Overcoming boredom of repetitive routines?

[Stacey]

One of my biggest struggles with sticking with a workout program is getting bored of it. I am not a lazy person but I often get tired of doing the same thing and struggle to find something new. I ended working out for a good 2 or 3 weeks and then stop for a month or two trying to find something else. It is a bad cycle. How can I overcome this without so much downtime and missed weeks where I could be improving my health? 

[James]

This is rough question. I enjoy routine and repetitiveness so much because its the easiest part of the day. It's the time of day that I just do and don't think to much about it. I do get bored every now and then though so there are some things that I do that help switch it up. 

For my walking/running loops I set out to build new loops. I find joy in making different loops and it really helps me on my different duration runs end close to home so I do not need to walk to much further. I do the same with cycling. If I really want to change it up I will hop in the car and find a trail to hike/run or a new place to cycle. 

Now for indoor cycling... That is just a grind. I use the Peloton almost daily and really only take power zone based classes. So it is just repetitive. It makes me want to cycle outside more which is a good thing :). I just listen to the music and focus on finishing the workout and its done. 

It is one of those mental toughness things that just get developed with time. Remembering why you are doing whatever you are doing is helpful to driving you to continue doing that activity. I want to be as active as my kids want me to be. I also want to build my best self so I am ready for whatever life wants to throw at me. Just thinking about those two things regardless of how boring the activity is it will keep me going. 

[Stacey]

I had considered getting a stationary bike and using it while I am doing something "mindless" like watching YouTube videos or a stream since I will be keeping my mind going. I know when I was younger, I did this a lot when I would play video games with friends. We would actually take turns on a stationary bike in between rounds of CoD, this was back when there was no split screen option for online and we all used the same Xbox. Fun times!

I will look into this as a possible options. Check the prices of these things. Been a while since I had one.