Fitness

7 Ways to Trick Your Brain Into Enjoying Exercise Again

Published

6 months ago

June 14, 2025

7 Ways to Trick Your Brain Into Enjoying Exercise Again

Getting to the gym can be tough, we know that. You have a full-time job. A busy commute. Family and social commitments. And you’re tired. Fall-asleep-on-the-couch tired. When it comes to keeping up with your day-to-day life — and the latest season of The Last of Us — who has time for a 6 a.m. bootcamp class with Coach Keith?

And yet, sticking to your fitness goals is important. You know that working out makes you happier and healthier, even if it’s sometimes the very last thing you want to do. So how do you creatine a routine that will actually stick? How do you curate a workout regimen that’s both efficient and enjoyable?

I’ve compiled seven time-saving, workout-improving strategies, designed to help you exercise both smarter and harder. Call them hacks if you must. Play around with the tips below and you may find it’s easier than ever to achieve an optimal workout, especially when you’re at your busiest.

1. Start Snacking

Snacking might derail your diet and sink your summer bod, but in exercise terms, micro-workouts come highly recommended. Just ask Steven Dick, director and founder of The Fitness Group, who loves breaking his workouts up into smaller “exercise snacks” throughout the day.

“It really works for me,” he says. “A fair few health providers recommend this approach, in which instead of setting aside a full hour to work out, I’ll do short bursts of exercise, like five to 10 minutes of bodyweight squats, lunges or push-ups.”

You can do these between meetings, while waiting for dinner to cook or whenever you get chance throughout the day — meaning you can get your workout in without needing to block out an entire hour.

2. Learn to Superset

Fitting in an entire workout before or after work can be difficult, especially considering everyone in town seems to have the same idea. Even in the best gyms, equipment comes at a premium during busy times. So consider the superset, in which you’ll perform two complementary moves back to back, saving time and adding in a nice little aerobic hit alongside your weight session.

“A dumbbell squat and a lying leg curl will work both the quads and hamstrings,” says Alasdair Nicoll, personal trainer at The Fitness Group. You can apply it to any body part (i.e., lat pulldowns and lat raises) as a quick and efficient way to work multiple muscle groups in a short span of time, without compromising performance.

In fact, a 2015 study found that short, fast workouts can be just as beneficial as longer, slower workouts. If you’re short on time, fast and efficient — yet still controlled and considered — may be a winner.

3. Go Backwards

When counting out your reps, think “10, 9, 8 and so forth.”

According to Kieran Sheridan, founder of Gulf Physio, “Studies show that downward counting creates a shorter perceived duration.” There’s a word for this sort of thing: “subjective time judgement.” By focusing on smaller numbers as the set gets tougher, you’re alerting your brain that the end is near.

4. Turn Up the Volume

Queuing up music doesn’t just have a massive impact on your enjoyment of exercise, but it can elevate your performance, too.

“Studies have shown that music is actually a vital part of any workout’s success, as it helps to improve performance by positively boosting your mood, which makes you more inclined to push yourself harder,” says Reiss Mogilner, a personal trainer at F45.

Mogilner says tempo plays a big part — he prefers upbeat songs to get him in the mood during his workout, putting him in the right frame of mind to hit personal bests. “Opting for uplifting music and songs that have good memories attached to them is the best way to give you the boost you need,” he says.

Pop and rap are shown to be particularly effective when it comes to both endurance and performance, so it might be time to dust off that Wu-Tang playlist.

5. Game It Out

You know what’s fun? Video games. You know what isn’t? Grinding through another set of EZ bar curls when you’d rather be anywhere but the gym. The key might be to bring some gamification into your workout, with one study finding modest short-term fitness improvements in those who track their metrics via a wearable.

But you needn’t stop there. It’s well proven that training with a buddy increases competitiveness, and the same applies for tech that turns your workout into a competition, be that your Peloton, Strava account or your gym’s connected treadmill.

“Gamification allows you to compete against other gym members,” says Dick of The Fitness Group. “You can be on the treadmill and your avatar can run past the avatar of the person next to you. What a way to unlock that inner motivation and keep you pushing past the final few miles!”

