Spring and summer are the ideal times to get active. Between the pleasant weather, the longer daylight hours, and the plethora of activities to enjoy, there’s no excuse not to get moving. But if you aren’t enjoying your current workout routine, it’s going to be hard to stay motivated. Even if you’ve already purchased some gym equipment from local sports stores, you’ll need to make your exercises more interesting if you want to make fitness a lifelong habit. Here are just five ways to ensure your workouts end up being a lot of fun — so much so that you might not even realize how many calories you’re burning!
- Grab a Buddy: Working out alone can be a real bore. But exercising with a friend or family member can help to hold you accountable and make the time fly by. You’ll be able to catch up and enjoy each others’ company while you use your home fitness equipment or go to the gym. Plus, on the days when you’d love nothing more than to skip your routine, your friend will be right there to make sure you get through it.
- Try Something New: Getting stuck in a workout rut can spell disaster for your fitness commitment. Instead of resigning yourself to the same routine every day, mix things up. Whether you head to your local sports stores to pick up some new equipment or you want to try out an interesting class at a nearby community center, you’ll likely find brand new motivation and work out parts of your body that may not have been receiving as much attention before. In the process, you’ll gain new skills, make new friends, and push your own boundaries — all of which can increase your confidence and give you a new lease on life.
- Turn Up the Music: There’s arguably nothing better than exercising to some awesome music. Data actually shows that listening to tunes while you work out can actually improve your performance pretty substantially. Create a few playlists that can guide you through any workout routine and provide you with that extra push just when you feel ready to call it quits. You’ll be surprised what a difference it can make.
- Get Outside: Although you’ll want to invest in some equipment you’ll find at sports stores for throughout the year, this is a great time to take advantage of the nice weather by exercising outside. Since around 30% of adults over the age of 15 who exercise daily say that they walk as a workout, you can easily take a lap around your neighborhood or go for a jog in a local park for a change of scenery. This small adjustment to your workout routine can reinvigorate your efforts and provide some extra benefits that you might not always experience when training in the gym.
- Cut it Short: It may sound counterintuitive, but shorter workouts can be the key to your long-term health. If your workout is more intense and focused while being only 20 or 30 minutes long, that time is going to be a lot more productive than spending an hour slogging through a routine. The whole concept of HIIT (high-intensity interval training) is based on short spurts of physical activity. If you’re tempted to skip using the equipment you purchased from your neighborhood sports stores just because you have less than an hour to spare, this is the perfect excuse to fit in a bit of physical activity in a shorter time frame.
For some people, workouts are never going to be the most thrilling activity. But if you can make your exercise routines more enjoyable, you’ll start to look forward to this physical activity instead of dreading it. And if you have equipment you actually like to use, you’ll be able to achieve your goals that much faster. For more information on our fitness stores and equipment, please contact us today.
