February 5, 2008 PRINT

Exercise your creativity

by Erica DePascale, a senior at North Penn High School

Admit it; you want to exercise, but you just can't stand being on that treadmill another minute.

Don't feel like you're failing yourself. Typical exercise methods like the treadmill can be boring and hard to stick with.

So, I conjured up a few other methods of exercise that guarantee success and fun while doing them.

Take a class: Any type of class involved with movement will do. Maybe sign up for a dance class. Or, if you have a gym membership, try out a kickboxing or cycling class. Classes like these can be tough, but often fun. If you discover one you really enjoy, maybe a body works or step class, you are more likely to stick with it. Plus, if you attend regularly you will feel awesome when you can perform better than all the newbies.

Find a workout partner: Maybe you wake up one morning, and you really don’t feel like getting out of bed. But your friend is already dressed and ready to go. Having a workout partner not only motivates you to get up and go, it gives you company while you’re working out. This way you won’t be focusing on the strenuous activity as much as you would be alone. Plus, it adds good bonding time.

Get up in between: Within a 30-minute TV program, there are approximately six to 10 minutes of commercials. If you watch an hour of TV, that’s about 20 minutes of commercials. Get up at every break and exercise. Run in place, run around the house, or even do some crunches. The minutes will go by quickly since they are split up, and you’ll burn more calories then you think.

Dance in your bedroom: Although this sounds silly, you probably do it anyway. We all have that favorite song or CD we like to listen to. If you jam to it, you burn calories. Plus you have even more fun singing your heart out.

Play "Dance Dance Revolution": If you’ve never played it, try it out. They have home versions for game consoles that aren’t too expensive. "DDR" junkies can tell you how addictive and fun the game becomes. Plus, the better you get, the more intense the game becomes and eventually you could burn off more calories than sprinting. Imagine that.