Are your cardio workouts starting to drag?  Do you find your motivation rapidly fizzling away?  Have you skipped a workout because you can’t face another mind-numbing session? You’re not alone!

Cardio Workouts Don’t Have to Turn You into a Zombie!

Cardio workouts are great for losing weight, but they can get really boring. This is because most cardio routines involve running or cycling on a single machine for a long time. When you get bored of such an exercise, it is hard to concentrate or motivate yourself to keep going. You are more likely to experience a drop-in performance simply because you are bored. This is why it is important to make cardio workouts fun.

Listen to Your Favorite Tunes

One of the easiest ways of making cardio exercises fun is to listen to music. If you have an MP3 player, bring your favorite music to the gym. You can also keep songs on your smartphone for easier access. Just make sure the beat is energetic and motivating. You will be able to work out for long periods of time without getting bored or even tired. Do keep in mind that listening to songs that are mellow can actually reduce efficiency. You will not be able to continue working out if the music is slow.

Choose Only the Exercises You Enjoy

Another way to make sure your cardio workouts are fun is to choose exercises that you like. One of the main objectives of a cardio routine is to stimulate sweat so that you burn fat. No matter which cardio exercise you perform, the result will be more or less the same. Just be sure to choose one you enjoy. Some people enjoy running on the treadmill rather than cycling.

Workout Partners Are as Effective as Your Favorite Songs

Another sure-shot method of making cardio routines fun is to get a partner. You can chat enjoyably while you exercise. You can even indulge in a friendly competition to see who can exercise harder, within reasonable and safe limits. This will motivate you to work out harder, and the time will pass more quickly and enjoyably.

Continue Increasing the Intensity of Workouts

Exercises become boring when you are able to perform them with ease. Many people use the beginner level on a treadmill and continue exercising for long periods of time. This is what makes it boring. Instead of sticking to the same level and letting the routine become monotonous, increase its intensity. When you exercise and increase the intensity, the challenge will keep you hooked, and you will enjoy the workout.

Set Mini Goals

Sometimes the best way to give yourself better workouts is simply to give yourself a reason to do them.  Certainly, your long-term goals are great overall.  Getting more fit or losing weight are commendable goals and they will give you motivation to exercise on the whole.  However, when you’re trying to push yourself during each individual workout, you might need a bit more to keep things from being boring.

Consider setting a small goal for yourself at the start of each workout.  For many people, simply having something specific to challenge them is enough to make the activity fun.  It could be that you want to be able to take a certain number of steps every five minutes.  Maybe you want to complete a certain number of reps every thirty seconds.  It could be that you want to go just a little bit farther today – or match what you were proud to have accomplished yesterday.  Set your target and go for it.  Suddenly, those same moves may seem like a lot more fun.

Track Progress

Just like setting goals can be fun, so can tracking your progress. When you know you’ll be entering your time, steps or other data into an app – or perhaps your fitness tracker will be doing it for you – looking at that data improving over time can be very motivational and can therefore make it a lot more fun.

Choose the Right Time of Day

If you’re not having a lot of fun during your cardio workouts, it may not be you or the workouts. It could be the time of day you’re doing them.  Maybe you’re just not a morning person and never well be.  Perhaps you really are a morning person (whether you know it or not) and should be taking advantage of that.

It could be that you’ve been waiting until after work to exercise and you’re simply too tired by then because you’ve had a long day and all you want to do is get your dinner ready, sit down and eat.  Maybe you’ve been exercising too close to a meal and it’s making you feel sluggish and is slowing down your performance.  If you just can’t seem to get into your cardio workouts, give them a try at a new time and see if it makes a difference.

If you get bored when performing cardio workouts, you should try these tips to make them a bit more fun. Sometimes one or a few of these options can make all the difference in the world.