Why do many Mormons not go to the gym?

[MatteoManospherian]

I am 17, half-Mexican, and have high-functioning autism, I’ve been going to the gym for over 34 days and eating healthy, which is a month, and I never plan to stop, I will work out and lift weights for the rest of my life.

The reason is because I want to stay physically active and healthy and eventually get martial arts training and boxing, I have good Mormon parents and my mother is a Registered Nurse and Mexican and my Dad stays at home with me, my Dad’s American, I know it doesn’t sound like a typical Mormon family because the mom works but it’s what’s been working for us since we moved to Vegas.

I’m just wondering, do Mormons dislike working out? I’ve seen Mormons who are mostly not buff and they don’t work out and don’t do physical activities or seek interest in sports that have to do with fighting, and I have not seen many Mormons who come from a mestizo or Mexican background here either, our family is still interested in going to Church but I’m always focused on being physically active, that’s just me.

[Calm]

Latter-day Saints are often very busy, especially those who have larger families or time intensive callings on top of the usual jobs and caring for family and taking the time to drive to the gym and work out consistently may not fit into their crammed schedule.

 Cost of a gym may be too much or seem impractical for many as well. You can get hand weights and resistance bands cheaply that last much longer than the time the money would buy at a gym. Walking and running in the outdoors is free (except for shoes and clothes) and is great unless air pollution is bad. I live in small town Utah Valley and I am always seeing people out walking throughout the day.  They likely are not all members, but many I personally know use walking as their exercise.  Walking was my go to exercise before my feet made that impossible and I would walk for a couple of hours once or twice a week for fun as well as shorter walks for exercise.  Now I try to swim, but not being able to drive is making that difficult.  I was into gymnastics in high school and fencing in college.  Tried karate, but couldn’t hit; that was more my ‘girl’ hang ups than Mormon upbringing, I am guessing, as those classes were popular at BYU.  My son and grandson were into karate for years (till my grandson got too busy with marching band to do both music and karate) and my daughter’s best friend’s family in our ward in the 90s all had black belts by the time we moved out, iirc. My granddaughters do dance and gymnastics.  My dad was a devoted handball player.  He got into the competition of sports, swam for exercise when no one to play with was around.  My mom would spend half a day walking when we were older and independent.  She would go on frequent day long bike rides as a youth.  My husband uses weights for health reasons, a treadmill or walks for his exercise routine.  I use resistance bands, but can’t get into weights.  Have to pay too much attention, can’t zone out to music which is the only thing that gets me through the boredom of routine these days.

Boxing is not big in the social circles I frequent, though in my youth we had a professional boxer who was a great guy (Mexican American) in our ward and members were paying attention to his bouts.  Physical activity for fun in general is popular, my son’s scouting group went on lots of hikes; did rock climbing, paint balling and had winter and summer camping and even ocean kayaked for one summer’s outing.  There is a slogan about church basketball:  “the brawl that begins with a prayer”, so while fighting sports may not that big among church members, we are not adverse to getting physical, lol.  BYU has or at least had when I was paying attention, a massive intramural sports program.  My brother was big into the baseball side of it.  His new wife sewed uniforms for the team even and was more or less the team’s ‘mother’.

Spectator sports is also a big thing from what I have seen, especially football and baseball.

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Edited October 15, 2022 by Calm

[blackstrap]

Oh to be the ripe old age of 17 again ! 

[manol]

10 hours ago, MatteoManospherian said:

I’m just wondering, do Mormons dislike working out? I’ve seen Mormons who are mostly not buff and they don’t work out and don’t do physical activities or seek interest in sports that have to do with fighting, and I have not seen many Mormons who come from a mestizo or Mexican background here either, our family is still interested in going to Church but I’m always focused on being physically active, that’s just me.

We were in a military ward when I was in my teens and I practiced judo, and we had several members who were competitive in martial arts (karate and judo, this was the 1970's).  I practiced judo again many years later (along with a traditional Japanese ju jitsu style) as an adult, while I was active in church (counselor in a bishopric). 

I am not at all athletic so I never played team sports except for church basketball when there were only four other guys and they needed me in order not to forfeit.  But judo was enough of an individual sport that it didn't really matter to anyone else if I sucked.  I lost most of my matches but still had a blast.  One thing I do like about judo, which probably applies to grappling styles in general:  As long as you play by the rules, you can spar at 100% with no padding and not injure one another.  If two karate practitioners or two boxers spar at 100% with no padding (and no gloves), somebody will end up in the emergency room. 

Also if you ever have to use your martial art "for real", judo is among those where you can subdue someone without striking him or otherwise injuring him.  I think that is good because it leaves the door open to peace and even friendship between the two of you later. 

I was fortunate to have good instructors, so here is the one suggestion I would make:  Watch one or two classes before you sign up, and choose the dojo based on the instructor, and on how the dojo feels to you, rather than on what you think is the "best" martial art. 

There are some incredibly good human beings out there who are martial arts instructors.  I hope one of them is in your future. 

Edited October 14, 2022 by manol

[MustardSeed]

Keep working out!  It’s great for bones and confidence and metabolism.  Don’t forget to stretch and don’t skip leg day.  I’m 55 and have been going to a gym since I was your age- met my husband at the BYU weight room. 

[Tacenda]

18 hours ago, MatteoManospherian said:

I am 17, half-Mexican, and have high-functioning autism, I’ve been going to the gym for over 34 days and eating healthy, which is a month, and I never plan to stop, I will work out and lift weights for the rest of my life.

The reason is because I want to stay physically active and healthy and eventually get martial arts training and boxing, I have good Mormon parents and my mother is a Registered Nurse and Mexican and my Dad stays at home with me, my Dad’s American, I know it doesn’t sound like a typical Mormon family because the mom works but it’s what’s been working for us since we moved to Vegas.

I’m just wondering, do Mormons dislike working out? I’ve seen Mormons who are mostly not buff and they don’t work out and don’t do physical activities or seek interest in sports that have to do with fighting, and I have not seen many Mormons who come from a mestizo or Mexican background here either, our family is still interested in going to Church but I’m always focused on being physically active, that’s just me.

Maybe they have equipment at home??

[Rain]

I think it matters more where you live than if you are Mormon. Some areas have many, many people going to gyms.  Others have many people walking.  Others working at home.

My husband and I went to the gym for several years and then covid happened.  We discovered we would rather spend money on workout items for home than on the gym.  

[InCognitus]

Latter-day Saints go to the gym on a regular basis, except we call it the Cultural Hall.  Sometimes those visits include refreshments, or even full meals.  It's awesome.

[rodheadlee]

On 10/13/2022 at 10:51 AM, MatteoManospherian said:

I am 17, half-Mexican, and have high-functioning autism, I’ve been going to the gym for over 34 days and eating healthy, which is a month, and I never plan to stop, I will work out and lift weights for the rest of my life.

The reason is because I want to stay physically active and healthy and eventually get martial arts training and boxing, I have good Mormon parents and my mother is a Registered Nurse and Mexican and my Dad stays at home with me, my Dad’s American, I know it doesn’t sound like a typical Mormon family because the mom works but it’s what’s been working for us since we moved to Vegas.

I’m just wondering, do Mormons dislike working out? I’ve seen Mormons who are mostly not buff and they don’t work out and don’t do physical activities or seek interest in sports that have to do with fighting, and I have not seen many Mormons who come from a mestizo or Mexican background here either, our family is still interested in going to Church but I’m always focused on being physically active, that’s just me.

I'm a carpenter. I work out all day long at work.