How to add a dash of fun to fitness…
Sometimes when I discuss making exercise and physical activity fun, I get blank stares or that befuddled look our pets give us when we try to talk to them.
Fortunately, more and more health experts are promoting the idea – which formed the foundation of Funtensity a decade ago – that we need to exercise in enjoyable ways if we are ever to make it stick.
However, this is always easier to conceptualize when you already enjoy something. It is much harder for those who aren’t there yet to grasp this idea and take it seriously.
Making fitness fun seems ridiculous if you make it too “big” of a challenge. Meaning, many people feel like they must find something that they enjoy every single minute of or else it doesn’t qualify. This “all or nothing” approach infects almost every area of fitness and serves only to make getting there harder.
Here’s a simple example from my recent personal experience that will illustrate why adding fun to fitness doesn’t need to be as hard and as big as we make it.
This year, I have been adding “Roth kicks” to my workouts one to two times per week. This is just a single exercise added to a “normal” workout. However, it is enough to add an attractive element of fun for me.
When I was a teenager, my favorite band was Van Halen. The original lead singer, David Lee Roth, was known for his skill at martial arts, flexibility, and impressive physical feats on stage. One of them was a standing high kick rendered. It looked like he was doing the splits vertically.
Although I have never personally achieved Mr. Roth’s level of flexibility exhibited in his heyday (as you can clearly see in the video), performing these kicks for several repetitions on each leg in a workout adds a little dash of fun for me.
It really can be just that simple. Adding a single move or something that transports you mentally and emotionally to something you cherish and enjoy. And it’s not about how well you do it. It is about the mental and emotional state it puts you in when you do that thing.
What about you? Is there a single simple something that you can add to enhance the appeal of fitness and physical activity? What’s your version of Roth Kicks?
When you make adding fun a smaller task, adding it is easier and the benefits of doing so more easily accessible.