Over 120 Fun Ways to Exercise

A DIFFERENT WAY TO LOOK AT EXERCISE

For a lot of people, exercise sounds like a chore. Like a bore. A “should.” And just because of those perceptions, a lot of people are not very inspired, motivated or excited to exercise.

And that’s why I like to think of exercise differently. It doesn’t have to mean running or lifting weights. I mean, it depends what your end goal is. BUTTTT…

I Often Refer to Exercise as “Movement”

woman flipping a large tire at the gym as exercise The main reason to exercise is to move your body, preferably daily. And it may require you to switch how you view exercise, to incorporate it into YOUR life. Especially if you’re one of the people who isn’t so Jillian Michaels about it (and if you don’t know who she is, she’s an all-up-in-your-face-aggressively-motivating-workout-coach).

Sometimes this requires you to think outside the box, find your inner kid from within and go have some dang FUN!! I like to remind you, being healthy doesn’t have to be hard. Or intimidating. Let it be easy and fun!

A REMINDER OF WHY MOVING YOUR BODY IS SO IMPORTANT

Exercise Includes All 4 Elements of Health

BODY

When we move our bodies, we move the lymph through our system, which is like the garbage removal system of our body. Lymph contains toxins and waste, and is an integral part of our immune system.

illustration of the lymph system in the body Unlike the blood vessels that have the heart to pump blood through our body, lymph doesn’t have a pump. Lymph (and therefore toxins and waste) that need to be excreted from the body, can only get to where they need to, by physically moving.

Stagnant lymph can mean feeling crappy, lethargic, stagnant and blah.

Moving your body = moves lymph = healthy immune system.

MIND

When you exercise, you are present at what you’re doing so your mind is clear and focused. Some types of exercise, the ones that you tend to do by yourself, are meditative, clearing your mind of thoughts and leading to a calmer, clearer mind, which means less of the stressed and overwhelmed feeling.

Clear mind = reduced stress

SOUL

Exercise is a way of connecting with yourself. Once you begin to do exercise regularly, you get out of the stagnant thought patterns, the negative thoughts about yourself (and what you aren’t doing) and you begin to notice the positive things about yourself. You’ll start to notice changes in your physical body which influences the way you feel about yourself.

Exercise is like clearing a path to Source, God, and yourself and future self, and nature, because a lot of exercise activities are done outside in nature. Find what is fun for you and this lifts your spirit and creates a consistent desire to keep up with the routine of your exercise activities. And fun leads to more fun, and happiness. Law of attraction; like attracts like!

Doing fun things=brings more fun things!

ENVIRONMENT

I am a huge proponent of spending as much time outside as possible! And that’s another reason exercising is so important! Most of these activities can be done outside. And being in nature lifts our spirit, connects us with the Earth, and literally recharges our electrons. Being in nature, especially barefoot, is like a reboot for our energetic field.

2 women doing a plank challenge together and smiling

Some of these activities are done with others. The social environment we keep is so important for our health too! Friends motivate us to stay on track! Having a workout partner keeps us accountable!

Exercise= connection = a recharge

ADDING EXERCISE AND MOVEMENT INTO A DAILY WELLNESS ROUTINE

If you’re looking for accountability and a structure to add exercise into a consistent daily wellness routine, I have the perfect solution! My 30 Day Wellness Routine Reset is perfect for having the energy and motivation to stay committed to your routines, and actually do them consistently.

Go from scattered and way off track with your health habits and life, to committed, consistent, calm and confident without the overwhelm! Learn to properly nourish your body so that you can ROCK your day to day. Remove excuses from your life. And actually look forward to the wellness rituals you’ve chosen for your day, rather than bored with all the shoulds that other programs have told you to do! Click here to see more about the program!

female doing cartwheels outside in the grass

FIND A WAY TO MAKE IT FUN!

Some of these ideas are silly and will definitely bring you back to being a kid. Some are more advanced and can challenge you.

But I invite you to challenge yourself to get up, stand up and MOVE your body! Do it in a fun way, because isn’t that what makes life worth living?! Once you start, you might go longer than intended! And/or turn it into a habit because it’s so fun!

Here are 120+ FUN ways to MOVE! Find a league, a meetup, or an accountability partner. Try a free class, find a kid to join you, or bring out the kid inside of you. I hope these light a spark inside to fire you up and to get you to think outside the box. Explore these ideas, pick a few, then GO DO IT!

120+ FUN WAYS TO MOVE!

