Remember when you were a kid and schools let you go out and run around during recess. Maybe you got on the monkey bars. Maybe you played dodge the ball. Whatever it was, you were most likely playing, moving around a lot and having a good time. And chances are you were in pretty good shape.

Fast forward to now. You probably sit a lot at a desk or in your car. You want to exercise, but this means going to a gym and doing a bodybuilder’s routine, or spending a lot of time on a treadmill. And you know what, for most of us, these things are not fun.

Now typical gym routines work, if you can keep yourself motivated. I like gym workouts, but I get bored easily, so I have a super high intensity workout that I do at home. But the most fun is going out to play. You may want to get involved in a sport, be it basketball or volleyball. Whatever it is, if it’s a team sport, make sure it’s pretty active. Softball is good, but it’s not very active most of the time. And unless you walk the course like the pros, golf is not the way to go.

Now I prefer individual activities. I’ve ridden a bike since I was five years old, and even ran a bit in high school, but the long training routines got boring. Now I’m traveling like a kid again, exploring new neighborhoods, alternating between a steady pace and occasional sprints to the end of the block. Whatever you do, find something that’s fun for you and match it to the beat. The simplest thing you can do is walk. Walk everywhere you reasonably can. Park further in the lot and walk.

If you make it fun and add a little more activity to your life, you’ll find that getting or staying in shape is so much easier and fun beats boredom every time. Ask some kids.