15 ways to make exercise more fun - Get Fit

Shape, April, 2003 by Elizabeth Krieger

When workouts or other activities are fun, you're more likely to stick with them, many studies show. To spark your creative imagination, here are a bunch of ways to get fit by acting like a kid, as well as resources to help you get started. 1. Play Twister. Flexibility and fun, all rolled into one retro game.

2. Twirl a Hula-Hoop. A great ab toner and heart-rate raiser (hula-hoops.com). 3. Play kickball. Join an existing adult league or start your own (worldkickball.com). 4. Skip to the beat. Substitute skipping for your usual jog or mix it into your walk/jog workout (iskip.com). 5. Get a dance qroove. Try "Techno Pop," "Urban Funk" or "Street Style" videos C$30-$40; active videos.com). 6. Jump a rope. A 145-pound woman can burn 570 calories per hour. Learn double Dutch style and start a team (800-225-8820, info@usajrf.org). 7. Play with toys. Get colorful exercise balls, bands and weights that you'll want to use. 8. Go to recess. Gym classes emphasize fun, agility and conditioning with activities like freeze tag and relay races (www.urbanrecess .com). 9. Join the circus. Get an acrobat's abs or trapeze artist's arms at Circus Sports classes at Crunch Fitness in New York City and Los Angeles as well as other gyms. 10. Reach for the sky. It used to be called trampolining; now it's called urban rebounding (urbanrebounding .com). 11. Go-go golfing. Make the game less geriatric by playing Frisbee Golf (aka disc golf) or Xtreme Golf (disc golfassoc .com, 831-722-6037; extreme golf.com). 12. Lead a cheer. Rah, Rah, Sis Boom Bah just like a teenager at a cheerleading "camp" class (cheerleading .net). 13. Play HORSE. Take free throws, going around the arc in front of a basketball hoop. Every time you miss, you get a letter. The closer you come to spelling HORSE, the more you n eed to practice your shot. 14. Make cookies from scratch. Instead of the Cuisinart, use a wooden spoon - it takes major arm strength. 15. Play Marco Polo. Get moving in the deep end instead of standing in the shallows like a won't-get-my-hair-wet girl.