How to make your training more fun

I have been reading lately that our training should be fun, because that’s the only way to keep it in our schedule. Another usual advice is to combine training with recreation, for example going for a hike or playing a team sport.

I disagree.

Training should not be confused with fun. It should not be torture either, but there is a very specific reason to train, and this is to improve performance.

The general goal of our training is to build a better body. But, we must have specific goals as well, and these relate to the type of exercise we do.

If we train with weights, the goal is to regularly increase the poundage or the repetitions. If we do cardio (for example running), we must strive to improve our times or our endurance.

Even for the morning walk I have suggested in the past, we must try to increase the duration or the distance.

The advantage of all these activities is that progress can be clearly measured. And to quote Lord Kelvin, you can only improve what you can measure.

The best way to make training more rewarding is to make it more effective. Thus, separate training from fun and improve yourself!