Exercise rarely feels good unless it becomes part of your routine. But the two or three months it takes for you to really start appreciating that morning run, and the hard work and spluttering it takes to get there, well, it’s hardly appealing for most people. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it, after all.
But if you’ve already sworn off regimented exercise, it can be healthy to consider what your options truly are, and put in place measures to secure a better outcome. Routine exercise can feel great if you plan it out well and keep it light and sustainable, and you have so many options to move your body that the few you’ve tried don’t have to be the last word.
Yet if that feeling of ennui and a lack of motivation does continue, you may wish to consider some of the following advice. We hope it helps!
Yoga (Hot & Cold!)
Hot yoga can be incredible if you like that sweaty, almost sauna-like feeling where your muscles just melt into the poses. The heat makes everything easier somehow, like your body stops fighting you and starts working with you instead, and finding a good hot yoga studio could inspire you to keep up a workout pan.
The usual yoga works just as well though. It’s also quite flexible (no pun intended) to begin rolling out a mat in your living room and just stretching for twenty minutes. You don’t need to be perfect at it or look like someone on Instagram, which is even better. You can follow a YouTube guide if you like. Just move around, breathe deeper than usual, and see how you feel afterward. Most are surprised by how much better their back feels or how their mind settles down after a session or two.
Longer Walks & Hikes
Walking, especially with a dog or a friend, doesn’t feel like exercise until you realize you’ve been out for an hour and covered three miles without even thinking about it. You’re also getting outside and absorbing the wonder of nature, especially if you can find some trees or water nearby, you may get to enjoy your picturesque surroundings.
Hiking takes it up a notch but is still focused and less overbearingly tiresome. You’re not racing against a clock or trying to hit certain numbers with a habit like this, you’re just walking uphill for a while, maybe stopping to look at something interesting, and breathing fresh air. Your legs get stronger without you really noticing, and you come home feeling like you’ve been somewhere instead of just to the gym. It’s also free, which is hard to beat.
Dancing
Dancing might be the most underrated form of exercise out there. Put on music you actually like, not workout music, and just move around your kitchen or bedroom for fifteen minutes. Nobody’s watching, there’s no right or wrong way to do it, and you get your heart rate up without thinking about it. You could also bond with someone over going to a salsa class and being complete newbies at it. It’s good fun and comforting to enjoy a practice like that.
With this advice, we hope you can avoid swearing off regimented exercise, but still do something more your speed..
