Making Fitness Fun

Hey, do you want to workout with me?

Ok, be honest-did you just picture dumbbells and sweat and big bulking men in front of mirrors and groan silently to yourself when I asked you that?

Not everyone loves lifting weights or jumping on a treadmill and walking or running to nowhere on indoor cardio machines. Is that really the only way to burn those calories or tone up? Nope- it’s not!

Working out and burning calories does not have to be boring. The goal of a successful workout session is to get your heart rate up, move around and exercise those muscles. These results can be accomplished in a variety of ways, not just a traditional weight floor workout.

Think about how we teach our kids to move throughout the day. They play and laugh, run and jump. They must be exhausted but it sure looks like they afre having fun. Lets take a page from their book and see if we can find ways to make added activities enjoyable for us too.

Here are just a few ways you can add some extra activity into your lifestyle:

• Take a walk with a friend

• Play indoor beach ball or balloon volleyball with your family

• Get out on the water with SUP, kayaking, or swimming

• Play tennis

• Go dancing with your friends

• Jump rope with your daughter or neighborhood kids

• Jog with your dog

• Take a family bike ride

• Join an adult dance class

• Play tennis or a pick up basketball game

• Play a game of beach volleyball- the sand creates extra work for those legs.

• Put together a team and train together for an event like a mud run or Spartan race

• Do a 5k for charity with members of the community

• Volunteer with an organization like habitat for humanity (do you know how many calories you burn swinging a hammer for a few hours?)

Did you notice how many of those ideas used the term PLAY?!?That is for a reason, moving can and should be fun. When we have fun working out, it’s easy to keep it in our daily routine. So think about what you enjoy doing, and add it to your weekly goals. Your body and your soul will thank you for it.

Of course there are lots of options to make traditional workouts fun, like working out in a group with your friends, trying something new like Aerial Yoga, taking a high energy, music based group class or even turning a leisure activity like Stand Up Paddle boarding into workout with proper instruction. But you don’t have to be limited by the walls of a gym to get started.

If you are looking for somewhere to start, or need the expertise and direction of a Certified Trainer and Personal Motivator to help you get off on the right track? root SUP & Fitness has so much more to offer than a traditional workout. Check out our schedules on MINDBODY to see if we have something that sounds fun to you.