Blog Post
Making Fitness Fun
If you have found my site it is likely that you are someone that enjoys fitness, going to the gym and staying active. But for many people fitness is not fun, it is something hard work, unenjoyable and in some cases even embarrasing. So how does someone that does not enjoy exercise ensure their health does not suffer?
The answer is to make fitness fun. Whilst going to the gym or exercising in the park might not be an enjoyable option, there are many other options for improving your fitness and burning calories. If you don’t enjoy an activity, try another. Often people that do not enjoy the gym do enjoy sport, so playing a social sport may be an option. There are indoor sport centres in most metropolitan areas, so finding somewhere to play indoor soccer, indoor beach volleyball, touch rugby, indoor netball or cricket should not be difficult.
Another way to make exercise fun is to enlist a friend or family member to make the activity more social. Going for a walk, run or ride with a friend can turn exercise into a social activity rather than focusing on the physical exertion required.
Focus on the fun and positive aspects of the physical activity. When you choose the exercise you are going to undertake, choose something non-competitive, somewhere with amazing scenery and that will give you a sense of achievement when complete, whilst ensuring it is not too challenging that you cannot complete the activity. Bushwalking can tick these boxes and is a great way to get some fresh air and exercise.
Play with the kids, or play like a kid. Fernwood Learning trainer Dale Sidebottom from BottumsUpFitness has some fun musical workouts as well as fitness card and dice games on his Youtube channel and website. These are great activities for the kids, but also can be fun for adults.
If you are embarrassed about your physique or ability to exercise then Fernwood is a great place to exercise. The Fernwood environment is non judgemental and welcoming. You may even choose to enlist the services of a personal trainer for a personalised fitness program, or a food coach for a tailored eating plan. Celebrate your successes and improvement, remembering that improvements should be steady to be sustainable.
My final tip is to slip fitness into your daily routine. Incidental exercise can significantly accumulate over the course of the day. Incidental exercise is activity such as getting up and visiting someone in the office rather than emailing, walking to work rather than driving, parking further away from your destination and walking, taking the stairs rather than lift, etc. All these little activities can add to significant exercise over the course of a day.
So remember, if you don’t enjoy exercise, it may just mean you need to try something different.
- Check out Dale’s musical workouts at his Youtube channel
- Check out Dale’s Dice and Card games at his website