Beat Workout Boredom

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Maintaining one exercise routine everyday can kill your motivation. Here's how you can beat exercise blues

Boredom is the top killer of enthusiasm and motivation when it comes to exercising. Moreover, it happens to probably every exerciser on some occasion. Even the most dedicated walkers will admit that sometimes it gets a little boring, particularly if you’re covering the same old path or the same old treadmill day after day. Here’s how you can beat exercise boredom.

  • Heart-rate monitors are favorites among most people who work out, as they love to see the fluctuations in the heart beat rate that prompt them to push harder and enhance performance. It also motivates them to walk further. Or clip on a pedometer, and watch how quickly the miles add up.
  • You can stop getting jaded on the treadmill by watching your favorite TV soap or talking to your friends or reading a magazine. So plan your reading, watching and phone conversations with your best foot forward.
  • While walking, focus on repetition. You can repeat a prayer while you’re walking or self affirming talk about things you want to improve in your life or just focus on your footfalls. Relaxation significantly reduces symptoms of physical stress, including high blood pressure.
  • Listen to music. Its steady beat keeps you going. Research clearly shows that music puts your mind in a gentle state of euphoria.
  • Find a walking pal. The commitment will get you out of the house and the talking will make the walk a fun activity. Better still, start a walking club to keep stomping and shedding those kilos.
  • Learn a foreign language by listening to language tapes. Or listen to books on tape to exercise your mind as well as your body.
  • Walk backward for a while as it gives you cross-training benefits and keeps you alert.
  • Strength train while you walk. Do some very slow walking lunges and side squats.

  • You can interval train by walking fast for three minutes, then return to your normal speed for one minute. It breaks the monotony, and it builds strength and endurance. Keep that 3:1 ratio going!

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