How do y'll keep the exercise FUN?

saskiavanson88

Hey everybody, I hope y'll are doing fantastic.

I am struggling with creating a exercise plan, I have always hated exercise and I still do, 1 min of exercise seems to take just as long as 8 hours of work. Okay maybe that's a little overdone hahaha but I just don't enjoy it.

Now I could lower my calorie levels what I don't have any problems with, but exercising is not just to lose the weight it is also to be more healthy right? So I really need to get into it. I do some jogging in place and I have an exercise ball and resistance bands. I also have some walking dvd's.

The jogging in place is just to get some quick steps but not sure if it is really effective and if I can count it as exercise. I wish I had some friends who would do exercise so we could go together but my friends are not into exercise either and they don't even want to consider it haha

How do y'll keep the exercise FUN?

astrampe

Not everything in life is fun - sometimes you just have to do it. Get a variety of workout dvd's and find something a little more interesting than jogging in place - that will drive me nuts. Rather go jog in the park or do something else.
And stop trying to find friends to do this - it is your body and your health - you need to do it yourself.....

Jruzer

Pokemon Go has been a great motivator for me over the last year. I also love to get out on my bike when the weather allows it.

GrumpyHeadmistress

I'm not always that enthusiastic about exercising (particularly when it means running at 5am) but I reassure myself that (a) it's good for me and (b) I'll feel better afterwards. It's always true no matter how tired and grumpy I was to start with.

cwolfman13

The vast majority of my exercise is recreational activity...mostly cycling and I do some rock climbing...some hiking here and there and some swimming now and then. I typically cycle about 50 miles per week unless I'm training for a cycling event which I usually do at least one, if not two per year. I love to ride, so it's fun. I love to climb, so it's fun. I really enjoy a hike in the mountains (usually when we're camping), so it's fun. When I was younger I was on swim team for a couple of years and had a job as a lifeguard...so hitting the pool is pretty fun, but not particularly convenient for me so it's more rare.

These are all recreational hobbies and double down as "exercise"

kgirlhart

Try different exercises until you find something that you enjoy. It won't always be fun, but if you find something you enjoy it will be easier than doing something you hate.

CassondraKennedy

Fast-paced music helps me! I like to sing along and get really into it while I'm doing cardio. It makes the time go by waaayyy faster and helps me look forward to working out. My exercise time has become "me time" and is a lot more fun than when I was trying to do it without entertainment. Another option is to watch your favorite TV show while jogging or walking. Of course, this is easier if you have a treadmill.

Maybe you should look into a form of exercise that you find to be fun instead of making yourself do exercises that you dread? Swimming, dancing, biking, hiking, etc?

Cheers to you for finding ways to get your routine going. Making it fun is a great way to ensure that you'll keep doing it.

Panda8ach

Geocaching (especially with kids) is a fun thing to do... Gets you out and about

stanmann571

Mix it up...

Get outside.

Pokémon Go is fun too.

becky10rp

Do something you enjoy doing. If you don't know what you like to do, try joining a gym for a trial basis (no commitments). Check out classes, machines, you name it. I try to mix it up - I run (inside and outside), use an elliptical, bike, and use weights. If you like music - play music. If you like TV - watch something while you're working out. Make it fun!

HunnyBunnyKagome

Dance routines are a part of my work, but they're also a hobby of mine with great cardio benefits. I've learned that activities with friends are always better than alone. I try to have exercise buddies when I can. It really helps out especially when I do weight training. Music and television are other motivators when I have to do it alone.

Witchdoctor58

Kickboxing/mixed martial arts is loads of fun for me, and useful too. Check YouTube for some sample workouts.

Lizakabibbis

I love fitness classes. I take 4 a week in addition to my cardio/weight lifting schedule. Why not find a couple classes you like?!

