The Best Workout Program Is the One You Really Enjoy
We’ve written about the many workout options here on Lifehacker: short , gamified , bears eat you . But the best workout, according to experts, is simply the workout you like because you will actually do it.
In Vox, Julia Bellouse talks about how we over-think about the exercises, make ambitious plans, when any exercise in general is better than a great plan that you don’t love doing. She writes:
According to sports nutritionist Matt Fitzgerald, author of Diet Cults and 80/20 Running, the only major factor that can predict whether someone will stick to a new daily routine is whether they just like it or not. “Those who say they enjoy training the most are more likely to continue training after a year,” he said.
Many studies have shown that even if you don’t lose a pound or change your body after exercise, exercise will improve a number of health outcomes, including lowering your risk of heart disease and preventing Alzheimer’s disease. So just find a way to sweat – and don’t worry about the details.
This is an important point that sometimes gets lost in the details of how to do a particular workout or how to do it better: do you like this workout at all? If not, you can explore other options , perhaps going back to the drawing board to find something that works for you and fits into your life. Unless you’re a morning person, you don’t need to exercise in the morning. If you sit at your desk all day, even a walk or daily gardening is an improvement. Any consistent workout is better than none.