Making Exercise More Enjoyable And Fun

By Jim O'Neill

Aaahhh, the thought of getting up in the morning and going to the gym to lift weights or run on the treadmill. How about the thought of going to the gym after a hard days work when you'd probably rather just go home and relax? Even the thought of exercising at home on your own equipment can be less than desirable. Sometimes trying to get and stay motivated to exercise on a regular basis can be quite a challenge, after all, exercise can almost be downright boring and tedious at times.

So then just how can you get the motivation to maintain an exercise program on a regular basis? What can you do to make exercise something to look forward to everyday and not feel like a chore, like something you feel like you have to make yourself do each time? Well, here are some ideas that just might help to make exercising a little easier and a lot more fun.

To start with, exercise with a friend. Here you can challenge each other, help each other, keep each other motivated and on track, maybe try to make each other laugh during a set or while jogging on the treadmill, make kind of a game out of it.

Try something different. If you go to the gym everyday and use the same piece of equipment or use the same piece of equipment at home try mixing up your routine. Reverse your routine or just change the order of your exercises or sometimes don't even go to the gym or use your home equipment. Go to a city park that has playground equipment. Use the slide, climb on the monkey bars, do pull-ups, hang from your knees, just use your imagination. You don't need to always have a strict routine, just get out and work your muscles.

Do an outdoor circuit in the park. Some parks have circuit courses set up with a planned course and all you have to do is walk or jog to each station and follow the instructions. If there's no planed course then do a combination of jogging and walking and pick a distance such as 200 feet. Jog 200 feet then drop and do 10 pushups, walk the next 200 feet then drop and do 20 abdominal crunches, then jog the next 200 feet and do 10 pull-ups if a bar or sturdy tree branch is available.

Try an activity like riding a bike around your neighborhood or hike on a hiking trail. A nice walk in the park or just around your neighborhood is a good way to get exercise. A little yoga in the park or on the beach is a nice relaxing way to exercise your body and your mind.

Try playing a competitive sport. Most cities have team activities such as softball, volleyball, tennis, soccer and so on. And these activities not only provide you with good exercise but also put you in circumstances to meet a lot of new people as well.

When exercising, picture your muscles. Studies have shown that if you focus your thoughts on the muscles you are working, they will respond better. Try to see them working with each repetition as they contract and relax.

As you can see, there are many ways to make getting exercise more fun and interesting. You need not always follow the standard routine of going to the gym or using your home equipment and doing the same old exercises day after day. The important thing is just that you incorporate exercise in any various forms into your everyday life and make these habits the kind of habits that will last a lifetime.

About The Author:

Jim O'Neill gives you tons of valuable information on the subjects of weight loss, fitness, and nutrition to make it easy for you to live a healthy lifestyle. Sign up now for his free 7 part mini e-course at: http://www.mrgymfitness.com

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If you haven't experienced a workout using a Swiss ball, another name for a fitness ball, you don't know what you're missing.

There's a reason it has become so popular and it's not just a fad. The Swiss ball has been used for many years in physical therapy. It's actually recommended by many physical therapists as a way to help you relieve back pain.

The effectiveness of the Swiss ball is due to the fact it's round. That creates in-stability which in turns causes your body's core muscles to come into play.

Listen, when you do a crunch on the floor, basically your upper abs muscles are working. When you do it on the Swiss ball, your core muscles; which consist of all the muscles in your abs area, muscles in your back, your pelvic area and hips are working to help keep you on the ball.

You just did your crunch but since more muscles were brought into play, you actually increased the value of your exercise. The result is you can actually do fewer repetitions and get more benefit.

That's just the beginning. There are so many exercises you can do on the Swiss ball that you'll never get bored.

Try some pushups, not only with your feet on the ball and your arms on the floor, but with your feet on the floor and your hands on the ball. Spreading your feet apart gives you more stability and bringing them closer together makes the exercise tougher.

Do a few pushups with your feet close together and your hands on the ball and you won't believe the effect! Your arms will scream for mercy!

You can also do some dumbbell training on the Swiss ball and, once again, since you are bringing those core muscles into play, you get a good body core workout as well.

It takes a little while to get used to the ball. You should begin by sitting on it and just getting a feel for it. Roll it back and forth. Side to side.

It's not a bad idea to have someone with you when you first start working out on the ball to help you stay on. And definitely don't begin using weights of any size until you are comfortable and have been exercising on the ball for some time.

I urge you to try including the Swiss ball into your exercise routine. You will see and feel a difference!

About the Author:

Brennan Howe is owner of several health information sites including www.backpain.freeinfosites.com, where you can learn all about back pain and how to relieve it.

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