Most of us have heard from a pretty early age that regular exercise is very healthy and important. And for those of us who have been around the health and fitness world for a time, we’ve probably also internalized a lot of ideas about the kinds of training that we “need to” do.
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But while there are certainly benefits to be had from things like jogging on a treadmill or bench pressing, these kinds of “staple routines” aren’t going to be for everyone.
If you want to develop a fitness routine that really helps you to thrive, you should focus on finding workouts that you love — instead of ones that you just grudgingly do because you think you need to.
Here are a few tips for finding, and doing, a workout routine that you love.
Do activities that you enjoy for their own sake, not only for the end goal
Most of us have certain “end goals” in mind when we train. That could be achieving a certain PB during a lift after prolonged training with good sleep and nutrition, and supplements from steelsupplements.com, or whether to be able to do the splits.
Regardless, doing workouts that you love means doing workouts that you actively enjoy for their own sake. And not only as a means to an end.
Instead of just thinking about whether a certain exercise will hypothetically help you to achieve one of your fitness goals, ask yourself if you actually enjoy it. Or ask yourself if you take satisfaction in the process of doing the exercise itself.
If you don’t, then you’ll almost certainly be able to find another exercise, or routine, or form of physical activity that helps you to achieve the same benefit.
Find a workout routine that helps to benefit how you feel in day-to-day life
Certain workout routines will leave you with extra spring in your step and with a sense of being fresh, motivated, and energised as you go about your life. Other workout routines will leave you feeling completely and totally drained and exhausted.
For the most part, primarily doing workout routines that benefit how you feel in day-to-day life is a great rule of thumb to stick to. If every workout leaves you feeling exhausted and broken, you’re not likely to want to stick with it for long — or to feel great about it if you do.
Make your workout routine a daily habit that you defend and take pride in
Using an app or a calendar to track how much of a “workout streak” you’ve managed to achieve can do a lot of good, not only for your consistency with your workout, but also as a means of getting a bit of extra pride, motivation, and enthusiasm in life, in general.
By turning your workout into a habit that you defend and take pride in, you can almost make it something like a game — and there’s a good chance that you’ll enjoy your workouts significantly more, too.
Top image by Li Sun, Pexels
