I just wrote this response to an entry on the Define Fitness weblog, and thought it was worthwhile to continue the conversation on my own page. Here it is:

As for this topic, it’s one I’ve been grappling with for at least a couple of years now. However, I don’t think the real answer is related to any of the things on the list. I learned those things as “obstacles” in my old Gold’s Gym days – Gold’s taught us that those were the real reasons people didn’t work out.
Having given it some thought, I now believe that it’s something more personal than those things. Something that a person couldn’t click a check-box next to, even if you could figure out how to word it. It’s something so personal they might not even understand the situation if it was explained in detail.
In short, I think it’s a result of our civilization.

Convenience, and everything it brings, kills the desire in the human soul to test itself. The ability to get whatever you want, whenever you want it, takes the drive out of the animal. We don’t have to fight to survive. We don’t have to work hard to enjoy the fruits of our labor. And one law that stands the test of time in nature is the law of least resistance. If we don’t have to, we won’t.

Of course, then, there are the exceptions…who feel compelled within their souls to move, to lift heavy things to push the envelope. If you could bottle their motivation, you’d pass Bill Gates in seconds.

A friend of mine texted me a few weeks ago. He was watching an international weightlifting competition, and he asked “Why is it always the Eastern Bloc up for Gold in these contests, never the USA?” I wrote back “Because they have to.”

Until it’s necessary, people won’t do it. And even then, many will still find any way possible to get around it. Physical activity. Sounds crazy, but I think it’s true.