Simple and Effective Workout Hack

We all dread spending time on the treadmill, stationary bike, and stair-climber…I get it! However, there is a way to teach yourself to look forward to those sessions. This is so simple, I can’t even write a whole article about it. I will be lucky to get five paragraphs out of it. But I’m trying. I’m really trying…

Ok, this is it: AUDIOBOOKS and podcasts! This is a little bit like watching the TV show or monitor at the gym, but so much better. Have you ever had trouble putting a book down because you were so taken in by the story-line? Or how about being in the middle of a movie and hitting pause? You want to know what is going to happen next, and you anticipate it. Audiobooks, and to a lesser extent podcasts, do this for you.

Pick your favorite fictional author, Stephen King, Louis L’Amour, J.R.R. Tolkien, Tom Clancy, or whomever you prefer, and purchase one of their awesome books through Audible. Or learn to use the free internet library checkout through your local library…you don’t have to purchase the books. The point is to pick a page-turner that you hate to put down and get it in audio format. Then promise yourself you will only listen to the book when you are driving to the gym, at the gym, working out, or leaving the gym. You cannot listen to this audiobook when you aren’t at the gym.

This last part is a little silly, I know. Once you have the commitment to go to the gym or workout and you enjoy your audiobook, you won’t really have to trick yourself. You will find that walking on the treadmill and other workouts are not unpleasant because you are focused almost entirely on the audiobook and the story, with your workout becoming a secondary activity.

That is really all there is. I’ve found that Audible.com is the best place for me, as I buy 12 book credits all at once and I supplement my library with daily deals and other deals as they come up. My average price per book is generally less than $10.00 by using this approach. I even enjoy learning through non-fiction books while I work out. It is so much better than watching sports or a video at the gym, as you get to pick up the story right where you left off each time and so can enjoy the whole story over the course of weeks or even a month.

Give this a try. I’m pretty sure you will learn to really enjoy your gym time more as reading time than anything, and this will have the double benefit of the wonders of reading and the healthy outcomes of the workout, all in the same itty bitty time space. Talk about multi-tasking…this really is! Who said you can’t walk and chew gum at the same time?!