April 06, 2009
By Jacqueline Bodnar
Everywhere you turn, there is a barrage of people telling you to exercise. If it isn’t on the evening news then it’s in the newspaper or coming to you via e-mail headlines. We all know that exercise is good for us. Really good for us. But many of us have a hard time keeping at it, whether because of the age-old excuses of not having enough time or not liking doing it, or because we can’t find something that holds our interest. Medical professionals today recommend that adults get at least 30 minutes of exercise per day on most days of the week. We know all the benefits: it will not only help us live longer, but will help us live stronger, helping to ward off such health problems as diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and strokes.
Want to find a way to get those same great benefits without feeling like you are simply putting in your time at the gym, pumping iron or running 3 miles on the treadmill? The key is turning to fun exercise activities, a trend that is taking off in a big way, helping millions of people across the country get in shape, reduce stress, and get healthy.
Get Moving
The key is to get moving. It doesn’t matter so much what you are doing, so long as you have to move at a decent pace to do it. The easiest way to stick to regular exercise is to find something you think is fun; then it will seem less like exercise, and more like you are having fun. If you are interested in getting involved in walking or running marathons, take fun steps to get there, like joining a training group that you can stick with for the long haul.
“Training is appropriate for people of all athletic levels, but it is especially wonderful for beginners, because you are part of a team and it is a structured program with coaches,” explains Heather Knauss, the campaign manager for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training . “They provide educational info on everything first-timers need to know – nutrition, hydration, shoes and gear, injury prevention, etc.”
Sure, you are going to be running, but the key here is that, by being in a group that is all being trained, you are having fun. Groups like this meet for breakfast, chat, joke with each other, help keep each other motivated, and even help raise money for charity while they are at it.
“The biggest thing that makes it fun is the team camaraderie,” says Knauss. “Many people have developed lifelong friendships through their participation.”
Getting Creative
Another key to the trend in fun exercise is thinking outside the box. When people think about exercise, they don’t need to limit themselves to picturing traditional exercise machines. On the contrary, people today are taking to such things as mud running, dancing, martial arts, boot camps, jumping rope, all of which will allow you to have a great time while you burn some calories and do your body good. Yoga has become a popular practice, but even more people find it fun when it’s done in nontraditional settings.
“Combining yoga with the beauty of the sun setting is a perfect mix,” explains Jaclyn Hinds, a certified yoga instructor that holds beach sunset yoga classes. “Beach yoga is fun because it allows you to embrace your practice with nature, and it is a really calming experience.
Sometimes, simply taking something you are already doing but changing up some of the variables can make a big impact, such as moving the yoga classes outdoors. Maybe your routine of doing the same old thing needs to be taken outdoors, or even to the beach. Whatever way you choose to move, creativity is at the heart of staying interested in finding fun activities. Some people are turning back the clock to their childhood days and going for jumping rope and playing hopscotch with the kids. Others are keeping in mind that experts remind us that sex is a fun form of exercise. A new trend for those looking to spice things up is taking pole-dancing classes. Gabrielle Gumbs, owner of Aphrodite Strip-N-Pole, located in West Hollywood, teaches pole dancing classes to women of all ages and sizes.
“Pole dancing is fun because you don’t’ feel like you are exercising when you are doing it,” she says. “It’s great exercise. It burns 200-400 calories per hour, increases your flexibility, and works muscles that you would not normally work out in the gym. And it’s a confidence booster.”
Jacqueline Bodnar is a freelance writer that lives in Port Orange, Fla. with her husband and two children.