How to choose a workout for your temperament

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If you force yourself to go to workout, then you haven't found your sport yet. The life hacker understands which workouts are suitable for different personality types and what is worth trying to find your favorite type of fitness.

As practice shows, the desire to lose weight or pump up for a short time will keep you in the gym. A poll from Harris Interactive found that half of people who choose sports to get in shape abandon their goals after just six weeks.

So if you want to make fitness a part of your life, the first step is to find a workout that you like.

Understanding what motivates you, what you really enjoy doing, and how your personality affects your daily tasks can help you permanently change your habits and stick to a routine.

Jessica Matthews Senior Advisor, American Council on Exercise, Personal Trainer

So which is right for you?

If you get bored quickly, try different workouts

If you're constantly looking for something exciting, try group classes in new fitness areas like air yoga or anti-gravity. Go for something else the next day.

Large fitness centers tend to have a variety of group activities - read the schedule and try everything. Maybe something will interest you for more than one day. In any case, you will receive a varied load and will not get bored.

If you are very active and ambitious, take part in competitions

American cardiologists Friedman and Rosenman in 1950 proposed the division of people into psychological types A and B. People of type A are aggressive, socially active, with a high sense of responsibility, ambition and a desire for success. Most often these are workaholics who lead a rather stressful lifestyle. Type B people are their opposite. Calm and level-headed, they don't like tight deadlines and overtime. Such people always find time for entertainment, they relate to life more easily.

You are used to setting goals and achieving what you want despite all the difficulties. Why not do the same in sports?

If your favorite thing is to win in a fair fight and you need to see the goal clearly in order to enjoy the lesson, register to participate in the competition.

It can be a 10 km race or a half marathon, a competition among amateurs in any sport. The desire to win will not allow you to miss a single lesson.

If you have an analytical mind, hire a coach

If you value information above all else and consider all the details before making a decision, try a session with a coach.

A good trainer will provide you with the knowledge you need and explain in detail why you should do free weights one day and put the kettlebells aside and go for a run the next.

If you are used to thinking things over for a long time, try CrossFit

If you are used to thinking and thinking about most of the day, you just need a high-intensity workout. Strenuous physical activity can help you take a break from everyday life and clear your mind.

One option is CrossFit. It will provide you with a clear structure of lessons, excluding reflections, and such heavy loads that you will simply have no time to think.

If you're an introvert, exercise alone

You may feel uncomfortable in group sessions, and that's okay. Home workouts or cardio exercises in the gym are good for introverts: put on headphones and be alone with a treadmill or other exercise machine.

“Quite often introverts are characterized by rational, research-oriented thinking. You want to do the exercises alone, but at the same time you need to know that you are doing everything right and it really works,”says Matthews.

Here you will find many options for home workout with an analysis of the technique and common mistakes.

If you are an extrovert, go to group classes

If you are a social person and want to always be surrounded by people, group lessons are your option.

Maybe you will like the fiery rhythms of zumba or the calmness of restorative yoga, the eclecticism of body ballet or the activity of step aerobics. There are a lot of group activities, and you will surely find your own.

A community of like-minded people and social support will play a key role in adherence to the regime. So you won't miss classes anymore.

I believe that every person has their own sport, and perhaps even more than one. If you haven't found it yet, don't be discouraged: try new workouts and types of fitness, go to different trainers, and you will definitely succeed.