When you were a kid, you exercised constantly. Remember how walking somewhere seemed too slow, so you ran instead? Funny how things change. Swing Set Fitness, a book and DVD-based exercise program, gets you back to your childhood by way of the playground. Founder Karen Goeller came up with a series of exercise routines you can do using a simple swing set for total body conditioning. Here's one of our faves: push the swing to be about 45 degrees to the ground. Holding the swing steady with your hands, bring your feet together and do a set of inclined push-ups.
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Jump around
Bouncing up and down on a trampoline sounds like fun -- and it is -- but it's also a champion calorie burner. Studies published in the Journal of Applied Psychology have shown that just 10 minutes of trampoline jumping can equal the health benefits of running for more than 30 minutes. But the founders of Springfree Trampoline, a trampoline producer in Issaquah, Wash., say that you can reap even bigger benefits if you incorporate trampoline-specific exercises, like the "starfish." Jump up into the air with your arms and legs splayed out. Or try the "seat drops" where you jump up, pull your legs parallel to the ground, then bounce back down onto your butt.
Raise your hand if you're excited about working out later. Anybody? Uh, anybody?
Yeah, as much as we hate to admit it, we're not so psyched either. Just the idea of driving to the gym, changing, waiting in line for the elliptical, finally getting on the elliptical, doing crunches, showering � there's a reason they call it working out. Maybe that's why so many of us throw in the towel and watch the numbers on the scale climb. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that only 18.8 percent of us meet the physical activity guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity.
"People are used to thinking of exercise as something that has to fit into certain parameters: has to be in a gym, or you have to be wearing athletic clothing," says Maria Brilaki, founder of Fitnessreloaded.com, a fitness habits website. "All those rules burden exercise and limit creativity. They make working out so complicated!"
While that may be true, the good news is that workouts don't have to be like this. In fact, they can actually be easy and enjoyable. The proof is in these 10 new workouts -- routines that we promise are so completely different from what you've been doing in the gym, you won't even realize you're actually blasting calories, improving your strength, melting unwanted fat, and getting healthier all around.
You heard us: this is fitness that's fun.
Now who's excited about working out? Read on to find out about the newest workouts that don't feel like work.
