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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wednesday Boy" data-source="post: 7653259" data-attributes="member: 53678">In my experience the three things that make me keep up with exercise are regularity, camaraderie, and variety.Regularity: I worked into my schedule an hour to work out during my lunch break. It means that I have to wake up an hour earlier, which means I have to go to bed an hour earlier. Now that I've made it an established part of my routine I exercise consistantly because that time is already set aside for exercise.Camaraderie: Twice a week I take a high intensity interval class at the gym with a handful of coworkers and another day a week I weight lift with them. Having other people to exercise with makes the workouts more enjoyable because it gains a social aspect. But more importantly exercise partners help motivate me if I want to slack (and visa versa). If I try to slack I have three people stop by my cube to cajole, guilt-trip, or inspire me to workout with them.Also camaraderie helps push me more. It's easy to convince myself to slack. If I run by myself, I might get tired and adjust my speed to compensate. But if I'm running with others, I'm more apt to dig deep and find the energy to keep up with them instead of slacking. Likewise there are times in that gym class where I try to use lower weights for an exercise, only to have the instructor tell me to put them down and get heavier ones.Variety: I find that after the thrill of the noticeable physical improvement wears off (be it improved mile splits, lifting more weight, losing weight, etc.) and I'm primarily maintaining my physical fitness, I start to get bored with my workout routines. I find having a variety of workouts helps stave the monotony of exercise. I'm less likely to be bored with something different. And when I'm not bored, I participate with more gusto and effort.</blockquote>

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