Have trouble sticking to a regular workout routine? Chances are you haven’t found your calling yet. Turns out, exercise isn’t so difference from food or fashion: What works for someone else may not be the right fit for you.

Finding the right type of exercise that best suits you, your personality, interests, needs and goals can be the key to getting the habit to stick. In fact, a study published in the British Journal of Health Psychology found that people were more likely to workout if they considered it fun.

To discover the right type of exercise for you, consider the following guide. Find the statement that reflects your personality, and you’ll get a potentially perfect new workout.

1. You say: “Exercise is boring.”
Try: Zumba. It’s impossible to zone out during this aerobic dance class: You have to pay close attention to the steps to follow along. The combined high energy of the music and group will get you moving and grooving -- not to mention wiping your brow! (So bring a few tissues with you.) You’ll be done with your workout before you know it. Boredom fixed!

2. You say: “I love a good competition.”
Try: CrossFit. These classes involve a variety of high-intensity exercises like running, sprinting, throwing, jumping, squatting and pushing-and-pulling type of movements. The goal is to complete a certain number of reps of each exercise within a given amount of time and in many classes, participants compete against one another.

Got a certain sport you love? Then consider joining an adult sports league. If you like running or biking, consider training for a race.

3. You say: “Workouts are my time to decompress.”
Try: Yoga. Science backs up what yogis have known for centuries: This mind-body practice promotes relaxation. According to researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles, doing less than 15 minutes of yoga a day can significantly lower stress markers in the body.

But does chanting om make you feel more antsy than calm? If you like to blow off steam in a more aggressive way, kickboxing will give you that outlet, as well as a great cardio and sculpting workout.

4. You say: “I want to get my blood -- and adrenaline -- pumping!”
Try: A challenging class, like Spinning, boot camp or CrossFit. These high-intensity classes encourage you to press your limits. Their fast pace will also appeal to your adventure-seeking side.

5. You say: “Socializing while exercising? That’s a win-win!”
Try: An adult sports league or training team. You can make new friends while getting in great shape by playing a sport or preparing for a race or other athletic event. Or simply recruit some friends to form a running club or head to the gym together. You’ll not only make the workout more enjoyable, but you’ll also hold each other accountable.

6. You say: “I don’t have time for exercise -- what I need is some ‘me time.’”
Try: Swimming. Plan to get your “me time” at the gym. Underwater is probably the most peaceful place to exercise -- and talk about a total body workout too! If you haven’t been swimming in a while you may be surprised by how wiped you feel after your first (or seventh!) time back in the pool. But it gets easier -- and it’s a sure way to score a total body cardio workout and some much needed peace of mind.

Photo by Meghan Holmes on Unsplash

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Time is a precious resource, and sometimes there isn’t much of it left in the day for working out. That’s why I’m a big fan of circuit training cardio workout routines. The go-go-go approach involves minimal rest between exercises, allowing you to pack in as much calorie-burning, muscle-toning work as possible in a short amount of time.

Below is a 20-minute cardio workout routine I created for women that packs a variety of total-body strength training moves and cardio intervals to get your heart rate up and keep your calorie burn high as you tone up from head to toe. A few things you’ll need:

· A mat

· A chair

· One set of medium-weight dumbbells (5 to 8 pounds)

· A medium-weight medicine ball or single dumbbell (5 to 8 pounds)

· One heavier set of dumbbells (8 to 10 pounds)

· A watch (so you can keep an eye on the time)

Warm-Up
Take the first two minutes of the workout to warm up:

· Minute 1: Jog in place, gradually increasing your pace

· Minute 2: Do jumping jacks

The Circuit
As soon as you’re warmed up, get started with the first exercise. Do each exercise for 45 seconds, taking just 10 seconds to transition from one exercise to the next.

Complete this total-body cardio workout circuit twice and you’re done!

Walking Lunges: Stand with feet hip-width apart, hands on your hips. Take a step forward with your right leg, lowering down into a lunge until your right knee is bent at about 90 degrees. Keep your knee in line with your ankle. Push up, bringing your left leg forward as you stand up and step forward into a lunge with your left leg. Continue stepping forward and lunging, alternating legs.

 

Push Ups: Place your hands directly under your shoulders. Keep your back flat and your core muscles tight. Bend your elbows and lower down until your chest is a few inches from the floor and push back up.

 

Mountain Climbers: Hold a plank position with your hands directly under your shoulders, keeping your body in a straight line from head to toe. With your core muscles tight and your back flat, bend your right knee, pulling it in towards your chest. Extend it back out, lower your foot to the floor and switch legs, pulling your left knee toward your chest. Keep going, switching legs as quickly as possible while maintaining good form and keeping your back flat.

 

Dead Lifts: Stand with your feet hip-width apart with a slight bend in your knees, holding your heavier set of dumbbells in front of your thighs. Bend forward from the hips, keeping the weights in front of your legs as you lower your torso so it's almost parallel with the floor and then lift back up.

 

Tricep Dips: Sit on the edge of a chair with your hands by your sides, palms facing down, holding the edge of the chair. Keeping your arms straight, shift your weight forward scooting your hips and butt off the seat so they are just in front of it. Bending at your elbows, lower down trying to get a 90-degree bend and then push back up.

 

Jump Rope: You don’t even need a real rope -- just mimic the motion with your arms. Jump fast and land softly each time, trying to get that heart rate as high as you can.

 

Lunge Hold With Shoulder Press: Holding a set of medium dumbbells in your hands, assume a wide, split-stance with your right leg forward, left leg back. Lower down into a lunge, keeping your front knee over your ankle. Holding the lunge position, bring your hands to just above your shoulders, palms facing forward. Raise the dumbbells straight up overhead and lower back down to just above your shoulder.

 

Hay Bailers: Holding a medium-weight medicine ball or dumbbell (5 to 10 pounds), bring the ball (or weight) down beside your right hip without rotating your torso. Keeping your chest and hips facing forward, engage your core muscles as you raise the ball up and across your body to above your left shoulder. Hold for a couple seconds, and then lower it back down by your right hip. Your second time through the circuit, switch sides, lifting the weight from your left hip to above your right shoulder.

 

 

Jump Squats: Sink down into a squat, and push off into a jump. Land softly and push your hips back as you return to the squat, keeping your core muscles engaged.

 

 

Weighted Sit Ups: Lie down on your mat with your knees bent, feet flat on the floor. Keeping your abs tight and your back flat against the mat, extend your arms straight out in front of your chest, holding a single dumbbell or medicine ball (5 to 8 pounds) in both hands. Squeeze your abs as you sit all the way up and as you lower back down to the mat with control, keeping the weight lifted straight up toward the ceiling the whole time.

 

If you push through these exercises and make it a routine, you’ll definitely feel the results of this weights-and-cardio workout!

Photo by Clem Onojeghuo on Unsplash

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