I’ve read that it takes a few weeks to form a new habit. For me, exercise is eternally a new habit because I often tend to go in hard for an intensely short period of time with something new, before losing enthusiasm and forgetting about it. Oops. I’m always on the look out for something that will hold my attention and motivate me when I am feeling lazy and tired.
I love my treadmill (have I told you enough yet?) but I know that in order to sustain my new, healthier exercise habits, I need to mix things up sometimes. It’s great to have that real thrill that you’re trying something new. To remind you why you like feeling strong and powerful and to challenge you mentally (and physically). I hate being bored. Also, it’s good to have a variety of types of exercise so your body doesn’t get too used to one thing, causing you to plateau out with your weight loss or fitness.
Here are a couple of the things I added to the mix since I bought my treadmill…
Indoor rock climbing
This was actually a happy accident! A couple of the girls organised a mystery day out for our friendship group last month and the activity was to throw ourselves out of our comfort zones and climb up some very high walls while wearing camel toe inducing harnesses! It was SO MUCH FUN. I never ever thought I would enjoy that kind of thing (especially after a freak out in year 10 where I chickened out of abseiling down a 9 metre rock face), but I really did. I just wanted to walk out of there feeling great that I tried something new. I got up the first wall I tried – all the way to the top. It was the easy one they start you off on, but it made this uncoordinated dork feel so confident! I then gave another couple of walls a try and I felt so strong! I loved feeling the ache in my forearms and my calf muscles afterwards – proof I worked hard! I loved that I would never have chosen this activity on my own. Being thrown into it was awesome. I still smile at the thought that I (world’s least likely rock climber) did that.
FYI those blue things on the left of the climbing wall? Who knows what they do or how to use them? Because I didn’t haha.
Hip Hop Cardio
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOkBrurM9G4]
I love to dance (never said I’m any good though – just in case you were sorely mistaken). After a hilarious girls night out last weekend, where we danced like fools in an almost empty pub, I realised how fun it is and how much I miss those days where I’d get my work out on the dance floor (no wonder the 18 year old me was skinny). Yesterday I was feeling so sluggish and unmotivated after a rough night’s sleep. The thought of getting on the treadmill just left me cold. I started to google hip hop dancing for fun, because I knew there would be heaps of good work out videos out there (there really aren’t hahaha). It didn’t take long to find The Fitness Marshall , though, and this guy is FIERCE. He uses songs that are popular and catchy, the moves aren’t too complicated for a goober like me, but they are definitely challenging enough to give you incentive to keep trying and improving. And those facial expressions and the way he really throws his whole body into it? He looks like he’s having SO MUCH FUN. Who doesn’t want to have SO MUCH FUN too?! I spent a whole hour having an absolute ball sweating it out to his videos! A definite new favourite. By the time I was finished, my endorphins were well and truly going and I even got on the treadmill afterwards for a cool down. Go me!
Other little things I do…
Change up my music playlist regularly. I know it took me a while but I finally figured out that I can shuffle my YouTube playlist so I am not working out to everything in the same order all the time. What a noob. But it has changed everything haha. Also, I keep adding songs when I hear something that makes me want to move.
Google new work outs. There’s so much stuff out there for every person. It’s fun to give something new a try. I think you could literally google a new work out every single day and never do the same one twice.
Treat yo self. There’s nothing like buying a couple of cute new sports bras or some cool leggings. Sometimes looking the part helps you feel the part! Getting some new stuff from Cotton On Body (not sponsored – I just like the stuff because it’s cute and I can afford it) in the mail this past week definitely got me out of a rut and made me more excited to move!
Have a buddy. I mentioned Alice last week because she’s the awful awful person who introduced me to a leg work out that had me hurting for days! But she’s been great because just when I think I’m having another boredom slump, she shares what she’s been up to and it spurs me on. We tell each other when we’re eating a salad or we snap chat our work outs. It’s fun. I also like having some buddies on Fitbit because I get a little competitive, even when I’m feeling unmotivated to begin with.
How do you keep your fitness routine interesting? Does breaking the routine help you to keep going? What is your favourite kind of exercise?
