The sports that even the biggest sports haters will enjoy

I wouldn't call myself a sports hater, but whether I'm a fan... Ehm, no. The ‘happy’ feeling I get from exercising is when it's over, because then I'm proud of myself. I'm also very sure that if I had the gift of being able to eat and drink whatever I wanted without gaining weight, I would never see the inside of a gym. I had that gift until I was 18 (my mother always warned me about it) and within a year, I gained quite a few kilos. So, exercising it is. Volleyball, tennis, soccer, even pole dancing has passed by and now I'm an avid OneFitter. But do I really go there with pleasure? Never.

My motto in life is ‘don't think in problems but in solutions’ and that applies to exercising as well. Because yes, we all want to be, become, and/or stay fit, so even if you're the biggest sports hater ever, you'll still have to put in some effort. But I have the solutions for you. I hope. From my own experience, because I don't really like exercising. So I've started looking for solutions. Yes, these sports make exercising fun again. I promise.

Monkey bars

Was already my favorite game during gym class and about ten (okay, okay, twenty) years later, I still find it fun. You can do this all over the Netherlands at ApenkooiGym, and it's just like you're running around in 7th grade again. You also become bloodthirsty about it. Love it. I do it myself in Amsterdam, but they are now also in the following cities: Breda, Groningen, Haarlem, Rotterdam, Utrecht, and The Hague.

Dancing

Yes, I've tried this too, and no, I'm anything but a dancer. Well, I really enjoy doing it and I have a sense of rhythm, but beyond the Bubbels, Cooldown, and occasionally a hipper club or festival, my dance career never went further. But such a dance class is really fun. Side note: do it with someone and have a bit of self-deprecation. And of course, take a beginner's class. But combining cardio with a lot of laughter and fun music: there are worse things. Who knows, you might learn a fun routine that you can use in your free time. Another side note: pole dancing is also very fun, but my goodness, it's heavy. Not for beginners.

Skating

Walking is totally 2020, but as far as I'm concerned, rollerblading is too. The side note of not doing it alone applies here as well, because together is just much more fun. So instead of grabbing that terrace on Saturday or Sunday: go rollerblading for an hour with two. It's good for you and you can catch up, so it's super cozy. With a sport like running, I can never really talk (because exhausted and panting), then rollerblading is a lot more relaxing.

Swimming

Swimming is fun, but what really gets you fit is lap swimming and that's just not that fun. So a bit of combining the bad with the good: first swim a few laps, then relax in the sauna or under the tanning bed. You do need to find out which pool offers this, of course, but it makes lap swimming a lot more pleasant, knowing that a lovely sauna is waiting for you. If you intensely hate lap swimming, then try pole dancing underwater once.

Climbing/bouldering

I don't know why, but I find bouldering such an uncharming word that I've never really thought about whether I would like it. I do find climbing fun, but this daredevil only goes up to about two meters high (thanks to my fear of heights). It turns out that bouldering is actually a very good option. Learned something new. With bouldering, you climb shorter distances and you're not tied to a safety rope (which is exciting). Yes, and it's really good for your figure. I can imagine it also gives an adrenaline kick and that's healthy for you too. Win-win. Who's coming bouldering?