Get a cheap magnetic exercise bike (Sunny has a good one) and start with 10 (or even 5) minutes a day at the same time (or event, waking up, finishing work, something like that) every day.
10 minutes is nothing, especially if you read or watch TV while doing it.
It'll get easy eventually, and the habit will be established. Then you up it to 15, and keep doing that until you hit at least 30 mins every day.
Then you have a nice habitual time period that you can add, swap, or integrate other exercises into.
You probably answered why people don't maintain a healthy routine for decades.
A gerbil-wheel exercise in extreme environments, perhaps (due to pollution, crime, extreme hot/cold weather, etc), but after an extended period, is that really how natural detergents in the body are made?
It's not about sticking with gerbil-wheel exercises, it's about developing the habit of scheduling exercise into one's day. Once one establishes the habit of scheduling exercise it makes sense this lowers the barrier to enriching exercise.
Although for me it's been the other way around: find an enriching exercise first and then schedule around performing it. For me, my only limit to participating in my exercise of choice is body recovery. If I had no recovery time I'd be in the gym for hours daily. As it is now I'm limited to 1.5-2.5 hrs every other day.
Golf can be a fun activity, but it doesn't really build much functional muscle strength or cardiovascular fitness. Most golf pros who stay on the tour for a while find it necessary to additional training to keep their bodies working well.
Recreational golfing is much more relaxing. I can chase personal goals while enjoying every minute of it.
We're all aware of Tiger blowing out a knee, but some stories coming out of the LPGA with pros living with excruciating pain from a relatively early age is just absurd:
Michelle Wie's interview this year with the statement of not being able to pickup her own child at times did not make sense.
There are a few more golfers in the LPGA with back injuries in their 20's, knowing they only have one back (J. Korda this week for example).
I saw a Seve Ballesteros documentary about his severe back pains on VHS and have fortunately avoided pushing past the breaking point for a few extra yards.
As a technology native, golf has always felt amazing with both hands. Even my glutes grew up my back without trying as well... Provided you know your own body :)
Effortless energy is a breath of fresh air. Not many sports have that.
I apologize but I think I'm missing what you're saying.
I'll just elaborate and say the key to what I said is making it habitual by adding into something you'd be doing anyway. The exercise bike is great because you can watch TV, read, or even play some types of games or other sedentary activities you may be doing anyway.
10 minutes is nothing, especially if you read or watch TV while doing it.
It'll get easy eventually, and the habit will be established. Then you up it to 15, and keep doing that until you hit at least 30 mins every day.
Then you have a nice habitual time period that you can add, swap, or integrate other exercises into.