Everybody knows exercise is important, but for many of us, it feels like a hassle, or even like homework — you know you have to do it, but you really don’t want to! The result is procrastination and many missed workouts, which keep you far away from your fitness goals.
The more muscle you have the higher your metabolic rate is which is going to help keep your body fat at a low level. If you engage in regular exercise—weight-bearing exercise—then you keep your bones stronger and help prevent osteoporosis and other degenerative conditions as you age.
Exercise is one of the pillars of longevity. The benefits of exercise are many: heart health, weight management, better sleep, improved mood, more stamina and many more. The biggest benefit? Reducing your risk of chronic illnesses. Through exercise, you’ll stay healthy longer, age well and feel great.
Getting started on a routine exercise habit is the hardest part. Use these ideas to put some more fun into your exercise routine.
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1. Exercise buddy
Find someone to be your exercise buddy. Don’t choose just anyone: Pick someone who is full of energy, fun and who you look forward to spending time with. That way, you’ll want to exercise just to be with your friend.
To make it more interesting and fun, get each other some cool fitness apparels which makes you crave for workouts. Fitness apparels like custom t-shirt which only you and your exercise buddy would have, making you guys look different yet unique from every other person in the gym.
2. Group fitness
Group classes are a way to meet new people, have an instructor to keep your form and effort good and be motivated to go each time. Shop around for your class:
Sweat smile and repeat with each other. Gift each other things which can keep you and your mates motivated.
Find an instructor who has both knowledge and enthusiasm. You can gauge the social tone an instructor creates by watching if anyone talks to him or her before or after the class and if the other participants talks to each other.
3. Crank up the tunes
If you’re power-walking, running, or lifting weights, music can improve performance and even make a strenuous activity easy than you otherwise might. Music helps you coordinate your workout. For example, lyrics can reinforce aspects of a technique when they feature words like “punch,” “cut,” or “push.”
The beat of your music can also affect how you synchronize your workout. The tempo of the music you listen to reflect the type of workout you’re doing. Look up the beats per minute (BPM) on any song or listen and tap along to the beat using a BPM calculator. Here are some basic guidelines on which speeds to look for.
a) Warm-ups: 100 to 110 beats per minute
b) Strength exercises: 110 to 120 beats per minute
c) Endurance, speed, and agility exercises: Higher than 120 beats per minute
d) Stretching: 90 to 100 beats per minute
While music can make our workouts more fun, you can become too dependent on music—or TV—to distract from the exercise. Sustainable behavior is connected to the experience and if music serves only to distract and tolerate, then no sustainable behavior is established.
4. Get dancing
Speaking of music, a great way to stay in shape is to dance. Hip-hop dancing is an excellent workout, and it is loads of fun. What’s a better way to sweat it out! Get moving on your favorite numbers with your gym buddy or your fitness group. To pep it up further wear some different and funky fitness apparels on the days you hip-hop.
5. Challenge yourself
If you have something to work towards, you will find that you enjoy exercising more. Challenge yourself every day. For instance, if you can do 20 sit-ups today, push for 25 tomorrow, and 30 the next day. When you have the challenge to meet, you will be more apt to exercise. Try it!
6. Be mindful of what you eat and drink
This may not seem important for working out, but you would be surprised. If you are not getting enough protein, you won’t have the energy to work out. Forget about eating a lot of carbs — the sugar rush only lasts for a short time, and you will run out of energy in the middle of your workouts.
However, it is also beneficial to choose healthy beverages to balance your nutrition. It can be easy to drink sugar all day in the form of coffee sweeteners, soda and energy drinks. It’s a good idea to carry your protein drink with you and have it post workout.You can also grab a glass of wine that helps in maintaining the lifestyle and has many uses. Go for the collection of Custom humidors if you want something new by your side and to store your costly liquors. Many who strive for nutritional choices in foods often forget about the nutrition that is contributed through beverage consumption.
7. Mix it up
Don’t do the exact same exercise routine every day; mix it up. If you always run on the treadmill, run outside on a nice day. Take a week off your lifting routine and do a Pilates class instead. As soon as you feel your exercise routine becoming a rut, find something else to do.
8. Get a fitness app
Fitness apps do a lot more than time sets and count reps. Some help plan innovative workout routines, others connect people to make exercise more social, and some even offer financial incentives to get moving! Just be sure to avoid excessive texting or taking calls — talking on a cell phone is a gym etiquette no-no.
Browse the thousands of fitness apps available to help you stay on track. Not only can you monitor your workouts, what you eat and how much you drink, you can also get tips, advice and most importantly, reminders. Some fun apps to take a look at- Runkeeper, MyFitnessPal and Water Your Body.
While there are lots of ways to make workouts more fun, it’s important to keep in mind that the benefits of exercise are always worth a little hard work. Planning challenging workouts and choosing engaging exercises will go a long way in making fitness fun and rewarding.
Author Bio
Harold Camaya
She is a blogger who loves to write especially in Beverages vertical. She co-authored Supercharge Organic Traffic: A popular course focusing on Organic Traffic for Ecommerce.. Her hobbies are travelling and reading novels.
