“I’m bored with my workout.” – Everyone at some point in time
If you’ve ever had this thought or said this to yourself, you’re not alone. Gym-goers everywhere frequently deal with being bored with their workouts. It’s normal to get bored with what you’re doing in the gym, especially if you’ve been doing the same thing for a long time.
People can become easily bored with their workouts because their workouts lack the basic things that help motivate them and ensure they have fun: a challenge, a goal, high energy, other people. It’s similar to any other goal you have in life. If you’ve ever been in a “dead-end” job, it probably lacked challenge, goals, high energy, and you felt disconnected from the people around you.
What’s the issue with being bored with your workout?
It may seem obvious that being bored with workouts is unacceptable, but why? Some might argue that it doesn’t matter how boring something is – you just gotta get it done.
WHY IS WORKOUT BOREDOM A BAD THING?
Although being consistent with your fitness routine is absolutely important, we don’t ascribe to doing so if you’re miserable with your workouts. Here are a few problems that arise when you become bored with your workouts:
- You lose motivation.
- You feel like you’re never going to reach your goals because it’s too boring to do what needs to get done for you to see results.
- You don’t push yourself to the limit where your body adapts and you see results.
- You start to find other parts of your life boring as well, too. Whether it’s joy or boredom, what we choose to feel and experience more of becomes a theme in all parts of our lives.
HOW CAN I MAKE MY WORKOUTS LESS BORING AND MORE FUN?
Now that we understand the perils of being bored with our workouts, let’s talk about how you can beat boredom on your own. Here are five ways:
- Set a long-term goal or find something to continually challenge you.
- Listen to upbeat music.
- Workout with others.
- Workout against a clock to compete against yourself.
- Try a new workout routine.
Whether you’re working out in a regular gym or at home, you can easily incorporate these tips to start beating workout boredom.
WHAT TYPE OF GYM CAN HELP ME BEAT WORKOUT BOREDOM?
Now, if you’re looking for a new workout option to help you beat workout boredom (so you don’t have to worry about it yourself), there are a few types of fitness routines that already include all these elements, and they generally fall into group fitness or personalised training.
Some of the group fitness classes you recognise as Orangetheory Fitness, F45, spin, aerobics, CrossFit, or any other style of group fitness. Any number of these fitness styles can challenge you, facilitate an upbeat environment, and provide you with others to workout with.
You’ll find that when going from a regular gym that has space and equipment to a group fitness environment, you’ll be more excited about your workouts and you’ll see more results. It’s a great feeling to finally feel like you’ve tackled the workout boredom issue!
WHAT IF I GET BORED… AGAIN?
Sometimes, however, people can hit the limits of their new workout routine, no longer finding it challenging. In workout styles that are focused on just one type of training, i.e. cardio, people can quickly master that type of training and feel like there isn’t as much challenge left in that workout routine.
So again, people find themselves bored with their workout routine, craving the next challenge.
At CrossFit Proficient, we tend to get a lot of people from other group fitness gyms who have reached the limits of their potential with their current gym. Having mastered that training style, they’re looking for something with more challenge, and based on what they’ve researched about CrossFit, they find us.
One of the things we love about what we do at Proficient is that we can truly prevent people from ever getting bored with our workouts, and we think the perpetual fun and excitement in any class can help people achieve the consistency they’re looking for to see long-term results. Instead of a chore people have to do, working out at our gym can become a fun hobby and even a lifestyle choice.
HOW IS CROSSFIT UNIQUELY SUITED TO BREAK WORKOUT BOREDOM?
Here are some ways CrossFit specifically can help you beat your workout boredom:
1. CONSTANTLY VARIED WORKOUTS
Outside of workouts we test on a regular basis, you won’t see the same workout repeated in a given year or ever. Even within the same workouts, you can modify the workouts to be easier or more challenging to provide you with multiple ways to perform the same workout.
2. ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT
If you’ve ever seen the CrossFit Games on TV, you’ve seen what the top athletes in CrossFit can do. For one, most people in CrossFit gyms can’t perform even near the level the top CrossFit athletes can, but two, until you can perform CrossFit movements and workouts at the level these elite athletes can, there will always be room for improvement.
CrossFit is a combination of high intensity cardio, heavy lifting, complex movements, and gymnastics skills. Even the mastery of just one of these pillars is a lifelong endeavour, let alone the mastery of all. The beautiful thing about CrossFit is that you will probably never master it in your lifetime, and therefore, it provides you with the endless challenge and goals you need to stay interested in your workout. If you find yourself bored with a gym that is focused primarily on cardio, CrossFit may be a good option for you.
3. LED BY TRAINED AND CERTIFIED COACHES
Our coaches have a high level knowledge of CrossFit movements and mechanics and will ensure members move safely and push themselves to their limits to achieve the intensity needed to see results. More importantly, because our coaches are trained to see how a movement is done correctly, they can provide members with invaluable correction and instruction on how to better perform a movement to move safely and optimize performance. Even just a small tweak in form can allow you to lift more weight than you originally could, and these moments of improvement can help you appreciate the value of a coach in your workouts.
Having a trained coach can help enhance your experience, especially when you feel like you are always learning something new. The combination of coaching and the endless challenges of CrossFit provide a constantly interesting and exciting environment to workout in.
4. COMMUNITY AND CAMARADERIE
Having a group of like-minded people to workout alongside and share experiences with outside of workouts can help you feel a sense of connection that keeps you coming back everyday. There is something to be said for “shared misery” or the camaraderie that occurs from doing difficult things with others. Ending a workout with a celebratory high-five helps you to appreciate working out and sharing wins with others.
Also, because you’re around like-minded people who value health and with whom you have other things in common with, you can start to build friendships with people at the gym. This can turn the gym experience from a chore into the best hour of your day.