You may be surprised to know that boredom is one of the main reasons people don’t keep up with their exercise routine. Yes, laziness, and time constraints are two other common reasons, but boredom is a big one too, and it’s so easy to solve.

Fitness is like sex within a marriage. Sometimes you just have to mix things up a little bit to keep it interesting and exciting!  Just like with sex, if it’s fun, you’ll want to keep doing it, but if it feels like a chore (does that really happen?), then you’ll stop doing it. In my opinion, fitness never has to get boring. When making fitness fun, think NEW. New challenges, new methods, new people, and new workout gear!

Here are my top ten suggestions for more making fitness fun:

1. Set a new and different goal for yourself with every workout. This could mean pushing yourself to grunt out two more reps than you usually do with weights, do another set of crunches than your norm, add an extra half mile to your cycling route, or sprint the last portion of your run. 

2. Pick a competition and enter! This might be a 5K, 10K or marathon, a cancer walk, a triathlon, or a racquetball tournament. The only thing that matters is that it is realistic for your fitness level or you will get discouraged and never show up to compete! Having something to shoot for gives your daily training more importance and a sense of urgency, which keeps it exciting! Good resources are shapefit.com, runnersworld.com, 

3. Make a bet or start a kitty fund with a friend with the pay off being something great! Almost everything is better when shared with another person, right? Enlisting a friend’s support in your fitness endeavors will up the fun factor, especially if you’ve got something on the line to win or lose. For every mile you run or yoga class you attend each week, you both put a dollar in a fund, and by summer you’ll have enough money to buy both of your tickets to a beach resort to show off the sexy bods you worked so hard for!

4. Join a new fitness club or class - the more the merrier! Whether it’s a spinning class, a running club or a pilates class, the combined energy of a group of people working toward one goal, is invigorating. Some yoga studios have happy hour yoga class on Friday evenings, which includes socializing with classmates over free alcoholic coolers and snacks after class is over. The alcohol isn’t always the best idea for a dehydrated body, so I suggest a lot of water and a designated driver to get you home! 

5. Join a team! I’m a huge proponent of co-ed sports. Read my co-ed sports article about it to learn why it’s great for singles! Essentially, a team sport gives you all the benefits of numbers 2, 3, and 4 on this list! You get to combine the socialization and camaraderie of friends while working towards a contest outcome (a win!), and every game almost always involves a fun pay off in the form of food and spirits afterwards! 

6. Choose a new machine or an entirely NEW sport! If you want to work arms but are tired of weights, get on the eliptical machine. If running is growing old, try tennis, mountain biking, or hiking for your cardio. 

7. Get back to nature! Whatever you’ve been doing indoors, take it outdoors. If you’ve been taking a spinning class, get on a real bike and find some trails. If you’ve been doing incline on a treadmill, find an outdoor stadium and run bleachers or find some hilly streets or a mountain. Fresh air makes everything more fun!

8. Get yourself an Ipod or MP3 player. Music truly adds an element of fun to all fitness routines! Read my article on portable listening devices here.

9. Do a trainer-share. You’ve heard of nanny-share right? It’s the same thing. You find two or three other friends who want to hire a personal trainer but either can’t afford or don’t want to do a one on one session. Trainers are skilled at knowing a variety of different exercises to work the same body part, so they are your easiest resource for making fitness new, different, and exciting! Add to that your buddies and you have more fun than any workout should be allowed! 

10. Trade in grumpy and frumpy for sassy and classy! Whatever your shape or size, you are first and foremost a woman, which means your mood is very likely influenced by what you wear and how you look! It also means your mood can determine your entire outlook about whatever situation you’re about to enter. So give yourself a leg up on a positive attitude by investing in some workout wear you’ll feel good about wearing. Choose clothes made for both the exercise you are doing, and your female form. Ditch your boyfriend’s baggy t-shirt, your baggy sweats and Sofie cheerleading shorts and get yourself something sexy and non-constricting! Femme Athletic wear is a great option! 

Implement any one of these and you will be on the road to fitness fun. Implement all of them, and you will be a life-sized billboard for fun, towering over the road to fitness fun!