Thursday, November 29, 2007

How You Can Have Fun With Exercise

How You Can Have Fun With Exercise
We all know that we should exercise, but how often do we
actually do it? With the very busy lives we lead, most
people find it near impossible to schedule in a consistent
exercise regime into their lives. A lot of people start
with a program but just can't keep it up. And for the
majority of the population, most of the time at work
involves sitting in a chair for long hours at a time.

So how can we possibly fit in an exercise plan, and stick
to it?

A lot of people would say 'will power'. That you've got to
want it bad enough. And they'll bring out the old saying
"where there's a will, there's a way." No matter how pumped
up you get over something because of somebody else, we both
know that the motivation is going to dry up because you are
trying to get fit, or get healthier for someone else. It
just doesn't work. And the worse thing is that we really
beat each other up for not following through.

In a lot of ways, it's a very similar syndrome to the
so-called 'yo-yo' dieter.

So if getting all motivated and hyped about a program
doesn't work, what will?

Well, I believe that you can still use that motto: "where
there's a will, there' s a way," but with a twist.

Instead of trying to force your life onto an exercise
program, it is a much better idea to find an exercise
program that is just fit for your life. What I mean is
that, step back a bit, and don't start exercising for
exercising sakes.

If you work in sales, it is commonly taught that 'people
buy for emotional reasons, not for logical ones', and the
same thing applies here. Instead of trying to sell yourself
on an exercise program because it will give this advantage
and that advantage, step back, and think about what
automatically motivates you.

If there was a sport you used to love to play, but don't
really play it much anymore, there's an obvious
opportunity. Maybe its time to dust off your old playing
gear, join up a local club and sign up for the next season.
Sure you might feel you are not fit enough, but you aren't
going to get fit by sitting at home.

I had a friend who loved to play soccer but didn't join a
club for a couple of years because he thought he carried
too much weight. Well he never lost that weight during
those years, and when he did join a club, he found his
weight started to decrease. That's because he didn't need
to be motivated to go jogging anymore, or to make training.
He loved it, so he was there exercising away, keener than
ever. He had sold himself on why he should do it. If you
had asked him to come jogging with you when he wasn't
playing soccer, there's no way he'd come, but it all
changed when he took the extra step.

So what if you are someone who doesn't really care about
any particular sport, or activity that requires exercise?

Well, what about tapping into the power of your community.
If you are about to embark on an exercise program, try and
get a friend to pick one out with you. You'll motivate each
other, have some friendly competition to keep each other at
your best and encourage each other when you need it. If you
don't think you have a friend that might be interested,
there's options for you too. You can join your local
jogging club for instance. It's a great way to meet new
people and enjoy the exercise, without having to toil
through it yourself.

The basic idea is that you want to create an environment
for yourself where you actually look forward to exercising.
If you can find an activity that you love doing, especially
with other people, then you'll find that it is much easier
to stick to an exercise program than you ever thought
before. That's the easy way to make this a habit.


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Find more exercise articles at:
http://www.idealweightresearch.com/exercise/index.html . In
particular read up on the benefits of aerobic exercise:
http://www.idealweightresearch.com/exercise/benefits-of-aero
bic-exercise.html

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