6. Hunt the Workarounds

If a certain movement drains your will to train, don’t white-knuckle your way through it — replace it with an effective alternative. Deadlifts not your thing? Try heavy farmer’s carries or trap bar pulls. Burpees feel like a chore? Sub in a kettlebell complex — a dynamic, full-body sequence that builds strength and cardio without the mental slog. Can’t face another long run? Opt for hill sprints or a zone-2 bike ride with a podcast.

There’s always another way to move. It might feel like you’re shirking exercises at first, but adaptability isn’t laziness — it’s strategy. The more these workouts work for you, the more likely you are to keep showing up.

7. Prioritize Fulfillment

“Find [a workout] that brings you the most enjoyment and focus on that,” says Bryce Hastings, head of research at gym chain Les Mills. “Whether it’s running, strength training or yoga, finding fulfillment in the activity makes the experience itself a stress reliever, turning exercise into a break from life’s demands.”

Still not feeling it? Instead of focusing on long-term goals, consider the immediate high you get from a well-performed rep. “Society promotes exercise and fitness by hooking into short-term motivation,” says Michelle Segar, director of the University of Michigan’s Sport, Health and Activity Research and Policy Center. Focusing on the immediate moment instead of vague future milestones is a great way to celebrate your progress.

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Fitness

Applying the Stoic Cardinal Virtues for Both Optimal Performance and Longevity

Published

5 hours ago

December 17, 2025

Press Room

Applying the Stoic Cardinal Virtues for Both Optimal Performance and Longevity

Making healthy, sustainable choices for our health and fitness can often feel like a secondary goal, always on the back burner. The philosophy of Stoicism, originating in Greece and refined in Rome, offers a timeless framework for living well. Its four cardinal virtues, taught by philosophers such as Plato, are wisdom, courage, justice and temperance. These virtues can help you navigate health, wellness and fitness decisions with clarity and purpose by helping you:

Make healthier choices (moderation in food/drink; exercise)
Reduce stress through focusing on what’s controllable
Push outside your comfort zone to grow
Act responsibly for our community
Find peace by accepting mortality

Together, these lead to a more virtuous, less anxious, and purposeful life, which inherently supports well-being and longer, better living.

Wisdom (Understanding/Learning)

Wisdom starts with learning, but it also requires understanding what is truly within your control: your judgments, actions and responses. Working out for an hour a day is the easy part of the fitness goal. The other waking hours of making healthy choices are the more challenging parts of the goal. In health and fitness, this means focusing on your habits and mindset rather than worrying about uncontrollable outcomes such as genetics or trendy social media posts from fitness influencers selling supplements. In a nutshell, use wisdom in these three ways to improve health, fitness and wellness:

Control what you can control. Do this especially when faced with setbacks, such as a missed workout or a slip in diet. Redirect your energy toward what you can do next, not what you cannot change.
Seek facts, not opinions. Approach nutrition, exercise plans and wellness advice with an objective mind that is based on science. Avoid emotional reactions and look for evidence-based information.
Make sound choices. Use reason to evaluate what’s beneficial or harmful for your training and nutrition, avoiding extreme diets or fad workout routines.

Courage (to Push Outside Your Comfort Zone)

Courage is not just about bravery. Courage is more about enduring discomfort and doing the right thing, especially when it’s hard. In your fitness journey, this means pushing through challenges and facing fears, such as trying a new activity or simply walking into a gym for the first time. The courage to challenge yourself with activities you are new to or not good at doing will help you become a well-rounded exerciser with performance and longevity goals. Try these three ways to add courage that enables you to make better decisions:

Accept the discomfort that comes with growth, whether it’s physical strain in exercise or emotional struggle in changing habits.
Remain focused on your goals and health commitments. Prioritize sleep, rest or recovery, and along with not skipping training days, even when external pressures tempt you otherwise.
Act objectively and see your circumstances as they are, not how you wish them to be, and respond realistically to challenges. Assess your progress regularly.

Justice (Fairness and Kindness)

Justice is about treating others and yourself with fairness, kindness and respect. In fitness, much is passed down from the older generation to the younger. Be that person who shares what you know with the next generation. This means supporting a positive training environment, whether at the gym, in group classes or among friends and family.

