Exercise should be enjoyable!

After all, as human-animals, we are made to move! Many people find themselves in a rut with regard to fitness. They’ve somehow decided that exercise HAS to mean going to the gym and spending 45 minutes on the elliptical trainer, where they feel bored and disengaged and finally quit. While the elliptical trainer, or the treadmill, or the spin bike at the gym are all indeed great pieces of workout equipment, if the user doesn’t enjoy their workout, the simple truth is that they’re less likely to keep doing it.

Many clients come to me and state that they used to be more active but after getting married, having a family, getting a promotion, or many other important life changes, they’ve let their fitness activities go. They receive a wake up call of some sort and come to the realisation that they’d better get moving and clean up their diet. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “My doctor says I have to lose weight and that my blood pressure is high and I hate working out and I hate the gym.” What an unfortunate way to begin training!

What I always encourage people to do is to find the thing they enjoy and pursue that. Rollerblading, dancing, swimming, water polo, stair climbing, hiking with your dogs, ANYTHING that requires you to move and that you can do on a regular basis will do. It might require you to think back to when you were a kid, if that’s the last time you recall playing or doing anything fun physically. The key is that if you like doing it, you will do it. Try not to view exercise as punishment and chances are, your whole approach will change,

Now go have fun!!