Dance to music videos in your bedroom
Learn the thriller dance
Channel Beyonce or your favorite musician. Dance, sing or play (air) guitar or drums like them!
Search youtube and learn an easy dance choreography sequence
Shake it like Shakira
Do a 20 minute YouTube yoga sequence. My fave gal is boho beautiful.
Walk the dog
Shoot a basketball, even if you suck. Play bump, horse or around the world.
Find a friend and play tennis. Just hit the ball back and forth- no need for pro status here.
Lift weights, kettle bells or a weighted ball. I like using a weighted ball, and starting on the side of my left foot, bring it up across my body, above my head to the right. Then the opposite side. Pretend it’s a gift you’re picking up and passing off to someone.
Do 5 squats or lunges, and tomorrow do one more, then keep adding one every day
Jump on a rebounder (mini trampoline) for 3 minutes (drink a lot of water after!!)
Ride your bike to go swing at the park
Play frisbee
Walk to the park then do lunges around the perimeter of a basketball court or baseball diamond
Play with the dog outside
Practice your 90’s dance moves to C&C Music Factory
Master the Macarena
Borrow or rent a SUP stand up paddle board on a lake nearby
Jump rope. Set a goal, like go for 100 before messing up. Or do 5 double jumps
Go bowling and aim for 3 strikes
Horseback riding… have you ever, or have you since you were a kid?
Cart wheels in the grass
Work on a handstand, either outside or against a wall
Go ice skating
Go to the roller rink and dust off those old roller skating legs
Plant a flower in a pot or in your yard
Make an herb planter with a basil, rosemary and thyme
Build something
Indoor trampoline park
Sand volleyball
Hit a volleyball back and forth with a friend in the yard
Velcro on your moon boots, become Napoleon Dynamite and groove to Jamiroquai
Skip to the loo my darling… or how bout one block for every 3 on a walk. Who cares as long as you look like you’re having fun??!
Bust out that sidewalk chalk and make a long hopscotch. Find a kid to do it with you!
Sunrise (or sunset) yoga in the park. Do a local search to see if it’s offered in your area.
Country line dancing
Ax throwing (safely of course!)
Get a lesson for shooting a bow and arrow
Mini golf
Batting cages
Laser tag
Go scoot around the city on a scooter
Rollerblade
Go roll down a hill
Climb a tree like you’re a pirate looking for the prize ship
Kayak the river, or lake kayak with a partner
Canoe and throw in a fishing pole for the heck of it
Take a pole dancing class, find that inner sex goddess 😉
Challenge yourself to a new class at the gym that you’ve never tried
Find river rocks to paint, or paint messages on (maybe to add to your zen zone)
Wander around a museum, an art gallery, or a botanical garden
Go explore a ghost town
Do a movie film location tour
Longboard to the closest gas station for a lottery ticket
Go on a nature walk. You know there’s tons you’ve never been to in your town before, or probably on the outskirts.
Jungle bocce with a friend, or 3
Ladder golf
Horsehoes
Cornhole
If it’s windy, go fly a kite, up to the highest height!
Find a beautiful spot outside and go take some in-depth pictures
Next time you’re inside a building and have 5 floors or less to go, take the stairs, but pretend the elevator is broken and there’s a monster chasing you up (or down) the stairwell.
Do a kickboxing class
Swim 10 laps then go down the slide
Kickball league
If you can dodge a wrench, do a dodgeball league! Sign up as a free agent to find a team.
Geocaching for fun and treasure
Slip and slide
Wiffle ball
Frisbee golf course
Ping pong!
Try the latest craze… Pickle ball
Try a burlesque class
Daily dance party in your living room
Ski, snowboard, or snowshoe if you live near snow
Hula hoop for 30 seconds straight
See if your town has goat yoga or puppy yoga
Just go play at the playground- swing, climb the things, do the slide
Climb a 14er if you’re super adventurous… or work up to doing one in a few months.
Do a walking meditation
Run the bases on a baseball field, or sprint to each base, one at a time
Create your own (solo or with a friend) synchronized swimming routine. Ask the lifeguard to rate your performance.
Take a dance lesson, like salsa, ballroom dancing, tango, swing. See what’s offered in your town’s Parks and Rec dept.
See how many burpees you can do in 1 minute.
Flag football
Try a martial arts class. Karate, Tae Kwon Do, See if any locations do a free class to try it out.
Tai Chi or Qigong class for intentional moving and relaxation/meditation
Indoor (or outdoor) rock climbing
Go snorkeling or scuba diving. Get certified!
Challenge yourself to 20 scissor kicks each side
Treadmill or jog outdoors. Set a goal and try to extend the time or distance when you get close to it. You may surprise yourself!
Slow pitch recreational softball league
Play soccer or even just soccer with your dog
Golf but walk the holes instead of a cart. idk tho… carts are pretty fun haha!!
weed your yard or your neighbor’s… It’s kind of therapeutic too!
Ballet or a barre class
Pilates or core class
Hire a guide for a hike
Guided ghost tours in your town
Curling
Go to the Clubs and dance your booty off!
Babysit a kid for an hour 😉 or, just parent if you have your own!
Find out if there’s Lacrosse or Field Hockey leagues you can join or even drop in at an indoor arena
Create an obstacle course
Help friends or college students move
Pick your own pumpkins, strawberries, etc, whatever fruit/veg is in season in local farmer gardens
Walk a slack line
Play darts (501, cricket)
Play monkey in the middle with a football, beachball, balloon, soccer ball
Play 500 with a baseball or football if you have a larger group of people
Good ol’ tag
Do a hip hop or zumba class
Belly dance lesson
Be like Pink and learn aerial silk, aerial hoop (lyra) or trapeze
Watch the scene in Old School with Will Ferrell doing the rhythmic gymnastics then create your own ribbon dance routine.
Like Jim and Pam, do your own form of office olympics, or summer, or whatever olympics. What are your 5 main events?!
Adult gymnastics
Do a bird watching tour
Take an herb or plant tour at a nursery or local botanical garden. Or a local wildflower, natural habitat plants or herbal first aid tour.
Corn maze
Spin class, mountain bike or exercise bike
Full moon hike