Should You Make Yourself Do Workouts You Hate?
By Sara Butler
Fitness experts everywhere talk about how important well-rounded fitness programs are to your overall health and wellness. But what that means can be a bit confusing. You might feel as if you should be doing Pilates or yoga but really can’t get into it. Or how about running or biking or even a Zumba class? Do you have to do it all in order to achieve your fitness and health goals and more importantly, should you make yourself do it even if you can’t stand it? It’s not an easy question to answer. Here are a few things you should consider!
Cross-Training Benefits
Balance is important in many different aspects of life, including your exercise routine. That’s why following a fitness program that has a focus on various components such as endurance, body composition, and flexibility is important. That’s what makes cross-training so important to your health.
Another benefit to cross training is that mixing it up also helps to keep you from getting bored. Combine that with the fact that a well-balanced fitness program also helps you to avoid repetitive motion and overuse injuries, and you can begin to understand the awesome benefits of cross-training.
You Must Find Balance
If you go on a special diet, then you’re less likely to stick to it if you hate the food. Effectively, working out and hating what you’re doing will cause you not to stick to your workout plan! You must do workouts that you actually like to do or you’ll eventually start finding reasons to not do it.
Fitness isn’t a black and white issue. You won’t just make cardio gains by running – you can walk, swim, hike, and do other things to promote cardio endurance. Strength isn’t just weightlifting either; you can use kettlebells and resistance training, too! The point is, mix it up to get where you want to go because there’s almost always another way!
Challenge Yourself
One of the ways to keep yourself engaged in your exercise program is to challenge yourself! You’re not going to stick to what you’re doing if you’re not pushing yourself to do more every once in a while. Step outside of your comfort zone and try something new to do.
So, no – you don’t have to do an exercise you hate. But you do need to find exercises that add variety to your routine!
To learn more about your health and wellness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Fitchburg, Wis.