Hey guys.. I've just recently started to exercise a little more regularly but i find myself getting bored with the work out... what do you guy do for exercise?? I'm
afraid that I'll just stop if i don't find something thats more interesting to do.. Please help!
I love my recumbant bike. I have an eliptical, ab lounger, a home gym with weights, and several favorite videos. I sort of move it around to incorporate 30 mins of cardio and 30 mins of strength training 6 days a week. I have been doing it for a few months now and seeing big results. You dont have to go as aggressive as anything is good. Do try to mix it up though. Better to not get bored.
I love to use my aerobic step and I do a lot of walking/hiking.
You really need to find what catches your own attention or you won't stick with it. You can try renting different types of workout videos at the library or the video store. Maybe something will click with you. Good luck!
You definately sound like a person who needs to mix it up! I get my cardio by alternating between 30 mins on the elliptical, the treadmill, or the stationary bike. I always have my ipod or a girly magazine or a celebrity rag so I can just zone out and have a little me time. If I were you, I would also get a great dance DVD and a fun aerobics DVD, so you have something to do in your house that is fun! For strength, I have a set of 3lb, 5lb, and 8lb weights that I can do various arm curls with for strength, and good ol' crunches are good for your tummy. My other strenth workout is my pilates DVD, which I love to do because I can really feel it working. It's called 'Quick Start Pilates for Weight Loss', by Gaiam, and I picked it up at Target for $15. I'm sure there are other ones out there. I guess my suggestion is to find a couple activities that you love, so that you have variety, and you look forward to it!
What I suggest is to pick out different types of exercises with different lengths of time. For example,
1) 30 minutes elliptical
2) 60 minutes treadmill with intervals
3) Fitness DVD
4) Pilates
5) 60 minutes crosstrainer with intervals
etc.
Type these, or write them, on peices of paper, cut them, put them in a container and everyday pick one. That day you'll do the exercise you picked, and leave it out of the container until the next week begins. This way you'll you'll never repeat workouts within the same week, you'll reduce your chances of plateauing, and you take the guess work out of what you should do on a particular day.
Dancing via the DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) way... Tis the only real thing that motivates me, and my gamer instincts. I DDR for three-five hours straight. And not realize I'm actually exercising.
Tis the best way to lose those extra pounds.. in my case.
Also doing roughly 30 mins on an elliptical, walking and generic strength Training.. (But currently lacking motivation, for those three...types of exercise. )
I try to mix it up as much as I can.
I try to walk for 30 minutes every day.
I LOVE to walk outside, but the weather doesn't always cooperate, so I use the WATP videos when needed.
Additionally,
I try to alternate yoga one day, weights the next
When I have extra time, I like to throw in a dance dvd - maybe 2 or 3 times per week.
Like Cassie, I am really building my dvd collection since winter in Northern Michigan doesn't allow for much outside activity other than skiing or shoveling (yuck)!
I like a variety as well - at the moment my routine consists of
- Boot camp 3 mornings a week
- Spin classes 4-5 days a week
- Running 2-3 times a week
- Body Combat class usually once a week
- Body Jam (dance class at the gym) usually once a week
- Dancing in my living room - all the time! (hehe the neighbours must think I'm cracked :P)
- Walking everywhere I can
A friend wants to to start latin dance classes with her so that could be another and maybe horse riding as well...we shall see. A girl only has so many hours in a week!
Anything and everything. The one I enjoy the most is running/walking. During the winter though, it's not as easy to take my son out in the stoller during cold weather...and running in snow ain't my idea of fun. So I do other indoor activities. And each of these get boring at some point, so I change the activitiy. I may get on my stair stepper for awhile, then move to Walk Away the Pounds videos for a month or my dance video, or I might hoola hoop a couple of weeks, or use my gazelle, body ball, hand weights, go out on the front porch and speed jump rope...
When you get bored with something, simply find a new exercise and try it for awhile. Get some simple equipment a bit at a time, get new videos.
What has really kept me motivated to exercise is hiring a personal trainer. The sessions with my trainer are never boring and I get a much better workout than I do on my own. They also motivated me to start working out on my own on the off days. Eventually, the training also motivated me to change my diet and I've now lost almost 40 lbs. But if I hadn't had my trainer, I know I would have quit after a few months (because that's what happened last time I joined a gym).
At first, all I did were the sessions with my trainer, just three days a week. Now I work out every day and I never have trouble convincing myself to go to the gym--it's just something I do, like eating and sleeping. The personal training is expensive, but when I think of all the junk I spend money on, this is one thing I can feel good about because it literally prolonging my life (unless I get hit by a bus or something). And there are ways to make it more affordable--a lot of gyms over small group training that is cheaper or you could just buy one session per week.
If you can't do personal training, consider going to classes. The classes would also be more interesting than working out on your own, the social dynamic can make them more fun, and it's scheduled time to exercise. One of the advantages of the personal training was that I had a specific time I needed to be at the gym, which got me there. Going to classes would accomplish the same thing.
I also highly recommend music. My one-year reward for keeping up with my exercise program was an iPod shuffle and it has changed my life. It is so much easier to get through my workouts when I'm listening to music that I've picked out.
Another thing that helps is breaking the cardio into smaller chunks. Don't do a half hour of cardio on one machine, do two 15-min sessions on two different machines. Even during your 15-min session, keep changing things up. For example, alternate between running fast and walking on the treadmill, or change the incline every few minutes. I find that breaking my workout up into smaller segments makes it go a lot faster.
And I agree with the others about mixing things up. Here is what I do for exercise:
- on hour, 3 days a week with my trainer (high impact cardio and strength training)
- On non-training days, I do 30 minutes cardio that consists of 15 minutes of running intervals on the treadmill (sprint for one minute, walk for one minute) and 15 minutes on the step machine, elliptical with stationary arms, or elliptical with arms that move. On the stair machine, I increase the pace every 3-4 minutes. On the elliptical with stationary arms, I change the incline every 2.5 minutes and go backwards for 2.5 minutes at the end. I also do 15 minutes of abs on these days. My ab routine usually consists of two sets of leg lifts, sit-ups, side-to-side, pullovers with situps, and crunches, all on the incline bench. Then I also might do crunches on the super-crunch machine, leg lifts and holds on the captain's chair, or holds in the plank position. Whatever else I feel like that day (it also depends on what equipment is available).
- One day a week I swim for an hour instead of doing my cardio workout.
- In the winter, I run 6 miles one day week in place of my cardio workout.
I run, bike ride, horseback ride, hike when I can and do strength training DVD's from Push.tv (which I LOVE). So far, I haven't gotten bored of any of it, as a matter of fact, the more I do it all, the more I love it all. I'm dreading winter and crummy weather.
I'm currently on a bike riding kick, when the weather is not cooperating I still have spin classes at the gym. Walking is an every day thing, the dog wouldn't have it any other way.
Weight training 3-4 days a week as well.
We don't have a lot of money to put towards me loseing weight. We do know it is important but bills come first. I found some walking videos. I pop one of those in and can walk right in my den. Doesn't cost anything and I get a nice 1 to 4 mile walk.
Kim, I do that too! I love my scraps. I have a box for videos, gym activities and strength training. I find mixing it up makes me more eager to work out. Though there still days when I am bored like whoa! There isn't anything I can do, since I realize sometmes it's a mental rather than physical thing. I just try to plow through the best I can.
What do you do for exercise?
