When it comes to balancing a busy schedule, exercise and movement tend to be one of the last things we prioritize. It is important to remember that as women leaders, physical activity can not only improve our body’s health, but our mental and emotional health as well, which in turn, improves our productivity levels. By completing small daily activities, we can achieve higher levels of focus, success, and workplace performance.
To help you find time for healthy hobbies that you will genuinely enjoy, we’ve compiled a list of eight unique fitness routines that target various personalities, goals, and muscle groups. Considering types of fitness that resonate with your specific personality type will help propel these activities to the top of your weekly to-do list.
SolidCore is a Pilates-based fitness activity that takes place in a fun class setting. The lights are usually off for this class and colorful lasers and neon lights take their place. On top of this, SolidCore is usually accompanied by loud music, energetic coaches, and a rowdy class of individuals.
For this workout, we categorize it as an adventurous extrovert fitness hobby. If you love to connect with others, work out to loud music, do demanding cardio and core workouts, and have a familiarity with standard Pilates, then this option is perfect for you.
SolidCore, as the name references, focuses mostly on your core muscles and builds upon your chest and core strength as well as your stamina. Although all are welcome in the standard SolidCore class, we recommend that newcomers either opt for a beginner version or a Pilates class first to get accustomed to the moves and the muscles needed to keep up.
The benefit to SolidCore from a leadership perspective comes in the form of the perseverance and physical interaction necessary to participate and keep going for an entire class. As one of the more difficult fitness options on this list, it serves as a terrific opportunity to push past your limits, connect with others, and let out some of that built up stress and anxiety from work.
The VXN Workout (a play on ‘vixen’) website explains, “The VXN Workout is an empowering dance fitness format for women with certified instructors worldwide, a virtual studio, and physical classes.” This workout routine is one that focuses more on memorizing dances and participating in choreography than reps, timed routines, or using equipment.
For this reason, the VXN workout is a great option for movers & shakers: people who find it hard to sit at a desk all day and don’t like workouts that feel like workouts. VXN also helps to target your entire body with a major focus on your glutes, quads, and calves.
As an industrious woman, VXN is terrific as it helps improve coordination, challenges and improves memory, and serves as a fun and exhilarating workout that feels more like a night out than a fitness class. With virtual options to choose from as well, this workout routine is also great for women that must fit numerous things into their daily schedule and require flexibility to accommodate.
While this may seem like something a whimsical fairy might do to stay active, the truth is that foraging has a myriad of health benefits, both physical and mental. That makes it a terrific option for nature loving introverts who want to find a healthy activity that stimulates both the mind and body outside of a crowded studio.
Going to the woods to forage means hiking throughout the day, bending over, carrying large quantities of mushrooms, herbs, and other treasures, and using your hand-eye coordination to climb over rocks and fallen trees. For this reason, foraging is a full-body workout with an emphasis on strengthening your legs and ankles.
Items you may find while foraging during an average hike:
To try out foraging and learn the basics, we recommend joining a foraging group near you and learning the ropes before going out on your own. However, once you’ve got the hang of it, you’ll be reaping the benefits of solitary nature walks and foraged delicacies in no time.
Virtual reality (VR) is something that has taken the gaming world by storm over the last few years. From the Oculus Quest to PlayStation VR, every tech giant seems to have their own version packed with all kinds of interactive games and virtual worlds. Now, these companies aim to take their gaming headsets and make them even more engaging and useful.
If you are a tech-curious introvert looking for an at-home workout, the new world of VR fitness awaits. With VR fitness games like Beat Saber, VRFit, Pistol Whip, Racket: Nx, and VR boxing, every form of exercise is available in a more interactive and fun virtual environment. This means you can target any muscle group depending on the games you choose to play. On top of this, there are even VR fitness gyms such as Black Box VR that gamify fitness to keep you motivated and push your fitness limits.
No matter what you choose, the beauty of this workout option is its interactive nature and how it aims to improve your coordination and response times. If you choose to join a VR gym, you can also set goals, push your limits, increase your focus and productivity, embrace ‘me’ time, and improve your teamwork skills. Furthermore, you can play VR fitness games with your friends and family to connect and learn to ‘go with the flow’.
Trampoline parks are one of the newest fitness trends to become more mainstream and accessible. A standard trampoline park has a variety of trampoline pads and obstacles available to use freely, making it a very flexible and varied workout option. It can benefit most muscle groups but is best suited for cardio and calf workouts.
This form of engaging exercise is perfect for playful introverts/extroverts as it gets you out of the house, but you can decide how much you want to interact with others during your ‘bounce time.’
Spending quality time with your family and friends is one of the best rewards to this physical activity method as it is something that is low pressure and feels more like fun than a workout routine.
While we’re not directly recommending Spartan races to a novel racer, obstacle course-based events are a great way to stay engaged in your workout, challenge yourself, and have fun even while running and activating your arms, legs, and core.
Because of this, OCRs are ideal for weekend warriors: fitness fanatics looking to push themselves and truly feel accomplished outside of work. However, a word of caution: Beginners should probably prepare to fail most of the obstacles as they are not easy and require practice to do properly.
In addition to Spartan races, the Terrain Race, Tough Mudder, and Warrior Dash are great OCRs guaranteed to challenge you, target all your muscle groups, and leave you dirty, tired, and accomplished at the finish line. Not to mention the fact that obstacle course races are great for our memory, coordination, and perseverance which all benefit women leaders exponentially in the ‘long run’—pun most certainly intended.
Did you know that recent research found that those who ride electric bikes logged more exercise minutes and longer trips than those who ride conventional bikes? This is because that extra assistance encourages our minds to push further and not be worried about burnout before getting to our goal destination.
Ebikes are all the craze in large cities thanks to their convenience and ability to tackle massive hills the average bike enthusiast wouldn’t be pleased to take on. While the battery provides help on steep inclines, you still must pedal to make it go. This is why we recommend this workout specifically for free-spirited adventurers who live in or commute to urban areas with steep streets, enjoy the outdoors, and want to ride a bike more regularly.
Not convinced? You can try out an electric bike for the day by renting through a local company via a phone app (ex. Uber, Veo, Lyft) in most major cities.
Finally, while yoga might not be all that unique, aerial yoga aims to go one step further and challenge women to leave their comfort zone and embrace ‘going with the flow’ instead.
This workout routine is terrific for contemplative seekers looking to find their inner Zen, go with the flow, and take some ‘me’ time during the day. And, although it may not be the most physically demanding workout, the power it takes to hold poses midair makes it great for overall strength training.
Now that you have a list of exciting and beneficial workout options to choose from, it’s time to test them out and find which ones are right for you. In the end, fitness shouldn’t be a daunting task we put off, but rather a way to fulfill our sense of purpose, improve our focus, and—most importantly—have fun. So how about you ditch the dreaded dumbbells and dance to the rhythm of your own drum instead?