DebLaBounty

Find a cheap gym that offers group classes. My gym is $15 a month. I do Zumba (great music) and BodyPump (instructor-lead barbell and free weight workout). I have to concentrate, so the time goes by faster than if I was working out at home in my boring living room. Check out the Couch to 5K program. It's free! You can print out the schedule from the computer, and install the app on your phone. I found it fun to see how I could advance from jogging 2 minutes at the beginning to 8 minutes to 20 minutes. These are good cardio goals, and you can definitely log the exercise. Find a running store and see if they have a running program. My local place has an 8 week program for women. You might meet some running buddies and improve your fitness all at once!

Shron123

My favourite is riding my horse where I get most of my cardio. All other exercise I do is to make me a better rider. So I do weight/interval training and yoga. I found a friend who wanted to check out my trainer so we go twice a week. It is in her home gym so no big public gym full of people which I found kinda depressing. Just the two of us and our trainer. Ditto with yoga. Tried many different instructors until I found my current one. Again a good friend loves this class too so we always go together. Also a small class - no more than 8 people but usually about 6. I don't like exercise but I really enjoy the benefits. Good luck.

carterbrent

I like to get my dog out for a walk every day. I also like to put on some uptempo music and just dance in the privacy of my home.

rheddmobile

I have a variety of different approaches. For my daily, reliable exercise, I try to make it as high intensity as I can stand, since I would rather be completely miserable for 15 minutes than mostly bored for an hour. What I do is HIIT cycling, and at the end of 15 minutes I am dripping with sweat. High intensity exercise is better than lower intensity for most purposes having to do with weight loss anyway.

Then I also do Bollywood Zumba, for fun, and dancing around like an idiot, also for fun. And I try to make time to walk at the park. I would consider these medium and low intensity activities.

In addition, I lift weights, as heavy as my poor sad useless tendons will handle it, which means I have to progress slower than I would like. Again, I would rather lift heavy for a shorter period of time than spend hours doing something I don't enjoy. The challenge of new personal records keeps it interesting.

Without any more equipment than you have now, you could do bodyweight squats and push-ups and crunches. You could do Zumba videos and other fitness videos. You could do high intensity intervals of jumping exercises. There are a lot of options available. If it's not fun, go harder and shorter. There's no virtue in making yourself miserable for hours when hitting it hard for 15 minutes would do just as much for you.

aylajane

Start out with something purely fun that keeps your hands too busy to eat and your feet moving. I.e. ping pong. Badminton. Shooting hoops. Go to the zoo and walk all day. Volunteer at a food pantry (they keep you busy).

Next, dont think of it as exercise - its "recess" . Go walk to a nearly playground and play on the swings - pump your legs! Get a friend and try out hand ball or racquetball. Doesnt matter if you suck at it, just laugh at yourself! Laughing burns calories!

Follow a bunch of preschoolers and do what they do. Those little buggars next stop. Crawling, tree climbing, sit and spin. Doesnt have to be "grown up" exercise.

Probably the best one for me, not that it is fun, but it is dual purpose. CLEAN. I dont mean normal clean. I mean you spend one hour a day (or whatever your exercise time allotment is) and tackle something - scrub the toilet top to bottom and the floor behind it, Take everything off a shelf and dust, pull out everything from your kitchen cabinets, sort/throw out/organize. Keep a list of "chores" you think need done but you never actually get around to doing - break them into tasks that can be done in 15 min to an hour or two (write the time next to it). Every day pick one based on how much time you have available and do it. Put on headphones and sing and dance around the house while you do. Not only will you burn calories, but your house will never look better! If your house ends up too clean, call a friend and offer to do hers!

Eventually you will find something you enjoy, in the meantime just move and keep experimenting.

Mouse_Potato

SharonAnderegg wrote: »

My favourite is riding my horse where I get most of my cardio. All other exercise I do is to make me a better rider. So I do weight/interval training and yoga. I found a friend who wanted to check out my trainer so we go twice a week. It is in her home gym so no big public gym full of people which I found kinda depressing. Just the two of us and our trainer. Ditto with yoga. Tried many different instructors until I found my current one. Again a good friend loves this class too so we always go together. Also a small class - no more than 8 people but usually about 6. I don't like exercise but I really enjoy the benefits. Good luck.

