A lot of people fail exercise routinely because they find gym routines boring. These same people get on the bandwagon regularly and fall off just as regularly. Unless you exercise religiously just because it is the right thing to do, you might need to look a little further for motivation.
Jean Murphy wrote an article about putting fun back into exercise (The Wall Street Journal: Tuesday, February 11, 2011) that I think speaks to a lot of us. She interviewed a fellow exerciser who made it her mission to find a way to motivate herself, and her main criterion was that it had to be fun.
Trainers often recommend training for a mini-triathlon or a marathon in order to motivate you to exercise regularly. Training with a goal seems to work well for some people. This particular lady decided to give it a try and she trained diligently to ready herself for a mini-marathon. She trained and she competed and she crossed the finish line, but came to the realization that she wasn’t really athletically competitive or particularly gifted in any of the areas. She also realized that it wasn’t much fun.
This realization led her to explore different forms of exercises that might appeal to the everyday athlete. One of the first things that she checked out was rowing. She did this by signing up for a rowing camp and was lucky enough to find a group of kindred spirits (aka as the casual athlete). She found that she could be a good recreational rower and have fun while getting a good workout. The enjoyment was in the process and the exercise instead of in the competition.
Another avenue that she explored was dance as a form of exercise. She signed up for a tap dancing clinic and was hooked after the first lesson. It took her almost a year to learn the basics, but once mastered she found that it was a great aerobic activity. Dancing is also good for the memory because you have to remember all of the dance steps and sequences. She figured that tap dancing and rowing were sports that she could do forever. Once you learn the basics they are easy enough to do.
Being committed to exercise she tries to do other things like biking, walking, swimming and conditioning classes, but the rowing and dancing were the most rewarding and the most fun for her. She recommended getting out there and trying new things. If you find an activity that you enjoy it will motivate you to exercise routinely.
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