Exercise is an incredibly important and worthwhile activity. The benefits far outweigh the negatives, and physical fitness can lead to long life and increased physical performance. Workouts are attainable without an excruciating amount of effort. There are plenty of ways to be fit and healthy without jumping on a treadmill or lifting weights on a daily basis. This list is to assist the reader discover new and fun workouts for reaching fitness goals and achieving maximum gains.

1. Rock Climbing

One of my personal favorites - rock climbing is a sport nearly everybody can participate in. The degrees of difficulty for various routes and climbing grades provide a constant challenge and increase and improve coordination, discipline, and power. There are different forms of climbing such as bouldering and top roping. Bouldering is centered around making dynamic moves such as jumping and swinging on routes that can go vertically, horizontally, diagonally, and around corners and curves (whilst being upside-down) all without the use of a harness and rope. Bouldering uses the V scale in the United States, which starts at zero and the difficulty increases as the numbers increase. Top roping utilizes a rope and a belay device to scale walls, cliffs, or crags in a mostly vertical orientation.with the comfort and security of a harness assisting in the avoidance of falling. Climbing in any form is good for strengthening the core, back, legs, and arm muscles while improving the tendons in the fingers and wrists.

2. Parkour/Freerunning

If running is not the usual cup of tea, throw in some flips, defying of gravity, or obstacle clearance. Parkour and freerunning ultimately have different definitions. Parkour takes obstacles within a running route with the goal to clear them as quickly as possible. Freerunning takes the same route and attempts to make it as stylish as possible by throwing in flips, somersaults, jumps as well as the obstacle dodging of parkour. Both are on the more dangerous side of a regular run in the park, but proper practice and utilization could help the runner escape an angry dog or bear or some other undesirable critter encountered on a run.

3. Skating

An oldie, but goodie, skating is extremely good cardio. Unfortunately, a decline in skate centers has led to a reduced popularity of this fun and rewarding sport. Roller blading and skating fulfill the "gotta go fast" need while helping the skater get from point A to point B. Ice skating and figure skating have a graceful and flowing motion all the while improving balance and strengthening leg and gluteus muscles. Roller derbies, which take roller blading and skating to an aggressive level, are exceptional fun for experienced skaters who just want to play bowling with other skaters.

4. BodyPump

A friend of mine is an instructor for this challenging and rewarding fitness class. With the targeting of virtually every major muscle group, BodyPump, when paired with an already established cardio routine maximizes muscle tone and definition while increasing strength and getting that beach body whipped into shape. It begins with a warm-up routine which gets the heart beating a little faster and progresses through various sets with an epic playlist that isolates a certain muscle group for each song. Arms, abs, back, and legs are worked out in this challenging, yet fun workout program and the results definitely happen if practice is maintained.

Working out is an incredibly rewarding activity. These activities are just the tip of the iceberg for awesome and fun exercises that lead to a lifetime of good health and even better habits. No workout should be boring. If it is boring, why do it?