Everyone knows that physical exercise is an extremely beneficial and health-promoting thing in all kinds of ways.

It boosts cardiovascular health, reduces the risk of various diseases and ailments, contributes to feelings of wellbeing and optimism, and it can even help you to sleep better. 

At the same time, though, actually picking up and consistently sticking to a good physical exercise routine can be very difficult — with many people who try it finding themselves burning and losing motivation, or dropping the habit for other reasons, after a relatively short space of time.

Your physical exercise routine should be the kind of thing that you find uplifting, and that you find sustainable. It should boost your quality of life rather than purely seeming like a difficult chore.

Here are a few tips for developing an uplifting physical exercise routine.

Aim for the right level of intensity — enough, but not too much

High intensity exercise routines are very popular in certain circles, for a variety of different reasons.

For one thing, high intensity exercise routines are usually relatively quick to complete. For another thing, a lot of people seem to believe that their workouts count more if they suffer more during those workouts.

There are, though, some real downsides to training at too high of an intensity. For one thing, you increase the risk of injuries that may cause you to need to look into thumb tape with KT Tape, among other things. Then, there’s the fact that training too hard can heavily stress your Central Nervous System and cause you to become sick, to experience chronically elevated stress hormone levels, and to experience worse sleep.

Of course, training too hard also makes workouts much less enjoyable, and makes it much less likely you’ll stick to them.

To make your physical exercise routine more uplifting, aim for the right level of intensity. Not too much and not too little. You should end your workouts feeling like you’ve worked out, but still feeling strong and energetic.

Try to do at least some exercise outdoors

Exercise has plenty of great benefits in and of itself, but exercise done in the outdoors appears to convey all sorts of additional benefits, ranging from more fresh air to greater levels of individual wellbeing.

There’s something about jogging in a natural setting that’s just way more rewarding than jogging on a treadmill.

Doing at least some exercise outdoors can make your exercise routine significantly more rewarding and uplifting.

Do physical activities that you enjoy for their own sake

So, you’re trying to stick to a regular exercise routine but don’t like running on a treadmill or lifting weights in a crowded gym. What should you do?

Well, you should probably avoid those activities.

There are a huge number of different ways of moving your body and getting your exercise in, and there’s no reason to force yourself to perform certain exercises or routines you hate, when different options are available.

Try to do physical activities that you enjoy for their own sake, whether that means joining a yoga or martial arts class, or doing kettlebell exercises in your garden.