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Practical Tips for Beating Exercise Boredom

Sunday, February 15, 2009 Posted by WikiAnswer

Practical Tips for Beating Exercise Boredom

by J.M. Graham


Suppose it's time for your workout and you realize you are so not in the mood. And you haven't been for quite a while. Skipping out is looking awfully tempting... but after all the progress you've made, are you in danger of getting out of the habit?


Some people love every aspect of their fitness routine and can keep it up for decades without whining. Others of us have to resort to sneaky tricks to keep the momentum going.

Mixing it Up: Easier Said Than Done
The standard advice to anyone who's starting to dread their exercise routine is: do something different! Cross-train with a whole new sport or exercise!

Great advice... but, well, we often tend to ignore it, don't we? It's awfully hard to embark on something new and challenging when we're low on motivation to begin with.

The answer? Well, rather than contemplate ambitious changes and never make them, try experimenting with small, simple tweaks that are easier to make. Once you get your motivation back, then maybe you'll have the momentum to tackle a whole new activity.

Add a Single Challenge to Your Routine
Part of the reason for boredom can be a lack of progress. Yet realistically, there's only so much time and energy we have to work out, and it's easy to find yourself at a plateau.

So pick one or two things you'd like to get better at, set realistic goals, and focus more attention and time on them than everything else. Even if it seems "unfair" to your other exercises. Tell them they'll get their turn later. To try to do too much may make the problem worse, not better.

The payoff? You may find yourself dreading your workouts less when you start to make faster progress--even if it's only one aspect of your routine. (My goal? To be able to do an unassisted pull-up. Sometime this century).

Give Yourself Permission to Do Less.

If you're struggling to exercise at all, bribe yourself with a mini-workout--it's better than none. You may not need to, once you get going, but the "permission" should be sincere. It's not the end of the world to shave off 10 minutes of cardio or skip a few strength training exercises. Check your routine for duplicate exercises that work the same muscles --you may be able to alternate rather than doing them all every time. If the thought of an easier workout gets you out the door, it's well worth doing "less" sometimes.

Change Routes and Routines
Another obvious tip, but one we don't do often enough. If you exercise outdoors and have found the "best" route available for your run or walk, it can be tempting to just stick to it until you are totally sick of it but don't even realize it. Find new routes, or if there are none, revisit rejects that seemed too hilly or busy or boring--they may make a good change of pace even if they're not perfect.

And if you can't seem to nudge yourself to vary your location, at least try going the opposite direction!

Similarly, if you've found practical reasons to always do a gym workout in the same order, give it a break. Let yourself just do what ever you feel like in whatever order appeals to you. Sure, the other way may be more "efficient," but it's not worth getting so bored that you stop working out at all.

Or what the heck, live dangerously: try a new exercise or machine you've never used before!

Get Intense

Another place to experiment with changes is in the intensity/duration of your workouts. Are you used to slogging it out and racking up tons of miles/repetitions/sets/hours? Perhaps its time to experiment once or twice a week with interval training, or "power" lifting moves-- doing "less," time wise, but with more intensity. Yes, the workouts can be more challenging, but they're over much faster and leave you feeling amped in a whole different way.

Alternatively, if you exercise intensely all the time, you may be a ripe candidate for burnout. Mix it up with long slow days and REST days, or you may find yourself unmotivated or even sidelined with injuries.

Get Social

Not easy if you're looking for the "perfect" workout buddy, but what if you drop that requirement? Consider online pals if real ones aren't available--you can share your plans and accomplishments and get encouragement from blogs or internet groups or fitness forums. Also, it's easy to forget that someone at an entirely different fitness level can still make a great workout companion. There's no law that says you have to run the same speed or do the same activities at the gym.

Buy Stuff

Equipment doesn't have to be expensive to be motivating--buying a cheap heart rate monitor, some new mp3's, a pedometer, even a new pair of comfortable shoes can tempt you out the door to try them out. If you have the cash, then a few dollars now may be a smart investment in the long run. A lifelong exercise habit is hard to put a price on.

Does anyone else get burnt out exercising? What have you tried that's helped?

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