Treat others well by showing encouragement to people at every stage of their health journey, regardless of ability or background. This is powerful in people’s lives and makes you feel good, too.
Serve others by sharing knowledge, motivating workout partners, family members, and contributing to a supportive culture of activity to help others build the habit of fitness. Justice is also holding each other accountable.
Teach and communicate about your experiences, failures, and successes with humility. Having others learn from your mistakes and experiences is a smart way to communicate with the younger generation and beginners to fitness.

Temperance (Moderation and Discipline)

Temperance is discipline. None of these works can be done without discipline. We must learn to manage desires, impulses and habits to avoid excess in anything. In fitness and wellness, this virtue is vital for long-term success and well being. Training needs to be balanced with recovery, and this takes discipline to make some days easier than others. Too much of any good thing becomes a bad thing.

Avoid too much food, social media, supplements or even exercise. Balance is key to optimal performance, longevity and long-term goal achievement.
Manage impulsive responses to stress, frustration or temptation, choosing actions that keep you on track with your values and goals.
Practice discipline by doing things that are good for you, even when you do not want to. Working out daily is often the easy part. The rest of the day, when food choices are tempting us to cheat on our diet, is the hardest for most people.

For many who find comfort in making the easy options or cheating on diets, you can also experience the same comfort (dopamine hit) by not doing it and choosing the healthier choice. These four virtues work together to flip the switch on how your body responds to new disciplined actions. For example, justice requires wisdom to discern the right action. Then, it takes courage to act on those insights and push yourself outside the comfort zone. Finally, deciding to be disciplined and hold firm is the temperance that avoids selfishness or excess. In your health journey, applying all four virtues helps you stay resilient, make thoughtful choices, and build a sense of purpose and connection.

You can also use the Military.com Fitness Section to aid your health, wellness, and fitness journey. There are thousands of articles and videos full of practical tools for building resilience, mitigating stress and disciplined living for optimal performance and longevity. By focusing on what you can control, acting with courage and kindness to others, and practicing self-discipline, you create a foundation for lasting health and wellness, not just for yourself, but for the wider community as well.

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Fitness

This is the best budget-friendly fitness tracker we have tested this year

Published

17 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

This is the best budget-friendly fitness tracker we have tested this year

Why you can trust Live Science

Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best ones for you. Find out more about how we test.

If you’re looking to get back into exercising, or are just starting out, the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 may be the best fitness tracker for you. This fitness tracker does a great job of tracking your workouts and summarizing the data in an easy-to-understand format, without overcomplicating anything. The interface is user-friendly, and even those who aren’t into tech should be able to navigate around this smartwatch in no time at all.

While this is a budget fitness tracker, that doesn’t mean it’s lacking in features. You can do more than just track your workouts with this smart band: you can also track your sleep, stress levels, heart rate and so much more. There’s also no shortage of sports modes — with 150+ to choose from, you’re bound to find the workout you want on this watch.

While the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 has a few features the Xiaomi Smart Band 9 doesn’t, such as underwater real-time heart rate monitoring, running courses and a larger screen, there are also plenty of similarities between the two. Both offer three weeks of battery life, and neither has its own built-in GPS, for a start. But how does the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 perform compared to its predecessor, which we placed in our best budget fitness trackers guide?

Xiaomi Smart Band 10 fitness tracker review

Xiaomi Smart Band 10 fitness tracker: Design

The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 has bezels that are only 2 mm. (Image credit: Kat Bayly)

Strap is difficult to put on alone
Charger is USB-A – we’d prefer USB-C
Comfortable to wear, day and night

The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 is a small yet surprisingly well designed fitness tracker. Unlike other smartwatches, with huge watch faces that protrude from your wrist, the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 is nice and sleek. With a face that measures only 1.72 inches (44 millimeters) diagonally, ultra-thin bezels of just 0.07 inches (2 mm) and a weight of 0.56 ounces (15.95 grams), this fitness tracker is barely noticeable when it’s being worn.

