Are you finding it difficult to get out of bed in the morning for your daily walk and making up excuses to skip the gym on the way home? Even the most dedicated exercisers occasionally get bored especially if you're covering the same old route or the same old piece of treadmill-rubber day after day. Never fear - boredom relief is here. It's time to reinvigorate your workouts.
Try these ideas:
Try something new. Challenge yourself by using a cardio machine you've never tried before (like the rowing machine or the versa climber or how about going for a jog?).
Skip a Few Days: If you are beginning to dread going to the gym, skip a few days and workout at home. Try that exercise DVD you have (and never did!). Or if you exercise at home and you are getting bored, go for a walk or take a hike. A change of scene is maybe just what you need.
Do a rotation. Once a week, use every cardio machine in the gym for different cardio workout. You'll get a great workout and have a little fun, even if it is own your own, at least there are people around and you get to listen to music or even watch some TV!
Inspire yourself. "I have my clients make their own tapes," says Tim Culwell, a fitness professional in Denver. "Tape a self-affirming talk to yourself about things you want to improve in your life. Your subconscious will listen better to your own voice." Also remember once you are there, and you start your exercise you will feel better, l promise.
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- Change your resistance. We all have our favorite things we love to do at gym, where it be a particular machine, free weights or the cables. If you tend to stick with one type of resistance, do something different. Again, the word change comes back, try resistance bands or use the cable machine. It's amazing how different an exercise feels when you change the resistance and also the order that you do the exercises in.
- Change your focus. If you usually lift heavy for less reps, try increasing the reps and lowering your weight for more endurance training. If you never lift heavy, give it a try. The change will do your mind and body good. Remember to always ask the instructors for help, that is what they are there for!
- Practice the relaxation response. Harvard's Herbert Benson, M.D., author of Timeless Healing (Simon & Schuster, 1997), has proven that the relaxation response significantly reduces symptoms of physical stress, including high blood pressure. "While walking, focus on a repetition. If you're spiritual, repeat a prayer while you're walking," he advises. "If you're not, repeat something else, or focus on your footfalls."
Good Company: Working out alone often is an oasis of solitude in a busy day, but maybe you need some company, so that they are there to push you. Just about every sport or activity has a club; to find one, ask around at gyms or local community centers. Keeping up with the crowd also means you'll be challenged to improve your skills. Ask about organized workouts and fun runs offered by local track clubs, as well as group rides hosted by cycling clubs.
Challenge Yourself: Many exercisers work out simply to stay in shape, and most of the time that's just fine. But setting a goal, such as finishing a 10K race or completing a rough-water swim, will give your daily workouts more meaning. Book yourself in to do a fun run, so that will give you motivation to train. If you are working out at home, start by incorporating bursts of speed into your workouts. This can be as simple as sprinting to the next tree, or as structured as running intervals on a track or sprinting laps in the pool.
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- Listen to music. "There's no question that listening to music can help an exerciser," says Jack A. Taylor, Ph. D., director of the Center for Music Research at Florida State University in Tallahassee. "It keeps a steady beat going, and the research clearly shows that music puts your mind into a mild state of euphoria."
- Break the rules. You may follow the typical strength routine of starting with big muscle groups and working your way down. Breaking the rules can be a good thing--it teaches you about your own body and what it likes or doesn't like. Change your workouts by starting from the last exercise and going backwards. Start with a different exercise or muscle group or change the rest between sets. See how your body responds to these changes...you may just find something that works better than what you normally do.
Keeping things fresh and new is essential for your mind and for your body. It's easy to get attached to doing the same workouts day after day, but being willing to try new things is the only way to keep your body challenged and your mind excited about exercise. Plus, you never know what you'll discover about yourself when you try something new and your body will thank-you for it!
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