Does your type A personality demand you do ten things at once?

Does boredom set in sooner rather than later?

Can I trust you with my secret for never getting bored with your workout routine, even when it's as often as 5 days a week?

I spent years trying different healthy workouts beginning with aerobics.

In college, the girls in my sorority would spend countless hours jumping, squeezing and feeling the "burn" to Jane Fonda videos. We had a standard date, early in the morning where we would move the coffee table, make some room and sweat it out.

This was followed, post-college, by aerobics classes at the gym where I wore cute little leotards and colored tights. I could admire myself in the mirrored wall while following the movements of an enthusiastic instructor. And if I was lucky I'd meet a nice guy in the weight lifting area and, well, that's another topic.

I married and my first son came into the world by an emergency C-section which was much more scary and painful than I could have imagined. When my Dr. gave me the okay, I found myself shoving the coffee table in the corner and dragging my step from under the couch. The VCR image showed me exactly how to climb my way back into my pre-baby outfits (shrugging off the extra 7 pounds).

Son number two arrived by C-section yet again and spurred my purchase of the latest exercise gadget, a slide. This equipment came with nylon covers for your sneakers so you could slide side-to-side on its slippery surface. Once again, the trusty video tape went into the VCR and you followed along and slid your way to fitness. One more year went by before I could squeeze into my before-the-baby clothes (with another 4 pounds added).

Around that time Oprah started running marathons. I figured if she could do it, so could I. What came next was a daily ritual of rising before my husband had to leave for work, donning my running clothes and heading out each morning for a 2 1/2 mile run. By 6:30 AM my husband was off to work and I was home with two boys, proud in knowing I'd already accomplished my daily fitness routine.

Son number three, by a planned, completely painless and uneventful C-section, had me adding cycling to my morning workout. Limitless variety! I toggled between biking and running every morning along familiar routes that never took me too far from home. And for the poor weather day, my library of video tapes was still in the television cabinet.

Boy was this living!

So let's see, one more year to get into those old clothes, but with zero pounds extra. Three years later, my morning healthy workout was a still a habit and completely boring. The running and cycling routes were too familiar. The video tapes were worn and had seen better days. The entire routine was predictable and required less and less effort on my part to accomplish.

Do you see yourself in this workout nightmare?

Now you have sufficient background to understand my answer to busting the boredom. It's a genuine proven system that works for all ages. I found Martial Arts.

Any martial arts program provides a thorough healthy workout in every way imaginable. Your personal level of fitness will increase dramatically with an added benefit. Martial arts training exercises your brain at the same time. And I don't mean the learning curve we all suffer when we start anything new.

Just like the very popular ballroom dancing, martial arts training requires learning a series of steps put together in an exact order. These are called forms. You begin my learning the basic techniques to ground your base. The mind gets plenty of exercise as you work to remember the next movement of your choreography all while propelling yourself to better fitness levels.

One of the best benefits to martial arts training is that it can be done as a family. It's a great way to spend time with your children in a healthy, fun activity. You'll never get bored because the workout changes every time you go to class. Increased flexibility, strength and confidence are a small sample of the benefits package.

Though aerobics classes are fine and have their place, the boredom factor is overwhelming over time because the routine never changes. In martial arts, just when you think you've mastered something, a new technique comes along and you start all over again. Meanwhile, you wear a belt that shows how hard you have been working and how far you've come in the process.

So if you're a goal oriented, type A, easily bored health nut like me, there's nothing like martial arts.

Taekwondo-Network
When you're ready to break free, check out martial artist Kalynn Amadio's great website.