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.

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.

> After work/study, chores, and basic self care, there is no time left in the day.

I find that hard to believe.

I'm a single parent and manage to find the time for exercise. I wonder what life situation you have that you have "1 spare hour".

> By the time it gets to the weekend, I'm so tired I don't want to do anything much, let alone difficult exercise.

I can't help but think you just don't want to exercise...

Again, you need a better solution than just blaming individuals because that isn't working at scale. The US is a significant global outlier in healthcare. It spends substantially more per capita and as a percentage of its economy than any other high-income nation. Despite this high spending, the health outcomes are average to below-average on a wide range of key metrics (life expectancy, infant mortality, etc). It's not sustainable long-term. And there's no silver bullet, you'll need multiple great solutions.

I'm not blaming anyone, just observing that they don't actually want to exercise.

> The US is a significant global outlier in healthcare.

What has the US to do with any of this?

> Despite this high spending, the health outcomes are average to below-average on a wide range of key metrics

That's because health outcomes are mostly affected by lifestyle and luck, rather than high spending.

> And there's no silver bullet, you'll need multiple great solutions.

(Only slightly tongue in cheek) There is a silver bullet: Get rid of the cars, start using self-powered modes of transport, such as walking and cycling.

How many hours per day do you sleep?

Not many, actually. I'm sure that's pretty bad, too.

Right, yeah you can create more time in the day by sleeping less but like you say it's probably not good. For some reason I need a few more hours sleep than average, and it really negatively affects me to get less sleep than that on the regular. So I will make the argument that I have less time in the day :P

However you are also right that I don't particularly enjoy exercising. My point was more that life exerts various "pressures" which may reasonably reduce the likelihood of exercise (or any aspect of wellbeing). If we want to encourage higher wellbeing, we should probably reduce these pressures.

> 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.

> 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.

This is not true. I believe you if you say it's true in your area, but in most places it's not. I'm a traveling healthcare worker and I usually can't find a gym for under $80. There may be some that advertise cheaper prices, but that always comes with hidden fees which make them about the same as the expensive gyms.

As a healthcare worker you almost certainly have a discount plan attached to your health insurance.

For instance, Blue cross has Blue365. You can get significant discounts. See here:

https://www.blue365deals.com/BCBSIL/offers/active-fit-gym-me...

You're definitely right though for non-discounted prices, it seems they're up to 55-60 now unfortunately.

Thanks! I has no idea about this.

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.

If you want to lose weight, it should be plenty. If you want to gain weight, a squat rack, a bench, and a lot more weight are all necessary.

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.

You've misunderstood. It's not about people taking extra time out for exercise, it's about designing urban areas so that the normal activities of life are also exercise. For example, in cities with great bike infrastructure people will use it for their daily activities (see Copenhagen, Netherlands, Paris) getting exercise in the process of doing the stuff they are going to do anyway.

Running is not a good sport for most people because of its high impact.

I think everyone could benefit from running eventually, even though they may have to start by jogging or walking. But it's true that it's a sport that isn't for everyone because it's hard.

It may be hard but my point is that it's high impact. I can cause pain on knees, etc.

The danger of impacts from running is unbelievably overstated