How to Find Your Fitness Groove: Love Your Workouts

Exercise is very personal. What might work for one person, might not work for another. And it’s easy to get discouraged with a workout plan if it doesn’t fit quite right. If you want to love your workouts but you’ve found yourself frustrated or bored with your workout plan, you might want to consider figuring out your fitness personality first.

There is a classic study that may help you assess what fitness plan might work for you. Take a look at the following seven “psychosocial dimensions” and the associated chart to get started.

1. Sociability
2. Spontaneity
3. Motivation
4. Aggression
5. Competitiveness
6. Mental focus
7. Risk-taking

Now taking everything above into consideration, I’ve found that my fitness personality is definitely a mix. So I’m kind of all over the place, which is ok, we all have different sides to our personalities so it makes sense. The point is to find something more aligned with your personality so that you are more likely to enjoy it and stick with it long term.

What has been working for me personally, is a combination of CrossFit, Running and Yoga. Each of these activities offer something different for my physical and mental wellbeing. And having a mix of different activities, will give you more ability to love your workouts.

CrossFit

My husband and I joined a CrossFit box over two years ago. We found a box that offered a fundamentals class so we could learn the proper form for all the basic moves and lifts associated with CrossFit. We got a deal on Groupon for the 6-week class that met twice a week for an hour and figured we could join the box after if we liked it.

If you have never done CrossFit before it can be a bit intimidating to start. But if you join a fundamentals class you are basically with a group of people that are in the same boat. Everyone is learning so its a good way to ease into the sport.

After we finished the fundamentals class we signed up for memberships to the box. I am currently the strongest I have ever been physically and might even say I am in the best shape I have ever been in. Thank you CrossFit.

Why I love CrossFit:

• My husband and I can work out together. All you have to do is scale weight or specific moves to fit each person’s strength and capabilities. It’s fun to workout together, quality time right?
• I love feeling strong! Seriously, strong is sexy in my opinion.
• Quick results if you commit.

Running

Running has been a part of my life ever since I started playing soccer as a child. It’s been an on-again-off-again relationship I have maintained, but over the past couple of years have become even more committed to.

I usually run in the early mornings before work and take my pup along with me. I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback, which is a breed that really needs daily exercise. So he is a big motivator to get me out there each morning. When I skip a run, I feel guilty because I am forcing him to skip a run as well.

Why I love running:

• It’s like therapy. I throw my headphones on and I am able to either just jam to my music or turn it down a bit and fall deep into my own thoughts. No one is there to bother you, its all about you.
• I love the sweat. Might sounds gross, but I love the cleansing feeling I get from a good sweat after a run. Same applies to CrossFit I guess. Just sweat it out!

Yoga

Yoga is another activity that I have done on and off over the years but have struggled to find the right type of yoga for me. At this point, I am pretty convinced that power yoga is my favorite and it needs to be at a certain pace to keep my interest. I’ve done classes in person and online, and have found that I prefer the convenience of online sessions.

There are a lot of options out there, both free and paid. One of my current favorites happens to be a free 30-min power yoga session hosted by POPSUGAR Fitness. Check it out!

Why I love Yoga:

• Yoga for me is about building both strength and flexibility. It’s a nice compliment to CrossFit as far as building muscle and tone.
• Like running, yoga has a certain kind of therapeutic benefit. Stretching, breathing, holding poses all help calm me down.

Love Your Workouts

I think its all about trying to identify what you might genuinely enjoy (your fitness personality) and mixing things up until you find the right activity or combination of activities. If you are having fun working out, you are more likely to stick with it and in turn, see the results you want.

If you’ve found your fitness groove, what is your mix? I’d love to hear about how much you love your workouts in the comments. Aloha!

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