If you’ve been fairly sedentary for a long time, you probably dread any kind of exercise. It’s normal but sorry to tell you: your body and mind need it! Here’s a tip that’ll get you excited to get your heart pumpin’.
Once your body gets a taste of regular physical activity, just like junk food but only healthy for you, it begins to crave it. No kidding! So the trick is to start getting active consistently.
But how do you do that when you have absolutely NO motivation to go to the gym or workout at home? Well, you could do what I did and get a personal trainer (read My Adventures with a G Force Trainer Part 1 and 2). Once you invest good money into having someone coach you into what to do and who holds you accountable, it starts the ball rolling.
Now that’s a good tip, but it’s not the #1 tip to get you fit. Are you ready for it? It’s to make physical activity fun for you! Yes, that’s right, you don’t have to kill yourself to get in shape. Isn’t that great to hear?
Especially when you’re starting out from a sedentary lifestyle, the most important goal for you is to make physical activity a habit. How are you going to continue doing something when it causes you pain? That’s inhuman. It’s natural for us to move towards pleasure and steer clear from pain.
How do you make physical activity fun for you? It’s really individual so you need to experiment with different ways of doing things and try new activities. For instance, if you’re a social butterfly, you might want to try walking with a buddy so you can chat while you get your exercise in for the day.
As an example of trying new activities, I recently joined a Dojo (that’s a martial arts studio). I love it! It’s challenging and helpful in all the right ways; I’m learning a variety of martial arts and self-defense moves. Not only is it a crazy workout, I’m also learning mental and ethical discipline, justice, etiquette, respect and increasing my self-confidence. Whew!
As a bonus, I’m meeting new people from different backgrounds and perspectives. I’m broadening my social circle and in the process, it’s helping me grow into a more well-rounded person. It’s also making life more interesting!
To recap, the #1 tip to get fit is to make physical activity fun for you. In whatever ways you make that happen, whether it’s to shake things up by doing the usual activities differently or try something totally off the cuff for you – you just might be surprised to find yourself passing the time waiting until your next bout of exercise!
After reading this, did anything come up for you in how you can make activity fun? Please share them in the comments to give others some ideas, too!