. Maybe you should try a stationary bike (recumbent) if your back can handle it. I can eek out 1 1/2 hrs at 16mph on mine, I put some music on with a good rhythm and zone out. Anyhow.... good luck finding a workout you can focus on.

I forgot to mention a have tried with music and without.

You need will power.  You need to go to the gym with the mind set that you need a 10 minute warm, a minimum of 20 minutes in the zone, and 5 minutes to cool down.   More is fine.  Less and your cheating yourself out of a workout.

I'm the same way.  I start a task and immediatley my mind is on the next task.  If I wasn't washing the dishes I could be sweeping the floor-or washing clothes-or exercising---so on and so on.  What I have learned to do after much wasted time spinning my wheels is FOCUS.  Focus on the task at hand-push the mental thought process away.  I know (first hand) that it is hard.  But you can do it.  Just tell yourself (over and over again) I am going to complete this task FIRST.  Then I will move on.  Good Luck

A couple things that could maybe help: When I first started working out, I would have trouble staying motivated so I started listening to books on tape. Not only does this take your mind off everything else, I made a rule that I couldn't listen to the books unless I was exercising. I started really wanting to hear what happened next, and the next thing I knew my workout was over and I couldn't wait for the next one.

Another thing, do you do any of your walking outside? If so, plan a circular route, or one where you have to walk 1.5 miles then turn around. That way, you have to finish the walk so you can get back to where your house/car is.

I live my life by a routine and most of those routines are set out in excel schedules LOL, draw or make yourself a chart that tells you what you have to do each time and tick it off as you do it. So 10 mins treadmill, 10 mins elliptical, etc etc. that.

Hope that helps

yeah, you really just need to work on your willpo....

WHOA! is that a chicken!?!

If your gym offers classes you might try those. My gym offers the competitor to Les Mills (so, it's Group Kick/Power/etc. instead of Body Pump/Combat/etc. but not much difference other than the name and the music choices) and that's the ONLY way I can go and not feel like I'm floundering. Not only is it a set time period for you to work out, but you have an instructor telling you what you need to do next (and helping you do it right, if they're good). Not as good as a personal trainer, but beats the heck out of self-directed workouts. See if your gym offers something like that. If not, see if some other gym nearby does!

You know, the gym isn't really for everybody. I belong to a gym and I use the free weights there and maybe the cardio machines once a week or so- but I have to do varied kinds of exercise that are different every day. Let's face it- those cardio machines are boring, even with good music. It's easy to get distracted, and your best bet might be to find a kind of exercise that excites and inspires you.

The suggestion above me to try the classes at the gym is a really good one. That is usually what I do at the gym- I take a spinning class and a strength training class. The instructor works hard to keep it stimulating and since you're part of a group, you can't exactly walk out when you get bored.

Also, there are out-of-the-gym exercises too. Have you tried swimming? Hiking or walking? Bike riding? Hiking and bike riding have varied scenery. My main problem at the gym is just staring ahead at nothing while I am doing cardio, that drives me nuts.

Another tactic, when I do have a cardio gym day (like today, since it's so cold outside) is to change it up a lot. I'll do 10 min treadmill, 5 min elliptical, 5 min treadmill, 5 min bike, etc etc. In between each cardio machine, I'll do a few minutes of weight training. It becomes a game and it is different every few minutes. I find this to be a very effective workout too.

Good luck with your fitness!

Love the tagline. I have the shirt!

I agree that moving from station to station is a good strategy for an attentional issue. Is it really attention though or motivation?

I took my students to the gym for a talk on stress by our campus Phys Ed professor. He is actually a refreshing guy for PHED in that he says if you don't enjoy it, you're not going to do it. So focusing is good advice, but maybe you can reconsider your motivation. Are you doing this exercise to lose weight or because you're "supposed" to to be heathy? Extrinisic motivation like that rarely is effective in the long term. You want to find something you can enjoy. (As an aside, he warned to use music with caution, as he said you can get moving with the beat instead of the pace you need and overextend yourself very easily.)

I only go to the gym when my workout buddies are there. Otherwise, it's no fun for me. Also, you never "get anywhere" at the gym. I much prefer to be outside and have a goal. I don't really exercise: I walk a couple of miles to the store for whatever errand I need to do. We work with scouts, and hiking and biking are part of that. The fact that you get somewhere appeals to me and holds my attention, as well as keeping me motivated.

How about planning what you are going to do in advance, writing the plan on a piece of paper, and then following the steps on the paper?

How bout setting a time for yourself to leave. Say you go in at 4 oclock, tell yourself you are not allowed to leave til 5, 5:30... or however long a workout you need. Plan for it so that you can tell yourself "This time frame has been set aside for the gym. Nothing else is more important. When I planned this gym period, I didn't need to do _______, so it can waitr til I'm done".

I used to have the same problem kinda. I'd get working out then I'd start thinking about how I should be studying, not working out and I'd always leave early to hit the books. Now I don't allow myself to leave til my set time, and the books are waiting for me when I finish.

The people who said classes have a pretty good idea...  I know where you're coming from, I have a terrible time doing cardio at a gym.  It's boring, repetitive, and I can't stay focused, so I just never do it, even though I've got 24 hour access to a gym at work, and have no freaking excuse.

So I did something totally different, and joined a rock climbing gym.  Now, rock climbing isn't for everyone by a long shot (not a good fit with your back problems, I think), but there are lots of things like it that are fun, challenging, and keep your mind on having fun and doing well instead of "Oh god, I have to go another 10 minutes, this is sooooo lame."    I like rock climbing because I'm so focused on not falling off the wall I totally forget about the time.  :)  Find something that's actually fun, instead of just healthy, and it gets a lot easier.  Maybe that's rock climbing, maybe it's jazzercise, or swing dancing (works up a sweat, I assure you), or kick boxing.

Losing weight is hard enough as it is. If you're trying to do something you hate *and* overcome a short attention span, you're fighting an uphill battle.  :)  And one of these things is way easier to fix than the other, unless you're going on Ritalin sometime soon.

I find the best way for me to keep exercising is watching either a TV show or a movie while I'm going at it. Watch something fairly engaging/interesting to you and before you know it, 30 minutes are gone by - or 60, w/e. I know one of the gyms next to my place has like 7 screens in front of the cardio section, each showing a different channel.

Good luck :)

Hey ok so this is just a suggestino but why don't you try walking 2 miles in the morning or whenever you get your first chance, and then later after or before dinner or in mid-day, wakl another 2 miles. This way you get your four miles in for the day. Also if you find it very boring like I do to walk you could try buying a pedometer (ou can get one for $10-20 at wal-mart or meijer's or a sport's store) and you can go to the mall or a large store and walk. This makes it much more interesting because you can look at everyting in the store. Also you may want to try out roller blading, it may sound stupid but it is way more interseting than walking!

On the days I truely can't conentrate I go to the park and chase squirrels.  For serious.  I don't know what I'd do if I ever caught one, but suffice it to say I and all my furry friends are in excellent shape.

I often lose attention when on the treadmill and start looking away...like somebody dropping a weight or a cute girl walks by ( I'm a guy, what do you expect ? )...which is bad because I'll start drifting toward the opposite direction that I'm looking. That's very bad when running > 6.5 mph..so, I find if I turn my music up ( to tolerable levels ) and ignore the tvs that my gym has and stare at myself in the mirror or the brick wall and sing the lyrics to myself I keep attention away from other people. I also found that by draping my towel over the treadmill display, I lose track of time, which ends up being better for my cardio.

edit: some people have called me twinkle toes...because I'm so uncoordinated, so that's why my attention is important when running :)