Feel-Good Fitness Strategies

Feel-Good Fitness Strategies

Don’t let workout dread zap motivation. Try these 10 expert tips guaranteed to boost your exercise enjoyment

 How to Love Your Workout More

Image: Thinkstock On a good day, working out feels awesome. Your heart is pumping, endorphins are running high, and you feel like you can do anything. On other days, you just want to scream, “I want out of this gym, and I want out now!” Or, more likely, you just don’t go in the first place.

If your workout routine feels like a chore, you’re less likely to stick with it. “Exercise should not be another stressor or something you add to your to-do list,” says Greta Blackburn, founder of FitCamps and co-author of the new book, The Immortality Edge. “If you treat working out like a task, you won’t enjoy it.” The good news is that there are plenty of science-proven tricks for making your workout feel pleasurable rather than painful. Try these 10 strategies to put the fun back into shaping up.

Gear Up 

If you wear exercise gear that is uncomfortable or that makes you feel grungy, you won’t want to put them on to workout. “Think about working out like going out for cocktails: If your outfit is super-flattering, you’ll have a lot more fun than if you’re wearing something that makes you feel self-conscious,” says Blackburn. Try getting a sexy tank that won’t ride up, such as the New Balance NBx Welded Tank. To enhance your butt, try Fila’s toning resistance pants.

Want to know the secret behind the rockin' bodies of your favorite celebrities? Try these top tips from celebrity trainers! 

 

Take a Whiff

Engage your sense of smell to reap an extra mood boost during your workout. Woman who inhaled extracts taken from the armpits of anonymous male volunteers felt more relaxed, according to a study in Biological Reproduction. Don’t have a sweaty man to work out with? Hop on a treadmill next to a sweaty guy. You could banish calories and tension.

 

Remove Roadblocks 

 

To make working out more enjoyable, make exercise easy on yourself. “Pick the time of day that works the best for your inner body clock, and a location that’s most convenient,” says Blackburn. If you join a gym that’s 20 miles away from your home, that is a roadblock. It would probably be more fun to make a date for a brisk walk with your partner after dinner instead of driving to an evening gym class. If you schedule morning runs but hate exercising that early, that is a roadblock. Doing a half hour of calisthenics on your lunch hour will leave you feeling more energized.

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Get Jazzed 

 

Don’t underestimate the feel-good benefits of downloading a new playlist before your next sweat session. Rocking out not only helps distract you from your huffing and puffing, but it also makes you feel more excited, say researchers at Brunel University in the UK. Different tempos of music have stronger affects for different types of workouts. “Loud and aggressive music such as heavy metal or hip hop that is between 120 and 140 beats per minute is the best motivator for strength training,” says Jennifer Cohen, CPT, founder of No Gym Required, and trainer for The CW’s upcoming reality show Shedding For The Wedding. “For running, dance remixes between 147 to 160 beats per minute work best.” To find playlists tailored to your target tempo, check out Total Fitness Music.

Or take out your iPod and download these trainer-approved songs that fire up your workout . 

 

 Go for Variety 

 

Study participants who did a variety of different workouts—such as swimming, weight lifting, and dance classes—enjoyed exercise 20 percent more than those that stuck to the same routine, according to the Journal of Sport Behavior. A good way to mix things up is to try a boot camp class, or sign up for a vacation that introduces you to an assortment of new fitness options. For example, at FitCamp you’ll get to sample everything from aquatic strength training to Kangaroo jumps using rebounding boots.

“The key is to find different activities that rejuvenate you rather than tear you down because you’ll not only have more fun, but you’ll also be able to work out harder for longer,” says Blackburn. Find something that you’re interested in and use it to mix up your routine. If you’ve always wanted to try tennis, sign up for lessons. If you’re into Broadway dance, try a jazz class. Blackburn recently had a client who lost 50 pounds using a hula-hoop because she felt sexy and had fun doing it.

Shake up your same old workout routine. Trade in your tried-and-true dumbbells for weird fitness equipment that works.