Give me a physical game, something to do, and I’ll do it till I can’t walk
But I despise “exercise”, it’s mind-numbing repitition. Every minute in the gym I want to run away from it. I really do hate it that much.
But when I find the right exercises, I do notice an improvement in my thinking, how I feel physically (reduced intensity of chronic pain), I sleep better, etc. I was very slow to figure this out (until my 40’s). Like you, I said “this stuff doesn’t work”, and it didn’t, until I found what worked for me. Seems like no one mentions that part.
Maybe you haven’t found the exercises that work for you, or you’re mostly OK so what you’re doing doesn’t have as profound an impact (or maybe a bit of both).
If nothing else, do exercises that benefit the stuff you like to do. Skiing - do squats, etc. .
Since I’m quite old (I watched the Apollo missions live) I have tried a lot of things and ruined various parts of my body doing them. And these days, life situations limit my options. But one thing that still works is to find a good tune, something that’s randomly on the radio or high TV channels, and dance. Muscle memory turns it into an easy low-impact aerobic session, unless my body really doesn’t want to move, and then I respect that and just vibe. One thing I don’t do is hike. I get LAFD pings on my phone and every day they’re helicoptering some idiot my age off the trail and over to UCLA Hospital.
I watched the Apollo missions live
Dang, you make me feel young! (I saw a couple of them live).
I hear ya. I’ve reached an age where “pacing yourself” is a thing. Dammit.
I like to hike, but… I know where I’m going, I take sufficient gear (stuff in case you get stuck out there, dense emergency food, plenty of water, warm gear, etc, etc), and pace myself. Altitude kicks my ass these days. Sigh.
The big one is I refuse to do this stuff alone. Always have a hiking partner. Something as simple as a minor ankle twist can make for a bad (or deadly) time.