How do you make exercise FUN???

Mary24
Mary24 Posts: 398
edited September 18 in Fitness and Exercise
How do you make it fun, I find it so boring!
I have a treadmill, a stationarey bike, videos and other stuff :ohwell:

I'm bored!!!


Mary

Replies

  • Mary24
    Mary24 Posts: 398
    How do you make it fun, I find it so boring!
    I have a treadmill, a stationarey bike, videos and other stuff :ohwell:

    I'm bored!!!


    Mary
  • Helawat
    Helawat Posts: 605 Member
    I do classes like cardio cabaret. We use 12 pound body bars and pretend they're stripper poles and use chairs for cardio lap dances. it's fun!

    Next week we're using the feather boas.
  • commonsensefitness
    commonsensefitness Posts: 105 Member
    JOIN THE GYM. I have free gym in my apt complex where at times I am the only one. This was not working and I joined 24hr fitness. The benefit of going gym where everyone is sweating is great motivation. I do few blocks walk during my lunch break at work or at night around my apt complex but the gym is worth it.
  • ltalent
    ltalent Posts: 2
    Do something competitive with other people. Learn how to play a sport. I took rowing and wow what a difference in 2 months and I loved every second of it. Intensity makes a big difference and it's hard to do that alone.
  • jpketz
    jpketz Posts: 73
    JOIN THE GYM. I have free gym in my apt complex where at times I am the only one. This was not working and I joined 24hr fitness. The benefit of going gym where everyone is sweating is great motivation. I do few blocks walk during my lunch break at work or at night around my apt complex but the gym is worth it.

    I second that! I don't know anyone at my gym, hardly ever even interact with people there, but just being among other humans in one place doing something healthy does something to counteract the tedium of a treadmill or stationary bike.

    If you just don't like gyms environments or you've already invested in equipment for your home, I can recommend a few things that have helped me (I ride by bike on a trainer during the off-season and talk about boring!)

    • Ask someone come over and work out with you

    • Explore new music or a book on tape (mp3) while you're working out

    • Study up on the physiology of excercise. I know, I know...boring on top of boring...but I found that when I knew something about what was really going on when I exercised and how vitally important it is, it became less of something I could take or leave and more of a non-negotiable part of my life. Not that it suddenly got exciting, it just became more important, and that can be motivating.

    • Set a reachable fitness goal—and not just a number like weight loss or inches but set your sights on something you can DO with your increasingly capable body, like run a 10K or walk-a-thon, ride a bike a long ways (whatever that is for you), etc. Make it fun but challenging. It gives you a yardstick by which to measure our fitness, beyond how we look and can be an incredible motivator. When your exercise routine becomes "training", it takes on a new meaning.

    Wow--sorry for the long-winded reply--I think I burned some calories--I'll shut up now.
  • Healthier_Me
    Healthier_Me Posts: 5,600 Member
    Someone told me about renting workout dvd's from netflix.com... I have yet to try that but I'll be doing it soon.

    ~Joanna:flowerforyou:
  • Helawat
    Helawat Posts: 605 Member
    I recommend joining a gym only if you're going to commit to it. I would commit to a month to month plan, rather than a two year plan. You never know what's going to happen in the span of two years, so just be careful :)

    Gyms are very expensive and often people join, work out a lot for three to four months, then slowly taper off. Before the end of their first year of their subscription, they stopped going to the gym and haven't been reaping the rewards they're paying for.

    With that being said! Join the gym because you'll meet a lot of great people if you put yourself out there. Since being at my gym at UNLV, I have met quite a few new friends that I cannot imagine being separated from.

    It's a great socialization outlet!
  • MissRosie
    MissRosie Posts: 5 Member
    I joined a workout class at a local communtiy college. It's WAY cheaper then a gym membership, it makes me go at a regular time (only 2 days a wk) and you can meet new people. We always do different workouts so it makes it challeging and kinda fun!
  • julie737
    julie737 Posts: 406 Member
    I've got a TV in front of my treadmill and I DVR all my favorite shows. I watch while I run or walk--it makes the time go by fast and no boredom!
  • msarro
    msarro Posts: 2,748 Member
    Another possibility is a YMCA/YWCA. I personally play paintball and airsoft - its fun because its a game you play with other people, and you kind of forget that you're sprinting, climbing, crawling, etc.

    Also, I hate indoor equipment. It makes me feel like I'm a hamster on a wheel! I reccomend if you want to ride a bike, get a real one and go outside (especially now that spring is here). The cool stuff you see cycling is enough reason to exercise :)
  • Loretta_Jo
    Loretta_Jo Posts: 609 Member
    I've got a TV in front of my treadmill and I DVR all my favorite shows. I watch while I run or walk--it makes the time go by fast and no boredom!

