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Are you bored with your workouts? Or are you one of the many people who can’t stick to an exercise routine for very long (also known as exercise ADD). It’s probably because your workouts are lacking a very important component: the fun factor. Let’s be honest, if you’re not enjoying something, then you probably won’t do it for long. We all want to look good in our tight swimsuits for the summer, but if the path to a tone body is muddled with boring, repetitive workouts, then we’ll quickly lose interest and go back to our old habits.
Friday Fitness: How to Have Fun While Exercising
By Brandon K. Cole
When I work with my clients, one of my first priorities is to make sure they’re having some fun while they’re sweating. Maybe I’ll tell some jokes or we’ll have some fun banter, or maybe I’ll introduce some non-traditional exercises like tire flipping and agility drills. Anything that gets a smile.
One of my favorite ways is to get outside. Just being outside on a nice day can immediately boost your mood. We all are spending too much time indoors these days. So being out in the fresh air is an awesome way to refresh your stale workout routine. If you have grassy hills around, you can run (or even crawl, if you want to get really playful) up and down a few times. In between sets of that do some pushups or step ups on a park bench. Find some long stairs or some bleachers and do some sets running up and down those. I promise your legs and lungs will be begging for mercy real quick.
Even if you just plan on going out for a walk or a run, bring a friend and throw a Frisbee around with each other before or after. This will spice up the run with some novel movement and a little bit of playtime. With a friend, you can also do some partner exercises like medicine ball throws to each other. Or have them do pushups or hold a plank, while you hop back and forth over them. Obviously trust is a must here!
Another fun thing to try is to have your partner call out directions like “side shuffle left” or “back pedal” or “sprint forward” while you have to react and perform the move. This is great cardio but as a bonus it also boosts the way your brain and nervous system work, and makes you more adept at processing incoming information and the environment! Start incorporating bodyweight exercise like handstands, crab walks, bear crawls and even some tumbling for a unique challenge.
These kinds of exercises introduce a completely different level of coordination and body control than any machine could offer. So you’ll actually become much more functionally fit as a result! Hopefully you have a few ideas you can use. But the most important take away should be that working out shouldn’t be boring or feel like a chore. If you can learn to have fun with it, you’ll learn to love it and it will eventually become one of the best parts of you day.
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