I found this quote someplace and loved it: My theory is that exercise is 10% effort and 90% finding a way not to be bored.
I really dislike the word “exercise” because it brings back memories of high school phys ed classes, and rare times when I tried going to a gym to do treadmill or weight things. Boring!
So what makes exercise less boring? This is a highly personal thing. After all, I have friends who love the gym (weirdos – in the best possible way, of course).
For me, it boils down to a few key things: 1) music/creativity; 2) working on details; 3) variety of scenery and 4) social. Not all the things I love have all those aspects at once, but I keep my busy brain engaged by having at least two of them.
Currently, I am doing two dance classes each week: I get music, new choreography to learn, the social aspects, plus the chance to work on tiny tweaks that can suddenly make a huge difference in my performance.
It’s summer so I get scenery when I swim outdoors, I do work on fussy little corrections to improve my stroke at least some of the time, plus there is social – either I swim with friends or I end up having conversations with whoever is at the Pond when I get there. In the winter, I swim with my Master’s club: social, details. I could go to lane swims to work on my strokes, but I don’t because it’s much harder to chat with random people when swimming up and down a lane, and the inside of a pool is … less than scenic.
Cycling has proven to be great for scenery and social aspects. I bike almost everywhere and I have networks of cycling friends thanks to social rides. It’s also the activity where I feel like I am contributing to social good, by helping make cycling safer for all ages and abilities, and reducing my own carbon footprint. It’s not the most creative thing ever, but sometimes there are rides where bikes get decorated, or we dress up, and there is often an opportunity to learn a new route or shortcut. I could work on improving my cycling technique if I cared at all about getting faster or going further, but this is already a pretty good one.
Of course, mixing up the kinds of activities you do can also help avoid boredom. Even if I don’t do it often, the occasional long walk is a nice change.
I’m curious: what forms of activity engage you, and why? Do you ever worry about boredom, or isn’t that an issue when you exercise?
Good question. For me, the hardest thing can be getting started. My solutions for that are various forms of scheduling ranging from definite (dance class is at 7:30 tonight – no decisions for me to make) or setting a meeting with my trainer (flexibility about the time, but once it’s on the calendar, I’m there) to simply telling myself I will leave for the ride/walk/gym/run no later than____.
Ironically, once I am there, I really like activity, especially cycling, whether in a group or alone. I generally end up doing something that qualifies as exercise about 15-20 hours a week. It’s a big part of my life now that I am retired. I am currently in Idaho on a 5 week unstructured cycling trip to the northwest. We left home with no schedule & have found lots of great places. But even here, I drag my feet a bit when walking out the door.
Confusing.