For sit-ups? This on repeat until you scream in pain.
Then 3 more sets… 
I bought a high-end used rower because I thought it would be a fantastic workout. It was, but it was also boring as hell. Ten or fifteen minutes was all I could handle and then I’d jump on the treadmill. For some reason running is much less boring to me, especially outside. Maybe it’s because running, while also repetitive, is a much more natural action and rowing isn’t. Though I liked using it (for short amounts of time) and appreciated the good workout, the space it took up wasn’t worth it and I was able to sell the thing for what I paid for it after a couple years.
TL/DR - Rowing is boring. If you desire more than 15 minutes of exercise incorporate other forms of exercise.
I will put my ear buds on (with music playing of course), put a small towel over my head, close my eyes and picture myself in a different setting other than the monotonous indoor gym environment I’m actually in. Sometimes, depending on the music and my particular workout and energy levels, that will be a race setting. Other times it will be jogging (wheeling) through my parents neighborhood where I grew up. Whatever place I end up going in my head when I do cardio at the gym, there’s one thing that’s always the same: I’m in my own little world and definitely not in the gym.
This! I chunk it up, instead of a whole 7 mins left, in two mins I’ll only have 5 mins left. It also keeps my brain engaged doing the mental math; I’m x% done; I have y% left.
Lately I’ve been enrolled in a couple classes on Coursera. While on the stationary bike I can watch lectures on my tablet. (I skip the little quizzes, though; I can absorb information while exercising, but there’s too little blood apportioned to my brain to solve programming problems.) If I don’t have any lectures waiting for me I’ll pick something interesting off Netflix or YouTube—just got through the first five seasons of The Guild, and they seem to have all the QI episodes on YouTube, which is just wonderful. It helps that I don’t really watch TV outside of exercise—gives me a nice full backlog and keeps me at least marginally looking forward to exercise, which is simply torture otherwise.
The Kindle suggestion is good too, although you need to be reading something good, because if you’re on something that’s not grabbing you it will, if anything, amplify the boredom. The “make little games” suggestion is good too; a couple of my “time remaining” milestones are 21:12 (which, because I usually go 40 minutes, is followed quickly by the halfway point) and 13:37. It seems really silly, but there’s good research that shows that tiny but frequent rewards like that, even if self-imposed, really do keep you focused and motivated.
Do some real rowing on a lake?
I can cycle for hours outside and not get bored. 80-100 km is a typical training ride for me, the hills and scenery keep me interested.
If the weather means I have to work out inside them I put my bike on an indoor trainer and watch a spinervals DVD, it gives me goals and makes things interesting. I will also try to train with my partner if she is around.
I have a bit of ADD, and this type of exercise bores me to tears as well. The best thing for me is a sport of some kind - basketball, racquetball, tennis, etc. Unfortunately, playing those alone isn’t really much exercise.
Hoops. If I can’t get hoops, then I resort to music on the elliptical. A hike now and again, especially with friends is also nice.
I catch up on shows from my DVR while on the exercise bike. Live TV occasionally.
I keep my tablet next to me if I’m doing the live TV thing, so I can check mail and facebook during commercials.
Or…walk (for us slightly more elderly geezers.) Heck, even walking a few blocks in the city can be fun. The woods are better, admittedly…
Also, gyms tend to smell like gyms. And they charge money, too. Walking’s free!
And if running ain’t your glass of tea, then find a trail and walk.
Hiking is serious good-time activity.
It would be nice to be able to exercise long enough to get bored.
I’m in the TV camp. After several years of serious exercising I got injured, changed job and lost motivation to run or ride in the way I used to. However, I recently purchased a Turbotrainer for my bike, and have set it up where I can watch TV. Now I can indulge in my brain-rot of choice (Person of Interest, Broadchurch) while sweating like a pig, and staying warm and safe off the road.
Would road riding be more fun - probably. Would I work harder - maybe. Would it be more varied - yes. But I get up every morning and do 45mins hard work before breakfast, whereas I would be tempted to skip a rainy days, and I don’t have to be hyper-vigilant to stay safe on the busy roads. So it works for me.
If you eat right and have half decent genetics, isolated cardio is a waste of time.
Why do you do it?
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.
As for my diet, I have been a vegetarian (animal cruelty) for about six weeks and I don’t consume dairy on a regular basis (because of other issues, but I do take calcium supplements and my bones are quite strong anyway). However, I do eat egg-based foods quite regularly.
The bottom line is that I do need aerobic exercise and much more than I do nowadays.
ETA: One solution is that I am trying to get in more outdoor exercise. For example, now that the weather is getting better, I am starting to ride my bike outside. I might even consider just going for a run honestly. The other thing is that I am often too lazy to move around, so that is why I refrain from running so much. But, I guess I will just have to overcome that and I will try running.
At the gym, I listen to music. I can get lost in music just as easily as I can get lost reading or watching a show.
At home, I watch t.v. shows. I bought a Netflix subscription for $7.99/month. I’d cancel my cable before I’d cancel my Netflix. Series are great because with commercials edited out, hour long shows are the perfect amount of time for a workout, ~45 minutes. Recently, I’ve watched great shows like “The Killing” and “Damages.”
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.
Take up boxing. It’s hard to be bored when someone is trying to punch you in the face.
Try other workouts until you find something that engages you; you’ll like it more that way.
I can’t do “gym” workouts. I, too, get bored in about 15 minutes. Even slow workouts, like yoga, I find to be mindnumbingly boring. So I went to a dance studio and started taking classes. I had so much fun, I wasn’t even sure I’d gotten a good workout… until the soreness set in a few hours later. :eek:
Why do you say this?