# How do you not get bored exercising? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 25, 2013, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692 "2013-04-25T19:46:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/41 "2013-04-26T16:48:22Z")
How do you get a good workout if you’re not even paying attention to what you’re doing? ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/42 "2013-04-26T17:03:26Z")
TV! I don’t have cable at home, so I go to the gym if I want to watch something 😉 I’d go nuts without something to engage my mind. > [@Enright3](#): > > In my experience, there is nothing in this world that lasts longer than watching a commercial while exercising. I used to love going to the gym in the morning and watch old TV shows while exercising. I think Bonanza was a big one. Good episode, then… the dreaded commercial. Slogging my way through what seemed like hours of commercials was painful. Commercials are when you do high intensity intervals! ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/43 "2013-04-26T17:31:44Z")
Cardio can be fun, if you want it to be. Dance dance revolution, Wii Fit, hula hooping, jumping on a trampoline. I’ve always found weightlifting pretty boring, though. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/44 "2013-04-26T17:56:35Z")
> [@Saraya](#): > > If you eat right and have half decent genetics, isolated cardio is a waste of time. Cite??? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/45 "2013-04-26T18:25:00Z")
If you like TaeKwonDo, see if your gym offers kickboxing/BodyCombat/TurboKick types of classes. It’s the same type of skills and it’s a great workout. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/46 "2013-04-26T19:39:38Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > Cite??? Oh wait, that’s just an opinion. NM. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/47 "2013-04-26T20:00:47Z")
Exercise is meditation. Alone with my own thoughts, at last. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/48 "2013-04-26T20:04:50Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > Take up boxing. It’s hard to be bored when someone is trying to punch you in the face. Or swimming. Have someone drop you off in the middle of a lake; hard to get bored when you are swimming for your life! ---
**Author:** ![Poysyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Poysyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Poysyn)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/49 "2013-04-26T23:15:06Z")
I’m with **Trom** check out CrossFit or something. 15 minutes and you will feel every second of it, but it’s done! As far as longer cardio, when I am running (like for a half or a training run) I just zone out. I have music or podcasts for a little distraction (also the game RUN! Zombies!), but it’s partially training your mind to _just stick with it and finish_. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/50 "2013-04-26T23:52:22Z")
Bicycle, preferably a mountain bike. Scenery changes and I get a good dose of dopamine to go with my workout. ---
**Author:** ![StuffLikeThatThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc8723/32.png) [@StuffLikeThatThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StuffLikeThatThere)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/51 "2013-04-27T00:29:07Z")
I’ve been doing a Zumba class weekly. There’s no way to be bored in there. It’s hilarious, besides making me work really hard. Otherwise I’ve been doing resistance training and cycling. For resistance training, I listen to podcasts - typically fitness podcasts. Reminds me why I’m doing it or something. If I can bike outside, I do. If I’m stuck inside on the exercise bike, I ride as hard as I can for a shorter time and listen to fast workout music to keep myself hoppin’. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/52 "2013-04-27T15:22:57Z")
Variety helps me. Plus I enjoy the time to get a bit bored … the mind wandering on a long slow run is a very relaxing thing, decadent really. My elliptical though is set up so I can watch streamed Netflix and recorded shows while on it … I’ve been working my way through Breaking Bad. For the rower I personally don’t do more than 20 minutes of so at a crack and handle it as a intense aerobic activity, trying to max out my average power output over the time period or doing intervals of various sorts. I suspect however that you, AU, may do best by setting yourself goals and monitoring your progress. And some skills based activities so your focus is on the skill mastery while you just happen to also be in target zone. Speed jump roping, bodyweight balance work (there are some great sites of gymnastics for fitness for the non-gymnast), and yes, group classes like Zumba. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/53 "2013-04-27T18:48:37Z")
> [@Anonymous User](#): > > For the record, I am 15, 5’2", ~110 pounds, and a little above 19 BMI. > > I already seriously lack exercise as I don’t play any sports except for TaeKwonDo once a week for 45 minutes. Also, we visited an endocrinologist (because we are concerned about my height) and he recommended 45 minutes of cardio/aerobic exercise per day, and I don’t even come close to that. Does your high school have a cross-country team? If so, go out for cross-country when the season comes around. You won’t make varsity, but who cares? You’ll still get the workouts if you’re on JV or whatever is below that. Nothing like a coach hollering at you and a bunch of your compatriots to keep you moving. In the meantime, start running, but I recommend starting off with a short distance. If you’re a couch potato, it may surprise you how hard it is to run even a half mile when you’re just starting to work your way into shape. At 15, it should get easier fairly quickly, but the first time may hit like a ton of bricks. Get one of your parents to use the car’s odometer to figure out how far down the road a quarter-mile is, and start off by running there and back - a half mile, total. Once that becomes something that isn’t that hard to do, you can (and should) start lengthening the distance. ---
**Author:** ![R3d\_Anonymous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/aeb1de/32.png) [@R3d\_Anonymous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R3d_Anonymous)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/54 "2013-04-27T19:57:56Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > If you’re a couch potato, it may surprise you how hard it is to run even a half mile when you’re just starting to work your way into shape. True that. I am a couch potato (with the computer) and I ran for about ten minutes (or maybe a little more) yesterday and it felt like a lot of work. But yeah, thanks for the tips. We have a bike trail and everything near our house that I need to exercise. It’s just that I need to actually…do it, which is what I will do. Thanks for all the tips **RTFirefly** and **DSeid**. ---
**Author:** ![araminty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5e925/32.png) [@araminty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/araminty)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2013, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/55 "2013-04-27T22:24:31Z")
**AU** , for your new running ambitions, have you considered an interval training program like [Couch to 5K](http://www.c25k.com/)? Lots of Dopers have had luck with it. I just (re)started, but am using a program called Bridge to 10K, since I’m looking to increase my stamina. There are a ton of apps out there that make this even easier. The one I have plays any music or podcasts you like, and gives you verbal cues for when to run, when to walk, when to turn around (if your path isn’t a loop), when you have one minute left of each run/walk segment. I’ve also heard of some running apps that will sort your music by BPM, allowing you to run to the beat, but I don’t have any experience with that. I have a bike path near my house too, and the days I’m not jogging on it, I walk the dogs along it anyway. I also bought a fancy camera recently, and have been photographing the birds I see on the creek by the path. Yesterday I saw over 20 species, including ducklings and a killdeer chick! ---
**Author:** ![sidhechaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sidhechaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidhechaos)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/56 "2013-04-28T06:18:12Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > For sit-ups? [This](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKV8uSX2nEQ) on repeat until you scream in pain. > > Then 3 more sets… ☹ I shut it down in the first 40 seconds. yuck ---
**Author:** ![sidhechaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sidhechaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidhechaos)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2013, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692/57 "2013-04-28T06:19:41Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#): > > It would be nice to be able to exercise long enough to get bored. yeah, this. I miss being able to bike and swim and walk places [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-you-not-get-bored-exercising/656692.md?page=2)