Q: Does Exercise Get Easier?

A: Exercise is a broad term.  I think of exercise as “activity”: moving around.  Does moving around get easier? - Absolutely!  But it gets easier because you get better at it, because you enjoy it more, and because it becomes a part of your routine, meaning that it becomes your new normal.  Training to get results however is a constant process of self-challenge.

In the beginning you get some results from some effort.  However, as it becomes your new normal, those results slow, so you have to increase the challenge.  Once you do that - either by increasing weights/intensity, duration and/or volume of work performed - you start to see progress again.  Soon you adapt to this new normal, and the process repeats itself.

So weights get heavier, workouts get longer, and recovery gets more important - but your perception of how hard you’re working only moderately increases.  That is to say, for example, 10lb bicep curls for 20 reps used to be an 8/10 on the exertion scale for you.  Now, 6 weeks later, you do 15lb bicep curls for 20, but it’s still 8/10 on the exertion scale.  It certainly feels heavier - you notice the weight - but it doesn’t feel 30% more challenging (the difference between 15 and 10lbs).

In short, it doesn’t get easier so much as you get stronger, fitter, and better able to manage the stress and load.