When you were a kid, you exercised constantly. Remember how walking somewhere seemed too slow, so you ran instead? Funny how things change. Swing Set Fitness, a book and DVD-based exercise program, gets you back to your childhood by way of the playground. Founder Karen Goeller came up with a series of exercise routines you can do using a simple swing set for total body conditioning. Here's one of our faves: push the swing to be about 45 degrees to the ground. Holding the swing steady with your hands, bring your feet together and do a set of inclined push-ups.
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Jump around
Bouncing up and down on a trampoline sounds like fun -- and it is -- but it's also a champion calorie burner. Studies published in the Journal of Applied Psychology have shown that just 10 minutes of trampoline jumping can equal the health benefits of running for more than 30 minutes. But the founders of Springfree Trampoline, a trampoline producer in Issaquah, Wash., say that you can reap even bigger benefits if you incorporate trampoline-specific exercises, like the "starfish." Jump up into the air with your arms and legs splayed out. Or try the "seat drops" where you jump up, pull your legs parallel to the ground, then bounce back down onto your butt.
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Get into the water
Standup paddleboarding is the "it" workout routine lately, with celebs like Rihanna and Jennifer Aniston getting on board. The sport is intense -- it burns 500 to 700 calories an hour, and requires serious use of your core, back, and arm muscles. And there are now stand-up paddleboarding workout routines that take it even further. According to Brody Welte, founder of Stand Up Fitness and Paddle Fit, performing typical body training moves -- think modified push-ups -- while on a floating board turns your everyday workout into a big challenge. You can even do yoga poses on the floating board.
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Take the elliptical outside
If you've ever wanted to take the elliptical machine out of the gym or have the stationary bike not be quite so, well, stationary, the new ElliptiGO bike is for you. Part elliptical trainer, part bicycle, this gadget mimics running outside -- except you travel 15 miles per hour and don't risk damage to your joints. And, unlike a stuck-in-place gym machine, you have to use your core muscles to stay standing. Plus, you get the mental and physical health benefits of outdoor exercise, such as increased energy and feeling more revitalized than if you were logging elliptical miles at the gym. To find out where to rent or buy one in your area, you can check out their website.
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Try burlesque
Remember the Great Pole-Dancing for Exercise Craze of 2008? Well, meet its cooler, hipper, and -- dare we say? -- sexier sister: burlesque class. Burlesque dancing has been around since the 1840s, and now it's taken on a new life as an exercise trend. At Scandalesque, a burlesque theater and studio in Phoenix, Ariz., real burlesque performers are the class teachers. They outfit their students in appropriate sexy garb and lead them through fast-paced choreography that blends hip hop, jazz, and bump-and-grind for more toned muscles and increased flexibility.
Raise your hand if you're excited about working out later. Anybody? Uh, anybody?
Yeah, as much as we hate to admit it, we're not so psyched either. Just the idea of driving to the gym, changing, waiting in line for the elliptical, finally getting on the elliptical, doing crunches, showering � there's a reason they call it working out. Maybe that's why so many of us throw in the towel and watch the numbers on the scale climb. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that only 18.8 percent of us meet the physical activity guidelines for both aerobic and muscle-strengthening physical activity.
"People are used to thinking of exercise as something that has to fit into certain parameters: has to be in a gym, or you have to be wearing athletic clothing," says Maria Brilaki, founder of Fitnessreloaded.com, a fitness habits website. "All those rules burden exercise and limit creativity. They make working out so complicated!"
While that may be true, the good news is that workouts don't have to be like this. In fact, they can actually be easy and enjoyable. The proof is in these 10 new workouts -- routines that we promise are so completely different from what you've been doing in the gym, you won't even realize you're actually blasting calories, improving your strength, melting unwanted fat, and getting healthier all around.
You heard us: this is fitness that's fun.
Now who's excited about working out? Read on to find out about the newest workouts that don't feel like work.
