Are you getting bored of your workout? Are you thinking of excuses when the time to hit the gym comes? If yes, then you may suffer from exercise boredom.
Maybe you could use a little help to freshen up your training program and bring back the challenge. You’re not alone. Many gym-goers have lifted themselves to greater achievements, yet still suffer from a bad case of exercise boredom.
Try these tips to beat your exercise boredom and make your workout more fun!
Table of Contents
- Challenge Yourself with Small Goals
- Do Something You Love
- Vary Your Workout
- Get a Training Partner
- Recruit a Trainer
- Hit the Outdoors
- Try a New Gym
- Don’t be Afraid to Take a Break
- Beat Your Exercise Boredom
Challenge Yourself with Small Goals
When you reach a goal, you’ll feel awesome and motivated to continue with your workout. Challenge yourself with small, achievable goals that could give you a little kick to move onto the next level.
For instance, try 3 or 5 more reps next time, adding seconds rather than whole minutes – that’s how almost everybody built up their strength and stamina. Don’t set an unrealistic goal that will likely to bring failure because it will make you discouraged. String together a bunch of smaller goals and celebrate achieving them all.
Do Something You Love
Nobody’s forcing you to do activities you dislike. If you lack the motivation to do an activity, chances are you don’t enjoy doing that activity. Do you think you’ll magically start enjoying that activity in a month’s time? 2 months? Thought not.
Remember that there are various types of exercises you can do to achieve optimal well-being. You don’t have to get stuck with exercises you don’t like. If you have a specific goal such as a certain body shape to achieve, think about what other routes are available to reach that goal.
Vary Your Workout
Try something different in your workout. Just lifting another kind of load or a switch of emphasis to more resistance for a bit, and you could discover a workout that feels better to you both during and after.
Even the same exercises in a different order can feel like a whole new routine (although consider the reasons why they were in that sequence to begin with). Adding one different repetition to your regular routine can work wonders – maybe one you’ve picked up from a buddy or watched in a video online.
Get a Training Partner
Another great way to beat exercise boredom, and push yourself a bit harder, is to bring a friend along. Time will pass quicker, and your new gym buddy will add the most value when you think you’re reaching the limits of your endurance or the amount you can lift. Especially if your buddy is experienced at working out.
A bit of competition and a little extra push can be all you need to add a few extra reps, and more self-belief. A fresh pair of eyes on your technique and program won’t do any harm.
Recruit a Trainer
Take those benefits of having a training partner one step further by hiring a coach. This is recommended anyway because you can get a customized fitness program that is tailored to your goals and unique condition.
A trainer will draw on their expertise to customize a program to each client’s specific needs and goals. Make the most of their knowledge and take every opportunity to ask about progressions and alternate workouts you could try.
Even if it’s just a few trial sessions, the routine and commitment to showing up at a certain time to your appointment and putting the effort in will add a new dimension to your training.
Hit the Outdoors
Indoor training can become dull, more so if you visit the gym regularly. Being faced with the same roomful of machines can lead to a sense of monotony. Head outdoors and make the most of outdoor training whenever the climate allows it.
It doesn’t even need to be great weather. Running in the rain can be wonderfully refreshing, and hitting the trails on a chilly morning could free your mind from any exercise rut you’ve gotten stuck into.
Swimming outdoors also feels great, and that alone will energize you into getting a few extra laps in. And there’s the variety that cross-training offers, from track and hill workouts to the different physical and mental challenge of trail running and mountain biking.
Try a New Gym
If the season doesn’t allow outdoor training, you could always try a change of scene and visit a different gym, even if it’s just temporarily or briefly. Recall how your regular workout felt, compare it with your first day at your current gym.
Open your eyes to different routines and meet new faces by going along with a friend or taking a trial in a new gym, and you might well put some lost excitement back into your exercise.
Don’t be Afraid to Take a Break
You may be suffering from mental or physical burnout and could benefit from a bit of time out. Take a break from your workout routine, but stay active by doing different activities. You may be surprised how quickly the hunger returns and you start missing the gym and are fired up and ready to launch into it again.
Above all, don’t worry about losing condition or fitness. If training was getting stale then the break itself will probably do you more good than carrying on. It may take weeks or a whole month to recover fully, particularly if you were training through an injury or strain.
Beat Your Exercise Boredom
Keeping your enthusiasm topped up is essential to make your training work for you. Never stop looking for ways to push and challenge yourself, whether it’s from within or with the help of friends and professionals. Alleviate exercise boredom by reviewing your goals often. Above all, never quit and keep your dreams alive!
Sasha Lizaveta is a fitness enthusiast and content manager at BadassBodyProject.com. She advocates a conservative yet effective approach to fitness. She believes in the power of gradual changes to achieve long-lasting results. When not working out or creating content, she can often be found engrossed in books, playing with her cats, or travelling.
Good ideas.