Country music star Dolly Parton has spoken about her unconventional approach to exercise, which she calls "rejoicing exercises." She combines singing, stretching, and praising with gospel music to create a routine that feels joyful rather than punishing. According to lifestyle-change sustainability scientist Michelle Segar, Parton's approach allows her to design movement that is tailored to her own needs, making it more likely that she will stick to it. By ditching the idea of a "perfect" workout, Parton shows that exercise can be whatever works best for an individual, rather than following societal expectations.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-27,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
“If you tell me I’ve got to do an exercise routine…I dread it so bad,” she told Allure in 2021.
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she → tell → 2021
Her workaround was “rejoicing exercises”: a freewheeling combination of gospel music, singing, stretching, shouting, and praising.
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workaround → shout → music
“I do more ‘rejoicing’ than I do ‘working out,’” she said.
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she → do → rejoicing
She occasionally added a few floor exercises and squats—especially, as she put it, “diddly-squats.”
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she → add → squats
In doing so, she stumbled upon an important truth: Movement doesn’t have to feel like punishment to count.
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Movement → do → punishment
“Dolly honored herself through movement,” says Michelle Segar, a lifestyle-change sustainability scientist at the University of Michigan and author of The Joy Choice: How to Finally Achieve Lasting Changes in Eating and Exercise.
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Segar → honor → Eating
Parton tossed out the rules about what exercise was supposed to look like and designed something that reflected what she needed.
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she → toss → what
“She knew this was for her,” Segar says.
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Segar → know → her
“And because it was for her, she had to design it for herself.”
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she → have → herself
That instinct—to stop chasing the supposedly perfect workout and start with movement that feels good, meaningful, or restorative—could make it easier to keep moving over time.
uncertain
it → stop → time
Here’s what we all can learn from Parton’s views on exercise and movement.
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we → ’ → exercise
“Rejoicing exercises” were quintessentially Dolly
Parton’s routine combined the forces that shaped so much of her life: faith, music, and creative self-expression.
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that → rejoice → life
She began singing in her maternal grandfather Jake Owens’ church at age 6, and later described feeling divinely inspired as a songwriter, says Leigh H. Edwards, a professor of English at Florida State University and author of Dolly Parton, Gender, and Country Music.
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Edwards → begin → Parton
“She often approached her expression on her own terms,” Edwards says, “just as she did when she created her own Dolly image and charted her own trailblazing path for her career.”
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she → approach → career
Judy Eaton, a professor of psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, teaches positive psychology—the study of how people flourish, rather than only how they struggle.
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they → teach → psychology
She calls Parton “the poster child for positive psychology.”
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She → call → psychology
Many of Eaton’s students arrive knowing Parton only from Hannah Montana.
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Many → arrive → Montana
Eaton introduces them to her as an example of gratitude, optimism, and authenticity; after Parton passed away, former students emailed to say they were grateful her class had helped them understand who she was as a person.
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she → introduce → person
Many people have absorbed the idea that there’s one correct way to exercise.
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people → absorb → idea
“We as a society have been taught you’re supposed to exercise in this way for this long, and your body has to feel this way,” Segar says.
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Segar → teach → way
“You have to breathe hard.”
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You → have → ?
If you can’t—or simply don’t like it—“you don’t do it.”
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it—“you → like → it
Public-health guidelines are useful for describing how much activity is associated with certain health benefits.
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activity → describe → benefits
But they don’t necessarily tell people how to fit movement into hectic, unpredictable lives.
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they → tell → lives
Fitness marketing has strengthened the idea that a workout only counts when it meets a particular standard, Segar says, creating an all-or-nothing trap: Do the “right” workout, or do nothing.
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Segar → strengthen → nothing
Parton built her routine around what she would actually do.
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she → build → what
Instead of deciding exercise wasn’t for her, she decided the gym-and-sweat version wasn’t for her.
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version → decide → her
“We don’t start with the right way,” Segar says.
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Segar → start → way
“We start with our way.”
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We → start → way
Dr. George Hennawi, physician executive director of geriatrics and senior services at MedStar Health, sees particular value in that approach as people age.
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people → see → approach
When he asks his patients what it means to age successfully, their answers usually involve continuing to do what they already love—whether that’s traveling, gardening, singing, or spending time with their grandchildren.
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that → ask → grandchildren
“She flipped the equation,” Hennawi says of Parton.
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Hennawi → flip → Parton
“What makes me happy?
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me → make → ?
How do I define living successfully, living happily, aging well?”
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I → define → ?
Her answer, as he sees it: “I don’t love exercise—let me bring exercise to the stuff that I love to do.
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I → see → that
That also means reconsidering why you’re moving.
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you → mean → ?
Goals like losing weight or preventing a disease years from now can be “abstract, future, often even shame-producing reasons for exercise,” Segar says.
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Segar → lose → exercise
Parton’s reason was immediate and personal: She wanted to rejoice.
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She → want → ?
“She’s using movement to fuel herself and live her life,” Segar says, “not to comply with doctor’s orders or to meet some standard of beauty.
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Segar → use → beauty
Ask how you want movement to make you feel
“Joyful movement” is a useful phrase, but Segar encourages people to expand their vocabulary.
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Segar → ask → vocabulary
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