Make Fitness Fun!

Working out takes time and it takes energy, but it is an essential component to living a long and healthy life. We have enough mundane chores to attend to on a daily basis and working out should not be one of them. This is why it is important to find activities you enjoy that also keep you in good shape. If you're not a gym rat, you don't have to go to the gym to stay fit. If you hate running, you don't have to run mileage or even run at all if you don't want to. I am going to suggest a few ideas to alternative training methods you may want to throw in your routine to keep fitness interesting:

If you're over lifting weights with a bunch of knuckleheads at your local gym you can try strength training this way:

-  Get some basic equipment like dumbbells, medicine balls, bands and pull up bars from your local sporting goods store and space in your house to workout.

- Buy a TRX Suspension training for use in your home or anywhere outdoors you can tie it off to like a local football stadium, a park or even in your back yard.  There is something very refreshing about being outside and working out!

- Grab a copy of BombergerPT's Body Basics and go to town (shameless self promotion I am sorry)

- Start trying functional routines that use less weight and require more stabilization and core strength. Functional training is like meat head repellent so you can usually clear out a workout space in the gym with some kettle bell training, single arm push presses, pistol squats and plyometrics.


If you despise running on the hamster wheels, I mean treadmills here are some options:

- The United States has 3.79 million square miles of land and you can make use of it by running outside and not in a sweat box.

- Hitting your local high school football stadium stairs or a set of massive stairs anywhere you can find them. Stair running, jogging and hopping is a PHENOMENAL workout!

- Try some strength based cardio training that can be found in Coach Robert dos Remedios' book Cardio Strength Training. Talk about a fun way to do cardio, this book is full of all kinds of goodies!

- Do a workout at the beach or in a sand box in the park.You have a nice open sand area you can turn simple exercises like lunges, ice skaters, jump squats and hops into a pretty killer lower body workout and cardiovascular work.

- Pick an open area in any place you desire and start knocking out some jumping jacks, burpees, split lunge jumps, ice skaters, mountain climbers, push ups, crunches, bridges, yoga, you name it! Just move!

- Go take your kids to the park and play tag! Take advantage of your kids energy and make them a rabbit and you the chaser. But beware, a lot of kids are more functional and better at changing direction than adults so be ready to get juked by the little buggers.

I hope these ideas helped you think outside the box just a little bit. Just know if you want to train, you can find a way. Educate yourself on exercises and techniques and you'll realize you can find SOMETHING to do just about anywhere!