How to Make Physical Activity a Fun Experience and Stay Fit Forever
By: Nadir Mahmood
Tags: Fitness Tips, Stay Fit For Life, Physical Fitness, Fitness, Physical Activity

How to Make Physical Activity a Fun Experience and Stay Fit Forever

A bicycle trip with my friends showed me the secret of finding the motivation to stick with it Nadir Mahmood Follow Jul 6 · 4 min read

Photo by Paul Green on Unsplash

Hey friends, if you want to get in shape and stay healthy for a long period of time. This blog is for you, so stick with me till the end.

You might have read many blogs on how to stay fit and healthy emphasizing strictly following the hard routine of going for a walk for miles, running for hours on the treadmill, or going to the gym for hard exercises or work-outs. Right?

And many of you despite following such hard and mundane exercising routines might have ended up getting demotivated or fatigued, isn’t it so?

Ever thought, why is it that you can’t continue with such boring and painful exercise routines?

Here I will reveal the secret that will entirely change your attitude towards adopting any exercise routine.

Make It a Fun Experience

Ever pondered, what is the one thing that stops you to materialize your dream of staying fit?

The straightforward answer is:

You don’t make it a fun experience.

Tell me honestly how many times you have asked yourself before going for a walk or doing a specific exercise whether this physical activity is a fun experience or is just forced labor that you have to undergo to lose weight?

My calculated guess based on my observation is that only a few people ponder over this question.

You may be thinking why we should think like this in the first place when we already know that exercising helps us lose weight, keeps us healthy, and enhances the functionality of our body organs.

Well, in my view, you should always ask this question because this will ultimately make all the difference.

I have observed many of my friends and family members when begin to gain weight they set high targets like going for a walk daily for an hour or doing intense work-outs in the gym, which they don’t enjoy doing.

Just after a few days, they begin to feel discouraged to make any further effort to pursue the hard routine and thus shun the aim of losing weight.

Make Your Physical Activity Exciting

You might ask how we can make the physical activity that brings pain, fatigue, and demotivation an exciting experience?

Well, let me explain it with my personal example.

When I was in my teen years, I never had to plan to do a certain exercise or play a particular game to stay fit. All I used to do was following my urge of engaging myself in a physical activity that put me in a competition scenario.

Remember; competing with others is deeply ingrained in us, which in fact is a driving force behind all the advancements man has ever made so far.

So, whenever I do any exercise or play any game not only do I compete with others, I also compete with myself meaning I try to take my game to the next level.

Physical Activity is not a Compulsion

I never consider exercising or playing different games as a compulsion because I thoroughly enjoy them.

I never restrict myself to one sport. I enjoy every sporting activity be it cricket, hockey, football, martial arts, basketball, swimming, cycling to name a few.

Whenever I find my friends playing any of these games I join them not out of compulsion but out of my instinct of expressing myself through my body.

I enjoy challenging myself to discover whether or not I am good enough to do justice with that game.

As a result, I get the maximum of this human tendency of competing with others and as a reward, I not only remain fit and healthy but also enjoy the exciting activity itself.

A Bicycle Trip

Last year, I planned a bicycle trip with my friends. We selected a beautiful track in the countryside. We did cycling for a whole day and covered almost 90 km till dusk, and returned the very next day covering the same distance again.

My gain was not only physical fitness but also the enjoyment I had during the ride.

On the track, we thoroughly enjoyed it. We ate fresh fruits like strawberries and guavas, drank tea from roadside restaurants.

I still remember the lush green landscape along the road. It was a sunny day in March. A cool breeze was blowing and caressing our cheeks. Light-greenish wheat plants in the fields were dancing with the gentle puffs of air.

You might be thinking. Were you not getting tired? Yes, we were, but the enjoyment part had overwhelmed us. Fatigue and pain had become secondary; more so the sense of achievement had overtaken us that we were able to cover such a long distance in two days.

These two days cycling trip was a lifetime experience of my life, I lost a couple of pounds during this fun ride, ate local delicacies, and above all those sweet memories are still with me.

When are you going to plan the next cycling trip with your family and friends, let me know in the comment!

Life is short, make the maximum of it!