To put it simply, the best form of exercise is the one that is sustainable for you.
You may have thought this post was going to lead you to some new secret form of super-workout, or to tell you how my preferred exercise is superior to others, but the truth is that any form of exercise you enjoy and are able to do continuously is going to be the best for you in the long run. What do I mean by that exactly?
For example, I am constantly trying to get other people to start lifting weights, because that’s what I enjoy most. Some of those people join in and find they enjoy it and continue to progress and reach new goals. Others do it for a bit and eventually stop. Maybe they hit their initial goal of losing that 5-10 pounds and decided that was good enough, or maybe they just weren’t physically able to perform the exercises consistently due to previous injuries. I need to remember that not everyone is going to enjoy lifting weights as much as I do and some people aren’t going to be able to physically perform that type of exercise. And that’s okay!
There’s at least a dozen other ways that you can get good exercise and you may actually find that you really enjoy something else. Give yourself the chance to try out other forms of exercise and you may find that you can stay consistent with something. In the end, consistent exercise is going to help more than forcing yourself to do something you don’t enjoy just to reach a temporary goal because eventually you’re going to hit that goal and you may not want to make a new one. If that happens, you’re going to lose all the progress that you worked so hard to achieve and you’ll find yourself in an endless loop or just slipping further from that goal you had once reached.
I’d say try to give it a solid month of regularly performing any type of exercise, if you’re not finding that you enjoy it, move on to something new, but don’t give up entirely. Or maybe it works best for you to rotate through several forms of exercise regularly to keep things interesting. I definitely like to mix it up with my forms of cardio by going for a run, doing some cycling, yoga, ultimate frisbee, basketball, etc.
I may not always want to exercise, but I know that once I get myself there I’ll be glad that I pushed through.