The screen is an AMOLED display and performs well in direct sunlight — not once did we struggle to see the details on the screen in any light. But while the slender screen is a welcome relief from bulkier fitness trackers, we did find the strap rather annoying to put on alone.

Our sample was the Midnight Rose variation and came with a light pink TPU strap, where you need to press the button into the strap. However, due to the strap’s flexibility, it’s hard to tighten the strap and push the button in without losing tightness, and we found it easier to have someone help us. After a while, we managed it alone, but this was frustrating at first.

Saying that, you can change the strap if you find this irritating. There’s a quick-release button on the back, which you can press with a fingernail and release the strap with no fuss. There are many alternative options, including leather, metal and silk knitted straps, as well as the option to turn it into a pendant.

We liked how many watch faces there are for you to download for free on the Mi Fitness App, and there are even more if you are happy to pay a little. This means you can personalize your watch and change things up if, like us, you get bored with the same image as your watch background.

One of the watch face choices on the Xiaomi Smart Band 10, showing a floral design in dark colors.

The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 is highly customizable, with many watch faces to choose from. (Image credit: Kat Bayly)

Specifications

Display: 1.72 in (4.4 cm), AMOLED

Always on: Yes

Dimensions (in): 1.83 x 0.89 x 0.43

Dimensions (mm): 46.57 x 22.54 x 10.95

Weight: 0.56 oz (15.95 g)

Colors: Midnight Black, Glacier Silver, Mystic Rose

Finish: Aluminum

GPS: No (relies on smartphone GPS)

Compass: Yes

Altimeter: No

Water resistance: 5ATM (up to a depth of 50 meters)

NFC Payments: No

Compatibility: Android 8.0 or iOS 14.0 and above

As we’ve already mentioned, the watch face is slender and unobtrusive. There are also no buttons that can be accidentally pressed during mid-workout, or that will interfere if you have your wrist bent in a Pilates, yoga or exercise class, for example. With other fitness trackers we have sometimes found the buttons an irritation during classes, or they have caught on long-sleeve tops. You don’t have this issue with the Xiaomi Smart Band 10, so you can trust your data will be not be ruined by accidental presses.

Apart from our slight irritation with the strap at the start, the only other annoying thing about the design of this watch is that the charger is a standard USB-A connector rather than USB-C. For some, this might not be an issue, but we had to hunt around the house to find a charging plug with a USB port — most other items in our home require USB-C, so receiving a new fitness tracker with what we’d call an outdated port was surprising. This meant we couldn’t easily charge it while at our laptop, for example, which would have been nice.

This is only a minor issue, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re thinking of buying one.

A close-up of the strap design of the Xiaomi Smart Band 10, showing a light pink strap.

Sadly, we found the strap difficult to secure. (Image credit: Kat Bayly)

Xiaomi Smart Band 10 fitness tracker: Performance

A close-up of the light pink strap loop of the Xiaomi Smart Band 10.

The loop of the strap started to show signs of discoloration quite early on during testing. (Image credit: Kat Bayly)

Accurately recorded most health stats
Incredible battery life for a budget tracker
Location tracking performed poorly

Let’s start with some of the basic requirements of a comfortable and reliable fitness tracker. The screen was durable and didn’t mark during a testing period in which we wore it every day for two weeks (plus many other days after this, on and off, mainly because we liked it). There is not a single scratch or mark to be found — impressive for a fitness tracker that only costs a little over $45.

However, the light colored pink TPU strap did start to look a bit dirty, mainly around the loop where the strap slides together. This isn’t very noticeable but there’s a slight color change towards a gray. But, seeing as you can personalize this watch with other straps, this isn’t a huge problem.

Our main negative was the comfort of this watch — we loved the slender screen, but you need to have this watch done up really tight to get it to stay in place. Tightness also aids the accuracy of the stats, but it felt too tight to be comfortable sometimes. When we chose to wear it on the looser notch, this inevitably meant the tracker would slide down our wrist during exercise, sacrificing the accuracy of the data. Of course, it could just be that our wrists were of a size in-between the available notches, and perhaps a different strap would have worked better.

