Staying fit and healthy is tough, we all know that. We’ve likely all been at the gym and just found the motivation lacking, and not even imagining ourselves with the body of the buff guy at the next bench can bring us the energy needed to do another set of bicep curls or another mile on the treadmill. Perhaps you need something new to excite you and get up off the couch. Hell, even if you are that buff guy at the next bench simply looking for a new challenge, these might just be for you.

Rock Climbing

Given the logistics involved with rock climbing, the gym down the road isn’t going to suddenly start offering the service. However, these days it isn’t entirely uncommon to find rock climbing walls at some of the bigger gym franchises and specialized rock climbing venues are becoming more common. Apart from the obvious health benefits of any physical exertion, rock climbing works so many more muscles than you could possible imagine and has the capacity to turn bodies into muscle-producing factories. And not just your biceps, legs and abdominals — but your mind too. It takes more smarts to climb than it does to do decline crunches. And the good thing is that if your city doesn’t have any man-made locations for it, there’s a whole wide world out there to take advantage of if you’re safe.

Parkour

This isn’t just something you see in YouTube videos from France anymore, but rather a growing fitness craze that is also known as ‘free running’. This activity isn’t for everybody, however, given its high risk factor. I mean, it can literally mean doing things your body by all rights shouldn’t be able to do unless you’re already super-fit. Confidence is a must-have when dealing with parkour and, as funny as Broad City can make it look, you’re not going to suddenly be James Bond in Casino Royale. The upside is that if you discover you’re a natural you’ll be working out muscles you didn’t even know you had while improving your chance of staying alive once the zombie apocalypse happens.

Trapeze and Trampoline

There’s a sense of freedom that comes from hanging on a trapeze swing or bouncing in the air from a trampoline that you can never get from the Stairmaster Machine or tricep extensions. They’re related to gymnastics, and you’ve seen those gymnast bodies, right? There are various forms that each take and you can choose whichever feels the most comfortable to you before perhaps working up to more complex arrangements. So, just like the gym, but this time you might have a foam pit to land in and who doesn’t love that? You’ll learn more awareness about your body as your core strengthens out of pure necessity.

Beach Volleyball

Rather than going to the gym on Saturday to work off those Friday night beers, why not head to the beach or try and find those indoor courts that have started to spring up? It’s a hell of a lot more fun and the sand aspect allows your legs an incredible work out that the leg press just can’t quite replicate. Furthermore, this way you kind of have an excuse to not just dress in baggy sweatpants and t-shirts, but rather show off the buff bod the sport will help sculpt.

Dancing

Sometimes going out to a nightclub and getting your groove on can feel like more of an extensive, sweat-inducing workout than the gym. And as steamy as a sauna, too. So why not take that motivation out of the darkened discotheques and into your everyday life? Taking a salsa class, for instance, will help your love life as well as your waistline – you’ll lose roughly 600 calories in just an hour of hip-swiveling. And if you feel awkward, well, at least you’re in good company. And who knows, maybe that company will extend beyond the cha-cha floor.