Sporty Sunday: Beat Boredom with an Audiobook

Like most women, I’ve been hearing, for years, “It’s so important for women to strength train.” But I didn’t do it. Even though I’m fitness conscious. Even though I have low bone density. Even though I have access to all the necessary equipment. I have avoided strength training. The reason: it’s so boring.

For me a weights circuit is the most boring fitness activity ever. For you, time on a stationary bicycle might be impossibly dull. (I’ll admit, that’s really boring, too!) A stretching session might put you to sleep. My solution is an audiobook.


Audiobooks are expensive, so I check them out from the library. The Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County has a wonderful online system that allows me to select, deliver, and hold my chosen audiobooks at the branch most convenient to me. I copy the book to my iPod and approach the weight room with pleasure.

I’ve slung iron while listening to The Lovely Bones, The Night Circus, Dreamsongs, Life As We Knew It, Rules of Engagement, The Help, and A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. (I also listened to a really bad paranormal romance that I won’t name here.) I like working out to my stories so much that I now plug in when I row and run. Sometimes I listen on the bus or while cleaning the house. In all honesty, audiobooks have changed my life. There are few “boring” activities that I can’t enliven with a good story, now. Who knew that books were good for your body, as well as your brain?

If there’s a fitness activity you’ve been avoiding because of the boredom factor, try an audiobook. I’m listening to The Paris Wife, now!

Sporty Sunday is a recurring feature in which I share my fitness routine and offer and solicit advice. While this content might seem a little out of place in an outfit diary, a healthy, strong body is the foundation of my wardrobe. I hope to inspire my readers to be fit as well as stylish!