The thought of waking up in the morning to jump on the treadmill has been known to cause people’s stomachs to curl. And after a hard days work, the last thing people want to do is hit up the gym to lift weights. The couch sounds way more pleasant and comfortable. I mean, why do something that isn’t fun on your own time? I’ve heard the comment from numerous people how sticking to an exercise routine requires too much motivation to get started. No matter how you look at it, exercise can be downright boring, if you make it that way.
So much of exercise has to do with your mindset. If you have your mindset on the fact that exercise is boring, you’re more than likely to have boring or negative experiences. Just going into your sessions with the mindset that you’re going to have a good time or that your experience is going to create positive changes in your life can be all you need to get yourself over that hump.
But What Else Can You Do To Make Exercise Fun?
Well, I’m going to assume that you have friends. Why not try asking a friend if they’d be interested in going to the gym with you? Just knowing that part of your workout will have a social element to it may make the idea of exercising that more pleasing. A friend can also be someone to help keep you motivated, keep you on track, and help you out when you workout. If you’re the competitive type, you could even make challenges between the group to make it that much more motivating for you. For myself, I don’t like losing at anything, especially to my friends as they’ll let me hear about it.
Whenever I used to go to the gym, before I made my own private studio, I used to see the same people always doing the same thing. If this sounds like you, then it should be pretty obvious why exercise is becoming less motivating. You need to mix things up a bit. There are plenty of places out there that have designed programs for all sorts of people and the goals they want to achieve. I even give away a free 2 month off-season workout manual for athletes when you sign up at my website.
You may even have kids that take up tons of your time. If they like to play at the park, then that may be a perfect place to get in a workout. Pullups on the monkey bars, incline or decline pushups on steps, or even front foot elevated reverse lunges on the steps are things you could pull off while the kids are playing.
Depending on where you live, there are outdoor parks that have courses set up for exercise enthusiasts. Just walk, jog or run to each station and follow the instructions. Even if you don’t live in one of these places, I’m sure you can mark out your own course where you could run a certain distance, then belt out some pushups, walk a certain distance, then walk for the same distance and repeat, or jog for a distance and then do a certain number of crunches.
If you’re still young at heart, riding a bike is a perfect place to start. Just riding your bike around town could be all you need to get some exercise in. Again, depending on where you live, some places have biking trails already made for you to use. Other places have off road trails for those that like mountain biking. Where I live, some mountain bike enthusiasts have come together to make miles and miles of off road trails in the woods. They have a large group that gets together once or twice a week and they all go for a ride.
If you’re like me, and you love to play sports, you need to get out there in your community and find out how to get signed up on a team. Almost every community out there has some sort of competitive sports league that you can participate in. Whether it’s hockey, basketball, soccer, baseball, or tennis, there’s something out there to try. Not only will you get tons of exercise in, but you’ll meet new people as well.
So those are just a few ways that you can make exercising more fun. Remember that exercise is something that everyone needs to help them feel healthier, happier, and better about themselves. When it becomes something that you look forward to, there’s a greater chance that you’ll achieve those things just mentioned.
Incorporating exercise into everyday life has been something that has helped me in so many ways. I’ve seen and lived the types of things it can do for my health, which alone is enough for me to keep going. Having a regular exercise routine is something that helps me relieve stress and something that motivates me to become stronger physically and mentally. Playing competitive hockey and soccer also fills my need to have competition in my life.
So remember to start thinking positively about exercise. Just knowing that you’re going to have fun doing it will make it worth while. We all need some sort of fun in our lives, so why not do it with something that is healthy for you as well.