But let’s look at the positives of this amazing budget fitness tracker. The battery life is utterly astounding. We only needed to charge it once in three weeks. That’s two weeks of testing the watch every day and night — we did one form of exercise every day, sometimes two, plus we wore it to bed every night — and then a last week when it was on and off our wrist on an “as and when” basis. That’s incredible battery life and something that astounded us, given this watch’s low price.

A screenshot of the sleep data from the Xiaomi Smart Band 10, taken from the Mi Fitness App.

(Image credit: Kat Bayly)

Another positive aspect of this watch’s performance is related to the sleep tracking. We found it satisfyingly accurate in capturing when we fell asleep and when we woke up, plus any times we were disturbed during the night. The Mi Fitness app provides detailed information, capturing your sleep and wake times, quality of sleep, length of sleep, stages of sleep you experienced and for how long, and your average heart rate. Plus, there is the sleep improvement plan you can do to help improve the quality of your sleep.

However, where the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 fell a bit short was on its location tracking. While we didn’t need to know the location of the walks we took with our dog, for example, we noticed the location tracking struggled as soon as we were in the countryside. And when we say countryside, we mean not the middle of nowhere but on the edge of a large town.

Seeing as the Smart Band 10 doesn’t have its own GPS and relies on your smartphone’s GPS, you will not be able to track your runs or walks if you lose phone signal. However, when walking around our local high street or neighbourhood, the smartwatch could locate us accurately.

Aside from this, we thought the Smart Band 10 did a good job of capturing our health stats, including BPM (when stationary and when exercising), max BPM when exercising and the start and end times of our workouts. We had no way of knowing if the calories burned were accurate, but when using the watch during walks, the step counts appeared to be accurate for the length of the walks we did, as did the average pace.

The health stats screen on the Xiaomi Smart Band 10, as worn by our reviewer.

We found the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 to be pretty accurate in capturing our health data. (Image credit: Kat Bayly)

Xiaomi Smart Band 10 fitness tracker: Functionality

The main menu of the Xiaomi Smart Band 10.

The interface is user-friendly and you will have found your way around the watch in minutes. (Image credit: Kat Bayly)

Easy-to-use interface
5ATM water resistance
150+ sports modes for every form of exercise

There are so many functions to this fitness tracker that we’re sure it will take you a while to get your head around everything it has to offer. Some functions you will find useful and come back to often, and some you may use once or twice and then forget about.

There is a wealth of data you can capture on this fitness tracker, but the interface itself is easy-to-use, and you’ll be navigating around the watch within minutes. The only thing we found tricky at first was locating where the 150+ sports modes were — some are placed in obvious categories whereas others were hidden.

One clever thing this watch does, though, is that once you’ve located your training or sports mode a few times, it pops it into the menu you first see when clicking on the ‘workout’ tile on the main menu. So, realistically, you only have to go rooting around once or twice — after that, your most-used workouts are just a press away.

The Smart Band 10 has 5ATM water resistance, making it suitable for swimming. Plus, there is now real-time underwater heart rate monitoring, something the Smart Band 9 does not have.

The sports mode options on the Xiaomi Smart Band 10.

Locating your chosen workout can be tricky to start, with but these items then move to your main workout menu. (Image credit: Kat Bayly)

While there are many things this watch can do, you can also monitor your stress levels, your oxygen levels and heart rate whenever you feel like it. Not only this, but with every workout you do, the watch can calculate your vitality score and training state, offering personalized recovery times in between your workouts. This will be useful if you are trying to return to fitness and an exercise routine, as well as for those training for a specific purpose, so you don’t end up overdoing it.

For those looking for some guidance on runs, this watch has various running courses you can follow, from basic to advanced. These are easy to locate from the main menu, and once you’ve selected the one you would like to do, the watch gives you guidance on how long to run/walk for, helping you to slowly build your stamina. This is great for those looking to start running, allowing them to pace themselves to avoid overexertion.

One thing this watch lacks is the ability to detect when a workout has ended. This meant that a few times, our data was skewed as we forgot to stop our workout at the end of a class. Sometimes we ended up with data covering the walk back to the car, for example. While this isn’t a huge problem — and understandable for a budget fitness tracker— it’s important to remember to stop the watch whenever you finish working out.

