Raise your hand if you honestly enjoy jogging. Yeah, thought so. Jogging is painful, and it can honestly just become boring. Here are eight exciting ways you can get fit, that aren’t boring or repetitive.
Anything Outside, Really
Amber Kirkwood from University Courses shares her advice. “If you’re up for a challenge and want a little more excitement out of your workout, try dancing or even geocaching, a real-life outdoor adventure that will have you feeling like a treasure hunter in no time. Did you know that playing a music instrument, such as a violin can burn the same calories as walking on a treadmill for half an hour? Plus, you get to watch your progress and learn a lifelong skill. Other fun ways to get yourself moving can be as simple as creating a beautiful flower bed or building a birdhouse. Anything out-and-about that includes sunshine, movement and a challenge are great, especially if you can see the result of all your hard work! There’s plenty of ways you can trick yourself into exercise without even realising it. But the best way? Don’t do it by yourself, make it a social outing with a friend!” Find out more about University Courses by following them on Facebook and Twitter. If you’d love to spend some more time outside, but your backyard doesn’t have any fitness-friendly space, lay down some artificial grass from MyDeal.
Handstands
Monique Ceccato from Little Miss Mon Bon shares her advice. “Handstands! Revert back to childhood and perfect the art of a handstand. Handstanding strengthens the muscles in the arms, shoulders, back and core, strengthens the wrists, and tests your balance and coordination. Start small and balance against a wall, or grab a friend and have them help to spot you.” Find out more about Little Miss Mon Bon by following her on Facebook and Instagram.
Swimming
What a way to burn calories, without feeling the burn afterwards! Swimming is a great way to tone up almost every muscle in your body, aerobically push you, builds strength and can even help lower stress levels. Be careful not to overdo it, but swimming is a great way to build endurance and relax at the same time. Talk about a win-win!
Obstacle Courses
Military-inspired obstacle courses, True Grit, share the benefits of obstacle courses. “It’s a very different and diverse style of training. It’s not just going to the gym or going for a run, it’s more functional based training. Not only is every muscle in your body being exercised, you’re regularly being taken out of your comfort zone, with psychological challenges such as heights, confined spaces and cold water. These mental challenges are something that will improve your mental strength. Training outdoors also has a few challenges of its own. Landscape and weather may not be your friend, but then that’s half of the fun too. The idea is to test your abilities - standard training is great but training for an obstacle course brings people together and develops camaraderie amongst participants and confidence within yourself. When the whole body is strong and works synergistically, you develop a flow and strength that isn’t
easily gained by traditional body part splits of one muscle group per day type training. Obstacle Course training achieves this.” Find out more about True Grit by following them on Facebook and Instagram.
Skipping Rope
A great way to keep your heart rate up is with some skipping rope. You don’t have to do double dutch sort of skipping, you can, instead, do high-intensity jump rope while you’re in the backyard, or while you’re taking your dog to the park. While you have your essential dog toys in your hand, bring a skipping rope with you too. Throw your dog toy, and skip for a bit; throw the toy again, and keep skipping. If you’d prefer, you can do squats in between every second throw, as long as you keep moving.
Dance!
Adam Bailey, owner of Bailey Fitness shares his views on why dancing is a great way to get in shape. “Dancing is an instinctive response that resides in just about everybody. Without realising it, your body wants to move and react to the music. You tap to the beat or nod your head along with the music. Your brain recognises the beat and sends messages to your reflexes, communication system and emotion system. This is what causes individuals to feel certain emotions or trigger different memories and feelings when they hear particular songs. Many people use spontaneous dancing sessions as a way to clear their minds, to help them to think clearly and to help take a step back from situations and see it more clearly. Not only is dance good for your mental and emotional well-being, dancing is a great form of body weight exercise and is suitable for just about anybody! Not only does dancing help you to have fun and perhaps start to enjoy exercise, there are also plenty of benefits that will ultimately help you to get into shape.” Find out more about Bailey Fitness by following them on Facebook and Instagram.
While You’re At It...
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Rollerblading
Did you know that rollerblading is an amazing way to burn calories, tone muscle and have some fun? Well, you probably did, but that should make you want to get your skates on even more. In the warmer months, grab a buddy and skate through the streets. Burning more calories than running (in an hour, you can burn up to 450 calories), skating is easy on the joints, improves your balance and is a social activity.
Star Jumps
Star jumps, jumping jacks, whatever you call them, are an amazing and underrated form of exercise. Often associated with kids, this physical activity is taught to you when you’re little, and it’s a lot of fun. Star jumps are great because they work out your whole body, can be done by anyone and can be done anywhere. They burn calories, improve your heart health, reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and stroke, as well as helping you lose any belly fat.
Working out doesn’t have to be boring or painful, it can actually be fun. Get outside, grab a mate and get active. It’s worth it!
