The Best Exercise Is When You Don't Think About It
The modern gym can be one of the worst places to exercise. You are static on a machine while your body is in motion (treadmills and exercise bicycles). Your body does not expect this and would prefer to at least have some eye-candy to keep your motivation up. Maybe this is why so many gyms now put TV screens in front of those doing workouts. Even so, this is still quite boring for many.
The best exercise is when you don't even realise that you are working out. There is so much going on around you that you are fixated on your surroundings rather than being allowed to internalise your thoughts. Though some prefer this aspect of exercise, working out is not really a time for reflecting. You do not want to be consumed by your current thoughts - you want to be distracted by your environment. Here are a few great examples.
City Cycling For Exercise
When you forget about the car, the bus or the subway and decide to get from A to B using a bicycle then you can obtain some really good workouts.
On a bicycle, it is safest to travel at considerable speed, rather than dawdling near the gutter. When the lights go green, you should accelerate fast and get up to speed quickly. Always look around and observe where traffic and pedestrians are. Be assertive, use hand signals and take ownership of your part of the road, as you are entitled to do.
When you ride like this, you'll find yourself constantly changing the situation your body is in. One moment you may be accelerating anaerobically, another you may be travelling at a constant speed aerobically, another you may be twisting and turning and giving your back some great relief by stretching out your spine slightly.
This type of cycling burns a lot of calories because your body cannot predict what rate it will be working at and thus will keep burning its fuel (your fat) inefficiently. Also, because your eyes are on the road and everything around you, you barely even realise how hard you are pushing yourself at times until later you may find yourself catching your breath. Without the situation of your bike in its environment, you may never have otherwise have pushed yourself so hard.
Team Sports for Exercise
Team sports are one of the most fun types of exercise that there are. The first thing to say is that they are incredibly social and add a dimension to exercise that solo sports do not possess.
When playing on a team, you are constantly reacting to the game situation. Your mind is on the game and you are unpredictably called into action. No two halves or quarters are ever the same. Just like with cycling, your mind is occupied on your situation and your body cannot predict what you are going to do. Hence, you burn your fuel inefficiently and, again, these sports become a great way to lose weight (if that is one of your goals).
This post just touches on a few of the benefits of exercise and a tiny fraction of the effective methods of exercising. For a lot more information on exercising correctly, be sure to read up on it online - your healthy lifestyle depends on getting enough exercise!
