24 Apr Hate to exercise? 5 tips to make it more fun

Would you rather listen to nails screech against a chalkboard, or spend the afternoon watching paint on a fence dry instead of exercising?
For some people that’s the case – they dislike exercising that much.
However, it doesn’t have to be that way.
Here are fivetips to make exercise more fun:
1. Take part in fun aerobic activities – In addition to dancing, there are many other fun activities that will give you a good aerobic workout.
Consider things like skating, sports such as tennis or basketball, playing with the kids, or running or walking with your friend while enjoying a good conversation.
2. Dance – Maybe you just don’t want to exercise at all in traditional ways. If that’s the case, then start doing an active activity that you enjoy more regularly, such as dancing.
Believe it or not, if you eat right and dance regularly that can help you get more toned and lose weight.
3. Find a workout partner – If you can find a workout buddy, it will make things easier for you to stick to a program. You will have someone else to be accountable to and you can both push each other.
4. Find practical reasons to exercise – Some people don’t like to exercise if there’s no purpose to it, like running on a treadmill for 20 minutes and not going anywhere. For others, that’s perfectly fine.
But if you’re in the first category, combine exercise with things such as yard work projects, walking or jogging to the store for light shopping trips, or riding your bike to a store.
5. Set up a comfortable environment to exercise in – Not only is it important to set aside time in your busy schedule to exercise, but you should start by setting up a successful environment in your home to work out.
Put your fitness equipment in a comfortable room, one where you’ll enjoy putting in lots of hours of exercise. If you set up a treadmill in a crowded, cluttered garage, do you really think you’ll use it a lot there?
Now that could be different if it’s a big garage and set up nicely for exercising, or a basement that’s big enough and cleared out enough for fitness equipment.
Wherever you set up your fitness area, make sure it’s conducive to working out. Try to make it as fun a room as possible to be in. Set up a stereo and/or TV. Put up pictures or posters that motivate you. It’s hard enough to stay motivated for fitness the older we get, but if it’s a boring room to be in that certainly won’t make it any easier.
Make your fitness room a source of pride. Add fitness equipment such as a functional trainer along the way. Maybe even give it a name. And keep working out!

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com