How to Make Fitness and Weight Loss Fun (Really)
The words "diet and exercise" get used so often in our society, it's hard not to cringe every time you hear them - especially if you're among those having "diet and exercise" recommended to them! (Aren't we all?) These words conjure up images of monotonous treadmills, stairclimbers, weight machine circuits, and speed walking with ankle weights.
I actually enjoy fitness and getting sweaty, but I still can't drum up excitement for any of those activities.
One of the reasons we dread getting our exercise so much is that people are always trying to sell it to us in such unpleasant packages.
If you go to the gym, the first thing those personal trainers do is strap you onto a treadmill! I'm not saying weight lifting and cardio exercise isn't important, but there are lots of fun ways to stay fit without always partaking in the tedious.
Certain sports, for example, can be great exercise.
While team sports often involve a lot of downtime, which can make them poor choices for fitness, a lot of one-on-one or even solo sports can be fun and get you sweating (also, as adults, it's easier to stay active and actually practice your sport if you can find things you can do by yourself or with just one other person).
For example, I wear a heart rate and calorie monitor when I'm at the gym, and it's not uncommon for me to burn more calories playing racquetball for an hour than I do jogging steadily for the same time period.
(And the racquetball is a lot more fun than the jogging!) In addition to the fitness aspect, it's fun and good for our bodies (and our minds) to learn new things, so don't be afraid to try something even if you've never done it before.
It's worth it to invest in a few lessons if it might mean finding a passion that can keep you fit for life.
Here are some sports you might want to check out, because they're both fun and good calorie burners: Racquetball Since I already mentioned it, I'll start with one of my favorites.
I often burn more than 700 calories in an hour playing with a friend who challenges me with long rallies.
If you've never played racquet sports, this is a great one to start with, since it's very hard to hit the ball "out" as in tennis.
After a few sessions you'll have the gist, and if play on a weekly basis, you can improve your game a lot.
With racquetball, you can even get a workout just hitting the ball by yourself.
Of course, it's more fun with a friend, and if you can find someone at (or maybe a little bit above) your skill level, that's when you can really start burning the calories.
Rock Climbing If you've never been to a rock climbing gym, give it a try.
Because you use your big leg muscles to push yourself from foothold to foothold, you can easily burn 400 calories in 30 minutes.
And it's a mental challenge as well as a physical one because you're always wanting to try harder climbs, which involves figuring out the best route up the wall.
Boxing This is one I haven't tried personally, but I know it must be a fabulous workout.
I used to get sweaty and a bit breathless just sparring for short sessions in Karate classes, and I'm in pretty decent shape.
According to a website I peeked at, boxing with a partner burns 600-800+ calories an hour, and you can get a good workout just punching the bag too.
You could find a boxing gym or try a kickboxing class at a regular fitness center to see if you like the flavor.
Tennis While tennis generally takes longer than racquetball to achieve enough mastery that you can rally back and forth and get a good workout, joining a tennis club can be a great social outlet as well as a fitness one.
And once you get decent, you can burn more than 500 calories an hour playing singles (about 400 for doubles), even more if you and your partner keep up a good pace.
At a tennis club, you can also rent ball machines by the hour, which can be a really good workout while helping you improve your consistency.
If you're looking for a social sports club, choose tennis over golf for the fitness aspect.
These are just a few sports you can look into that are good calorie burners and will help you stay fit for life.
It may sound like a cliche, but the important thing (and the key to diet-and-exercise success) really is to have fun.
I actually enjoy fitness and getting sweaty, but I still can't drum up excitement for any of those activities.
One of the reasons we dread getting our exercise so much is that people are always trying to sell it to us in such unpleasant packages.
If you go to the gym, the first thing those personal trainers do is strap you onto a treadmill! I'm not saying weight lifting and cardio exercise isn't important, but there are lots of fun ways to stay fit without always partaking in the tedious.
Certain sports, for example, can be great exercise.
While team sports often involve a lot of downtime, which can make them poor choices for fitness, a lot of one-on-one or even solo sports can be fun and get you sweating (also, as adults, it's easier to stay active and actually practice your sport if you can find things you can do by yourself or with just one other person).
For example, I wear a heart rate and calorie monitor when I'm at the gym, and it's not uncommon for me to burn more calories playing racquetball for an hour than I do jogging steadily for the same time period.
(And the racquetball is a lot more fun than the jogging!) In addition to the fitness aspect, it's fun and good for our bodies (and our minds) to learn new things, so don't be afraid to try something even if you've never done it before.
It's worth it to invest in a few lessons if it might mean finding a passion that can keep you fit for life.
Here are some sports you might want to check out, because they're both fun and good calorie burners: Racquetball Since I already mentioned it, I'll start with one of my favorites.
I often burn more than 700 calories in an hour playing with a friend who challenges me with long rallies.
If you've never played racquet sports, this is a great one to start with, since it's very hard to hit the ball "out" as in tennis.
After a few sessions you'll have the gist, and if play on a weekly basis, you can improve your game a lot.
With racquetball, you can even get a workout just hitting the ball by yourself.
Of course, it's more fun with a friend, and if you can find someone at (or maybe a little bit above) your skill level, that's when you can really start burning the calories.
Rock Climbing If you've never been to a rock climbing gym, give it a try.
Because you use your big leg muscles to push yourself from foothold to foothold, you can easily burn 400 calories in 30 minutes.
And it's a mental challenge as well as a physical one because you're always wanting to try harder climbs, which involves figuring out the best route up the wall.
Boxing This is one I haven't tried personally, but I know it must be a fabulous workout.
I used to get sweaty and a bit breathless just sparring for short sessions in Karate classes, and I'm in pretty decent shape.
According to a website I peeked at, boxing with a partner burns 600-800+ calories an hour, and you can get a good workout just punching the bag too.
You could find a boxing gym or try a kickboxing class at a regular fitness center to see if you like the flavor.
Tennis While tennis generally takes longer than racquetball to achieve enough mastery that you can rally back and forth and get a good workout, joining a tennis club can be a great social outlet as well as a fitness one.
And once you get decent, you can burn more than 500 calories an hour playing singles (about 400 for doubles), even more if you and your partner keep up a good pace.
At a tennis club, you can also rent ball machines by the hour, which can be a really good workout while helping you improve your consistency.
If you're looking for a social sports club, choose tennis over golf for the fitness aspect.
These are just a few sports you can look into that are good calorie burners and will help you stay fit for life.
It may sound like a cliche, but the important thing (and the key to diet-and-exercise success) really is to have fun.
