BodyBreak Elliptical Machine
I haven’t blogged in a while. This is mainly because I have been busy with finishing up last term’s final exams, course selections and starting this term’s courses. Well, over the holidays I purchased an elliptical machine. Its a good one from BodyBreak with Hal Johnson and Joanne McLeod. I bought it at Walmart for a great deal. Here is a picture of it.
The first few days I used the machines were great. It was new. I worked out for about 10 to 15 minutes each session.
After a few weeks, something changed. I situated the machine in my unfishinished basement. Although I was quite excited about working out each time I found that I soon ran out of the willpower to go down there and do my workouts.
There’s a secret trick. I learned about it from pure experience.
During my workouts, there was very little to entertain me. As soon as I started working out I set the timer for 15 minutes and started my workout. Even though its not a really strenuous excerice I found myself quickly getting BORED with the workout. I didn’t have a TV downstairs to watch TV while I worked out. Nor did I have an IPOD to listen to music as I worked out on the machine. I didn’t really have a problem keeping up with the pace of the workout. I just realized I started getting really bored after I started the workout and could not wait to go back upstairs.
Just when I thought I had wasted a few hundred bucks on yet another piece of excercise equipment, I decided to try something new. I decided to bring my laptop down to the basement to watch TED videos as I worked out.
For those of you who have not watched TED (http://www.ted.com) videos you will definitely want to check it out. Its a really inspirational source of really great videos from the best speakers in the world. Each video on the site ranges from about 10 minutes to 30 minutes. This coincides perfectly with my workout requirements. Working out approximately 30 minutes is perfect.
If you find yourself lacking the interest in working out in your own home gym, try bringing your laptop with you so you can watch TED videos while you are working out. I assure you it will keep you on your elliptical or treadmill or stationary bike working out form much longer than if you were to just rely on your willpower to workout for the duration of your desired objective. Do yourself a favour. Bring something like your computer with you to distract your mind during your workout. I guarantee you will find yourself working out for far longer.
Key Takeaway
The bottom line is this. Position yourself for success when you workout at home. Create a conducive environmment for yourself to workout (just like at the gym). Bring your computer laptop with you to your treadmill, elliptical or stationary bike so you can watch really inspirational videos from www.ted.com or www.youtube.com
I am sure if you try this you will find yourself working out longer than if you had just relied on your willpower for each of your workouts.
So what happened to me? Well, prior to watching TED videos at ted.com, my workouts typically lasted between 10 to 15 minutes. Now, after I introduced the TED.com viewing while I work out I find myself working out for at least 45 minutes on average. This is a noticable improvement. Hopefully it will work for you too!
