Exercising Makes Me Feel Like A Kid Again

Let's make exercise fun!!

Your alarm rings and you open your eyes to see the time. You know you should get up and exercise but you hit the snooze button just one more time. You instantly fall back into a deep sleep forgetting that you had hit the snooze button. Your alarm goes off once again and now you are running late and exercise is out of the question. You make a commitment to yourself that you will work out right after work.

You are on your way home and make the decision that you had a stressful day and decide to pass up the fitness center. You just want to get home to your soft recliner to get your tired achy feet off the floor and watch some television or listen to some great music. Does this sound like you? I know that I have had these thoughts before and made the decision to do what I described. You may be wondering how you get motivated to stay on a regular work out schedule. No matter how we look at it, if we aren't into exercising it is hard to get out that door and work out.

So how can we make exercise fun? You're wondering if I have lost my mind trying to make exercise fun. I am going to make some suggestions below on different things we can do to have fun and maybe add a little laughter to your work out.

• Grab your friend or friends and start a regular routine with them. If you haven't any friends then look for walking groups, hiking groups, bird watching groups and sign up. Exercising with others can be very motivating and can help you push yourself to the limits. You also get to laugh and make jokes while hanging out with others.
• Join a fitness club or a gym. Have one of the professionals set you up on a workout routine. Don't let the routine get boring. Change the exercises around, try a new cardio machine or do the routine backwards. You can also hire a personal trainer that will push your limits.
• Do you have a park near your home? Have you ever thought about using it? How long has it been since you have gone down a slippery slide? Brings back fun childhood memories doesn't it? Grab a swing and pump those legs and touch the sky. Run over to the monkey bars and hang upside down if you dare or do some pull-ups. If there is a round monkey bar then go right over the top of it, climb just like a monkey would and laugh at yourself. Find a friend and get on a teeter totter, I used to love teeter totters when I was a child. Now don't forget the tether ball! Push some kids on the merry go round. Be Young! Feel Young! Laugh and have some fun.
• Our hospital has a circuit training trail. It has a walking trail and it has different stations along the way. The stations all have a different exercise to complete. Try it and add it to your recipe for fun workouts. Circuit trailing trails are very popular.
• Jump on a bike and ride around your neighborhood. Things always look different on a bike. You can even put a basket on the front and take your favorite four legged friend with you.
• Take a walk, carry a camera and take pictures. You can document your walks and get some great pictures. It will make your walk very interesting and maybe get you to start a new hobby in scrap booking!
• Join a competitive sport like softball, baseball, soccer, volleyball, golf, bowling, tennis, and marathons etc.. It will be a great motivator and you get to socialize and meet some new friends.
• Visualizing is very important. Visualize what you would like your body to look like. Visualize your waist, your muscles, your legs, your arms and so forth. If you have read anything lately about visualizing then you will know that research has documented that when you visualize and hold your thought to your desires and in this case your body would respond. I think that is so cool!! You will still need to work out though!

There are probably a lot more things we can do to make exercise fun. Let your imagination be your guide to making your workout fun and enjoyable. You don't need to do the same routine every day. Try something totally different everyday if you want too. The most important thing is that you exercise. Commit yourself to exercise everyday and make it a life time habit for a healthier lifestyle.

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