Inspire Your Workout

Everyone hopes to find a way to get a good workout in but also to find ways to make it enjoyable, rather than feeling like a chore.

If this sounds like you but lately working out has felt more like a chore than anything else, it might be time to take stock of when and where (and how) you’re actually doing your workout routines.

Do you go to the same gym, day in and day out, same familiar surroundings, same familiar faces, and do the same familiar exercises?

Is your cardio almost always done on the same old treadmill, elliptical or stationary cycle staring at the same old tv show on the screen above the machine? And usually without volume too, am I right?

Wow, that does sound pretty darn boring. I’d consider that a ‘chore’ too, so you sure aren’t alone in what you’re feeling.

How about this? Try getting your cardio outdoors wherever possible. And don’t just change your venue, change the time of day you get out there and you might find it that much more enjoyable.

If you’re a runner, cycler or power walker, try getting out for your cardio session first thing in the morning and enjoy watching the sun come up as you’re getting your heart rate up too! Forego the headphones for a change and listen to the music of the outdoors, like birds chirping and relish watching the sky turn from dim to bright. That sounds like fun to me!

What about heading out just before sunset and enjoy watching the sky turn crimson as the sun sinks out of sight for another day. What a GREAT way to end a day! Doing a good thing for your health and fantastic scenery as you go.

If you can’t get out there with the sunrise or sunset, then try hitting your local park and run, walk or cycle on the paths, or even get your shoes off and go for a run at your local beach, in the sand (and running is a great workout, too).

Heck, you could even do some great weights workout routines outdoors using just your bodyweight.

Try some super-circuits incorporating a bunch of different bodyweight moves. You don’t even need any equipment (and just as well, because it could be a problem to carry it out there if your equipment is particularly heavy or large).

Try getting to a park and just doing a routine with burpees or squat thrusts, mountain climbers and breakdancers, jumping jacks, bodyweight squats, walking lunges (go backward and forwards), push-ups or bench dips on a park bench, pull-ups on the playground monkey bars and jumps up onto a park bench.

Or take a jump rope with you and just jump for an extended period of time. That will get your heart rate up and your blood pumping in no time.

You could even go climb a tree if you felt particularly youthful and full of whimsy that day (and can find a suitable tree).

So, don’t get trapped in a web of boredom by working out at the same time, in the same place, on the same equipment, doing the same moves all the time. Change your surroundings or change the time of day and you’ll be interested and energized all over again!

And whatever workout you do, have a great time with it.