Is going to the gym boring?

The simple answer to this, many would assume, was either yes, or “you’re just a fitness freak and so you like it for some strange reason”. But I believe there are key reasons as to why you might be finding the gym boring, and why you are not enjoying the exercises. What follows are a few reasons why you might be keeping yourself from the gym and a few of the solutions.

1. You’re spending an age there.

A big reason as to why the gym is so boring for you is simply because you’re spending too much time there. This is not necessary and, I would argue, the longer you spend there the less intense you’ll be going. You need to wear yourself out and get that heart pumping; if you’re doing this correctly, you shouldn’t be able to go for hours at a time.

The solution: a simple one. You don’t need to spend hours at the gym. In fact, I keep my sessions to the 45min – 1hour range. This way I can keep the session intense and, more importantly, short. Gym does not feel like a chore if I can see the end of the session.

2. You haven’t dedicated fully.

By this I mean that you treat the gym as something you must do as part of your day and haven’t, as yet, incorporated it as a part of your life. Perhaps you go to the gym and always train arms, or always do a four mile run and then go home. Perhaps you have not taken on a healthy diet and so are not seeing the results you’d like. These can be disheartening and, after a while, liable to break any enjoyment for the gym you may have once had.

The solution: Jump straight into it! Find yourself that little slice in the day and commit. Dedicate that time to the gym, to getting fit, and enjoy that time. I know it’s easier said than done, but if you focus on the goal at hand it becomes a lot easier to stomach. Don’t stick to any single workout… but I’m getting ahead of myself. Take a look at my next point.

3. You’re stuck in your ways.

Every gym enthusiast falls into a routine eventually, the key is breaking that routine from time to time to keep it fresh. A change in the amounts of sets/reps are a more mundane approach to this, but try and do a number of different exercises and use a number of machines.

The solution: there is no one single approach to developing a muscle, so change it up from time to time. If you’re always doing a barbell bench press to develop your chest, switch to dumbbells or even the cables. If you’re driving there and dreading the cardio workout on the horison maybe do some full-body HIIT training instead, or go oiutside for a run. You don’t always have to do the same thing and it is easy to look online for inspiration for a new workout.

4. You’re a bit of a loner.

This title might seem a bit harsh, but you may find that because you go alone to the gym you lack the drive to keep it up. Now this one doesn’t really apply to me because I tend to work best when I put myself in a zone and block everybody else out, but many people can’t or don’t like to do that.

The solution: Take a friend with you, preferably one with good energy and similar goals to you. Working out with a friend can act as a sort of inspiration and healthy competition. It is far easier to push a friend as far as possible in the gym than it is to push yourself. Not to mention they can spot you, which comes in handy when reaching for those higher weights.

5. Your other hobbies are getting in the way.

This one is perhaps the toughest on this list: you’re too attached to your other hobbies. You’d rather be at home watching your movies, or playing your games or whatever it is you like to do rather than exercise, and this is true for the vast majority of people.

The solution: You need to take a look at why you’re going to the gym and use that to combat your hobbies. This kind of comes back to point number two about your dedication. Treat the gym as your time to really focus on yourself, your body. Those things you like to do can wait another 45 minutes, because once this session is done you’re free to pursue it. This is as necessary as brushing your teeth in the mornings, but the fact is you are in control of what happens here, so you may as well enjoy it.

6. You have no distractions.

If you’ve gone through all these steps and you still feel bored, the likely fact is you’re too focused. I know, I know, it doesn’t sound like this point is even worth reading but hear me out. Anybody would be bored if they were just running on a treadmill for half hour a time, but there is a simple solution.

The solution: get yourself some damn good headphones. Ones that, preferably, won’t fall out or get in the way whilst you’re running. I know it seems kind of obvious, but with headphones in everything is better. I myself listen to audiobooks, and the time just flies by. If that doesn’t float your boat, put together a little workout playlist, or watch Netflix whilst on the cross-trainer. All of it chews through time like nobody’s business.