This sounds familiar. I also ride and I LOVE cross-training! I have found that my aerial arts classes increase my upper body and core strength so I am becoming a better rider. And I lift weights to make me stronger for the aerial arts training!

I agree with everyone who said find something you like to do! Working out for the sake of working out can get old, but if you find an activity you enjoy you are more likely to keep doing it.

Grimmerick

I workout with friends and we do circuits and change them everytime we workout

TR0berts

I found something I like, so that I'm likely to do it.

I know it sounds simplistic, but it really is that simple.

tjones0411

I agree with the classes - loud music and a group of people is much more motivating to me than working out by myself. Plus, there's an end time...so once I walk in, I know I'm committed to an hour (or 30 min or whatever) and can't just leave because I feel like it. I go super-early in the morning, so there are usually only a handful of people in the class anyway and it's often the same group of us...kind of a quasi-camaraderie.

TarahByte

I hate being around people and workout DVDs. You may be more of a social person than I am but sometimes I watch Netflix on my phone while I'm on the treadmill if I'm just walking. When I'm running or lifting weights I like music that makes me want to punch someone. Getting hopped up on caffeine and loud music makes everything fun, for me at least. Also my dogs like when I put on my old fake Uggs and dance around and let them try to grab the boots off my feet. If you have big dogs, just wrestling with them will wear you out.

All that works for me so I'm suggesting it but I guess you just find what you like to do.

xylia1225

Maybe try some sort of fitness class? You can make friends there, and then have the social and accountability aspects you're missing, since your current friends aren't fans of exercise. One of my main sources of exercise is that I take dance classes and am in a dance troupe.

Noreenmarie1234

Definitely switching it up I get so bored doing the same thing. I go between running, walking, elliptical, yoga, roller blading etc. I also find it helps finding a really good show or movie or podcast that I ONLY let myself listen to during workouts so I look forward to them lol. I love story podcasts because I can really zone out and end up working out way longer than intended just because it's so enjoyable lol.

Also when I workout outside I always switch up my route. Sometimes I go to the park sometime I go to the ocean, checkout old part of town with beautiful houses etc.

Vex3521

Would you be into doing something like Yes Fit? It hosts virtual races that you can complete and log over time. They have a couple free ones so you could test it out. They do t-shirts or race medals as well for a fee (usually $20) so those make it fun and are a great reminder of how many miles you're logging!

OnthatStuff

cwolfman13 wrote: »

The vast majority of my exercise is recreational activity...

TR0berts wrote: »

I found something I like, so that I'm likely to do it.

This helps me as well. I found that I like to skate and bike. Both let me move around and can be done anywhere. Being able to do what I like while mixing in recreational activity helps keep me motivated.

CJ_Holmes

Do something where you learn a skill and can see improvement, or train for an event like a charity walk or run. A dance, martial art, team sport, weightlifting... people get very motivated by seeing progress and accomplishment and feeling part of something.

Voodoochile65

cycling...charity rides races etc....Last weekend I did a 49mi ride for a Children's Hospital..Good cause..great exercise and I got to EAT afterward

Debra2011

I moved into an apartment that has a pool, so I looked up "aqua exercises" on the internet. There's so many exercises that you can do in a pool with an inexpensive foam noodle. The best part is it's been so hot lately that I look forward to the end of my work day so that I can get in the pool. Super fun!! If you don't have a pool -- find a community center or a gym that does. Some gyms offer aqua aerobic classes.

blh202

Find a friend to walk and distress with. You will walk a mile before you know it or pop in some earbuds and rock out on a walk enjoying the scenery.

I am also a lover of fitness classes (Zumba, Cardio, Strength), anything that gets me moving and is fun. These classes come with an added bonus of accountability as your new class mates will ask about you when you miss.

Good luck finding your very own FUN!