    I do the same thing. :smile:
    LoJo :flowerforyou:
  • banks1850
    banks1850 Posts: 3,475 Member
    for me it's all about the competition. So I entered a 5K for next saturday, and I am ramping up to it. After that is baseball. I can work so much harder if I have a real goal to shoot for. I would eat glass if it would give me 5 mph on my fastball!
  • kerrilucko
    kerrilucko Posts: 3,852 Member
    My fiance takes me to the school he works at on weekends and we play badminton or basketball for an hour! Its fun but its also GREAT excercise, I am always drenched when we're done. I know not everyone has access to a gym full of sports equipement (!) but there are lots of places you can go with similar benefits. You could take up tennis, of find a park with a basketball court. I really find going with a partner (friend, family member, spouse or even child) makes working out more fun!
  • FatDancer
    FatDancer Posts: 812 Member
    Bellydance!
  • ali106
    ali106 Posts: 3,754 Member
    You don't! there is NO CRYING IN EXERCISE...just suck it up!

    KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    I love it...to make it fun, do what you like, dance to music....workout w/ a friend.....play w/ or take your kids if you have them for a walk or run....hike! whatever you like, whatever interests you is what will work best for you...gyms are great too....

    hugs and best of luck!
    Ali
  • sgtinvincible
    sgtinvincible Posts: 2,559
    You don't! there is NO CRYING IN EXERCISE...just suck it up!

    KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Hilarious. :laugh:

    I think it's important that whatever you do you enjoy. If not, you will burn out very quickly. I for instance used to run almost everyday. Here in the beautiful NC mountains, the winters can be very difficult, so I had to begin running on a treadmill or a track. Lemme tell you, I HATED IT. I love running, hiking, walking, swimming etc, and I can do it for a couple of hours on average, but if I try doing in indoors I am so bored that I usually stop after 15 minutes. (ADD!!!) Needless to say, I do a great deal of cardio in the spring, summer, and fall, and my weight lifting gets a huge boost in the winter. :bigsmile:
  • emtink
    emtink Posts: 387 Member
    Bellydance!

    second!

    cadio with sparklies and make up, what could be more fun than that?
  • nikii14
    nikii14 Posts: 403 Member
    I plan my TV shows around the time I go to the gym....When my favorite shows are on, I don't even realize I am working out...makes the time fly by. I can get easily bored. OR download some great songs on your Ipod (if you have one) and blast away. I was just going through some old songs that I have not listened to in years (Pour Some Sugar On Me and Ice Ice Baby:noway: ) and my husband was embarrased that I would even think to listen to it again......but hey, whatever it takes to get me motivated!!!!!

    Good Luck!!
  • Mary24
    Mary24 Posts: 398
    Hey Thank you so much I got so many GOOD ideas from all of you.
    Its finely geting worm here so today we put Emily (my 8 monthold) in a stroller and our son Jake and my husband came with me on a 30 min walk outside it was over so fast I wanted more:sad: but it was getting chilly and the kids bedtimes so we had to go in.
    But tomorrow we plan on going outside again its supost to be even wormer, Cant wiat:happy:


    I do need to suck it up thouw.
    Thanks again:drinker:

    You don't! there is NO CRYING IN EXERCISE...just suck it up!

    KIDDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
  • MsLadybug
    MsLadybug Posts: 55
    of course i will have to shout-out a third for bellydancing! Its so much fun - cardio and toning the midsection.
  • abbychelle07
    abbychelle07 Posts: 656 Member
    work-out tapes from the library. I own one walking tape, but it's nice to mix it up.
  • abbychelle07
    abbychelle07 Posts: 656 Member
    Oh, and get a friend to walk with you. Even if it's not as fast, or as vigorous of a workout, you will be gossiping and talking while you walk and it won't even feel like "exercise".
  • mickie
    mickie Posts: 183
    MY WHOLE FAMILY JOINED THE "Y". THE KIDS GO SWIMMING, PLAY BASKETBALL, ETC... HUSBAND WORKS OUT ON THE WEIGHT MACHINES AND I TAKE THE VARIOUS CLASSES (TREADMILL, ELLIPTICAL GET BORING). TRY THE CLASSES AT THE GYM. THEY ARE A LOT MORE FUN AND THE TIME GOES FAST. YOU DO EXERCISES THAT YOU WOULDN'T NORMALLY DO ON YOUR OWN. GREAT WAY TO CHANGE THINGS UP!
  • melaniemicah
    melaniemicah Posts: 4
    IPOD!!!!!
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