Personal best: Make your workouts fun

Hands up if you've ever had to drag yourself to a workout session. We all know the importance of regular exercise, but sticking to a routine isn't always easy, especially if the activity in question starts to feel like a chore.

Even if we have no problem committing ourselves to working out when we have to, it can be tough to keep at it if we don't enjoy what we're doing.

Personal fitness trainer Li Si Yang from Journey to Fitness agrees that boredom and a lack of motivation have a lot to do with people abandoning their workouts. "From what I've seen, much of this boredom is due to a lack of knowledge people have about exercise and their own bodies," she says. "It's only when we fully understand both that we start to get really creative. Creativity gets us excited and motivates us to be consistent."

Boredom may also set in if we've been working out for a while but aren't getting the results we want. It isn't just our mind that gets bored, but our muscles, too. To see results, our muscles also need to be challenged in interesting ways.

So switching our routine from time to time and making it fun not only ensures that we stick to the programme, it also works different muscle groups so that we get optimal results. When we see that what we're doing is working, we are more likely to enjoy it and stay committed to the plan.

Sam Naqvi, a trainer from Funky Fitness, says that he sees many people lose interest in working out after just two to three weeks of beginning an exercise programme.

"They expect an immediate physical transformation, and when that doesn't happen, they give up," he says.