Woman Made Exercise a Fun Daily Habit in 3 Simple Steps

• Leah Wei avoided the gym because she felt exercise was just about achieving a certain body type.
• She realized she was missing out on health benefits, so worked on her relationship with exercise.
• Wei now sees moving daily as an opportunity to have fun and see her friends.

When Leah Wei, a 27-year-old YouTuber based in New York, learned that the body naturally starts to lose muscle mass at age 30, she knew she had to get over her fear of working out.

She had sworn off the gym years before because she had negative associations with exercise, she told Business Insider. These came from growing up seeing images of Victoria’s Secret models and magazine covers emblazoned with phrases like “get abs quick.”

It felt like exercise was about pushing yourself to look a certain way, Wei said. When she didn’t see the aesthetic results fitness influencers promised, it left her feeling bad about her body.

To preserve her self-esteem, Wei decided to abandon exercise and accept her body as it was. “I didn’t want to have that relationship with my body, with movement,” she said.

But as time went on, she realized that she was missing out on the health benefits of exercise. Her neck and shoulders felt tight from sitting at a screen all day, she felt lethargic in the colder months, and became aware maintaining muscle as you age was important for staying strong and mobile.

In January 2023, Wei decided it was time to give working out another go. But this time she wanted it to be sustainable, and to prioritize how it made her feel, not how it made her look.

Now, she exercises every day, either going to a class or hitting the gym, because she genuinely enjoys it. She shared three ways she makes working out a joy.

1) Reframing ‘exercise’ as ‘movement’

Wei likes to think about exercise as an opportunity to move her body, get away from her laptop, and have fun.

“It’s a rebrand to this is just a really fun part of your day and something I love to do,” she said.

Rather than having a strict routine or schedule, she decides what kind of movement she’ll do each day based on her mood. She’s a member of a rock climbing gym that offers a wide range of classes— from classic to aerial yoga and circus skills— and often tries new activities.

Wei likened her new attitude toward working out to going to a playground as a child. “You’re never like ‘oh I have to go outside to play for recess because it improves my sleep, or increases my metabolism. You’re kind of just there because it’s fun,'” she said.

Wei also has a gym in her building, where she aims to strength train twice a week with free weights.

2) Marrying movement with socializing

Exercising with a friend makes it even more fun, Wei said, and it helps her to balance different parts of her life.

She convinced three of her friends to join her rock climbing gym and they typically go together at least once a week or bump into each other there. “I think if your friends are all going climbing, it’s more motivating for you too,” she said.

And it means she gets to exercise and see the people she loves at the same time.

“I’ll hit up friends and be like, ‘do you wanna go Friday night or Sunday or Saturday morning’ and people are usually down,” she said.

3) Join a gym you want to spend time in every day

Wei’s gym has big windows and a pretty view, which she said has helped her build the habit of going almost daily as it’s a space she likes to spend time in.

“If I invest in a space that I think is really welcoming and warm, it makes me want to go there every day,” she said.

Studios like this tend to be more expensive than a basic gym, but Wei is happy to spend her money this way.

“I don’t care as much about makeup or clothing or purses or whatever but I’m like, this is really worth it for me,” she said.