Motivation Part IV: Combating Workout Boredom

By:
Liz Neporent

It's no coincidence that "treadmill" is listed under "tedium" in Roget's Thesaurus; imitating a laboratory rodent is not among life's thrills. No matter what type of exercise you do and no matter how many calories burned, supportive comments or lower dress sizes you're rewarded with, boredom is bound to hit you at some point. When monotony strikes, turn to these suggestions. Hopefully they'll help turn your workout from a snore to a score.

Vary your workouts
Most gym and home exercise machines have a manual mode that allows you to control how tough the workout is. You can use it to design your own workouts based on your mood and energy level. Or if you're already a manual maven, experiment with the various pre-designed programs in the computer's memory. These programs are great because you don't have to decide what to do next.

Read a magazine or listen to a book on tape
Exercise magazines offer lots of encouragement and tend to contain easy-to-skim lists (kinda like this one). When you're drenched in sweat on the stair climber, it's pretty easy to take in concepts like "12 No-Fail Moves for Abs That Impress." Listening to a book on tape is also a great way to take in a trashy novel or learn some highly effective habits without having to turn the pages; they work well for both stationary and outdoor workouts. (One caveat: don't turn up the volume so loud that you lose awareness of your surroundings.)

Exercise in short spurts
To break up the monotony, alternate 5- or 10-minute bouts of cardio exercise with 5 minutes of weight lifting or even 5 minutes of a different cardio exercise. Breaking up your workout into small chunks is good when you're aiming to burn calories and improve your health. However, longer, steady, continuous workouts are more effective for building overall endurance.

Think, but not too hard
People tend to have their most creative ideas when they're doing something repetitive that doesn't involve their mind completely. But don't set out to solve the U.S. health-care crisis. Instead, use your time to ponder more solvable dilemmas, such as how you can get your boss off your back. You might even keep a tape recorder handy, in case a flash of brilliance comes along.

Watch TV
Tune in to whatever you consider entertaining, whether it's Truckin' USA on the Nashville Network or The Sopranos on HBO. For variety, increase your intensity during the commercials. Many gyms now have extensive entertainment systems that allow you to watch TV, surf the 'net, listen to a CD or choose from dozens of movies.

Listen to music
Rock, rap, pop, or country -- go with whatever gets your adrenaline pumping. Mix your own audiotape that alternates fast and slow songs to cue you to vary your workout pace.

Monitor your heart rate To keep yourself occupied, use a heart rate monitor to create an interval program. For instance, after warming up, you might alternate 5 minutes at the low end of your target zone with 5 minutes at the high end. Some machines have heart-rate monitors built in so your heart rate registers when you grasp the handles. Or you can wear a strap on your chest; the machine picks up the signal from the heart rate monitor strap and beams it on to the console of the machine right alongside speed and distance. If you're exercising outdoors, it beams the signal to a special watch.

Talk to a friend
Some people think that if they're able to speak while exercising, they must not be working hard enough to do their body any good. That isn't true. In general, your breathing should be light enough that you can hold up your end of a conversation.

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