The problem was that we often forgot we had it on in the first place, due to how lightweight it is!

The running course menu on the Xiaomi Smart Band 10.

The Xiaomi Smart Band 10 has various running courses you can do, from basic to advanced. (Image credit: Kat Bayly)

Should you buy the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 fitness tracker?

Buy it if:

✅ You want long battery life: Still running at 17% battery after three weeks of use, the Xiaomi has outstanding battery life.

✅ You want an uncomplicated interface: You will be able to navigate around this fitness tracker in minutes.

Don’t buy it if:

❌ Location tracking is a priority: The location tracking on the Xiaomi Smart Band 10 is very basic, and relies on your smartphone.

❌ You prefer a standard watch design: We loved the sleek design of this fitness tracker but others may prefer a round or larger watch face design.

We loved this budget fitness tracker, which would suit those starting out on their fitness journey, or those who aren’t into tech and want to keep things simple. The interface is easy to navigate, the data and stats are digestible and we could not fault the battery life, which reduced any faff around having to remember to charge it regularly. The watch did a good job of capturing our health data after workouts, and we particularly liked the sleep data and sleep improvement plan. For beginners, the running courses and guidance are a fantastic way of building stamina.

There were a few things we may have changed if we were designing it, such as the strap and charging cable, but these are things others may not have an issue with. Overall this fitness tracker performed well, especially for the price.

If this product isn’t for you

If you want a budget fitness tracker with a larger, squarer screen, the Amazfit Active may suit. Offering a 1.75 inch (4.4 cm) screen, the same water resistance of 5ATM, built-in GPS and 27 days of battery, this is a strong rival to the Xiaomi Smart Band 10.

If a larger screen is a priority for you, the Redmi Watch 5 offers a 2.07 inch (5.3 cm) colorful display.

If you’re a runner, the Garmin Forerunner 165 will provide everything you need to sufficiently track your runs. Plus, being part of the Garmin family means you’ll be getting quality without breaking the bank.

Alternatively, if you have the money to spend, the Garmin Vivoactive 6 may be a good option: we rated it the best for beginners in our best fitness trackers guide, as it offers guided walking workouts.

Fitness

Fitness coach says ‘just cardio isn’t enough’; shares 1 exercise women over 35 must do to stay strong and healthy

Published

1 day ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

As we age, our bodies naturally start losing muscle mass and bone density, which can affect strength, metabolism, and overall health. Many women over 35 notice changes in energy levels, weight distribution, and endurance, making it essential to adopt exercises that not only tone but also strengthen the body.

Fitness coach urges women over 35 to incorporate strength training. (Freepik)

Tara LaFerrara, fitness coach and personal trainer, shares in her September 22 Instagram post why women over 35 should start incorporating strength training into their routines and how it can transform both body and health. (Also read: Doctor with 25 years experience warns ‘ghee-loaded meals, sugary chai’ harm South Asians’ health; shares 6 key insights )

Why does muscle loss matter after 35

If you are a woman over 35 and not doing any sort of strength training, Tara warns you’re in for a rude awakening. “I’m talking the moment that your body starts to slow down, get weaker, and feel like you hurt more,” she shares.

“It is not just ageing, it is muscle loss, and it starts way earlier than you think. After the age of 35, we start losing muscle every single year. And that muscle is so important because it is your metabolism, your bone density, your energy, and just the ability to bounce back when life throws things at you,” says Tara.

Can cardio and pilates alone keep you strong

She emphasises that cardio and Pilates alone aren’t enough. “You need to lift, squat, push, pull, and press. It’s not about getting bulky and muscular, it’s about getting strong enough to handle ageing on your own terms.”

Her advice is simple: “So if you’re tired of feeling like your body is working against you, start working with it. Pick up some weights. Your future self will thank you.”

Strength training after 35 isn’t just about aesthetics; it’s about maintaining health, mobility, and resilience. As Tara highlights, incorporating resistance exercises into your routine is one of the best ways to support your body through the natural changes that come with age.

Note to readers: This article is for informational purposes only and not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.

This report is based on user-generated content from social media. HT.com has not independently verified the claims and does not endorse them.