You don’t have to be one of the three little pigs to be scared off by the huffing and puffing of exercise. The sweat, the pain, the way your heart feels as though it’s about to burst through your chest, exercise is hard, and it can be intimidating. Because of this, exercise is easy to ignore, like the vicious dog with whom you refuse to make eye contact for fear that he’ll attack.

However, exercise doesn’t have to be this way. It doesn’t need to be strenuous, and it certainly doesn’t need to be scary to the point where no one wants to do it. There are several ways exercising can be done in an effective, but comfortable, manner.

Make it Tolerable

Sprinting uphill while wearing ten pound ankle weights does definitely count as exercise. But, it’s a bit extreme and, unless you’re training to win some sort of "ankle-weight sprinting marathon," your form of exercise should not be as strenuous.

Doing something as simple as walking moderately or riding a bike through a park can do wonders for your health and your body. Some studies even indicate that moderate, comfortable exercise is more beneficial to your heart than exercise that involves strain and vigor. Plus, exercising at a tolerable rate is much more appealing and easy to return to, making the gym or running track more than just a one time thing.

Have Something that Can Distract You

Exercise is often difficult because we make it difficult, focusing on every ache, every pain, and counting every second until we can finally get off of the blasted treadmill. However, when you have something to focus on besides the exercise, the time goes by much quicker and the routine itself becomes much more comfortable.

Some people set up exercise equipment around television screens, catching up on the Soap Opera they’ve Tivoed and becoming too consumed with Bo and Hope to worry about a leg cramp. Others listen to music or meditation tapes. Some people, working out on exercise bikes, even read. And others find time to kill two squawking birds with one sharp stone by talking to their in-laws on the telephone as they walk two miles to the market, gleefully agreeing to everything said.

Stay Cool

Sweating profusely may look cool in a Gatorade commercial, but in real life, it causes discomfort. Not only does it make your body work harder, but it makes you feel like skipping the elliptical and heading straight to the showers. Sometimes the sweats you are wearing are just too good at doing the very thing their name insinuates.

While exercising in the nude may seem like the obvious answer to the problem of heat, it might not make you more comfortable, particularly if you are in a crowded gym. Try instead wearing clothes designed to draw moisture away from the body, keeping you cool for the duration of your workout.

Try Yoga and Tai Chi

Exercise doesn’t have to be practiced in a way that makes you pant, grunt, and long to hear the theme song from Rocky. There are many forms of exercise that allow you to gain muscle, burn fat, and improve overall health without parting with your beloved blood, sweat, and tears.

Yoga, the practice of exercising in a series of static or moving poses, and Tai Chi, a Chinese system of physical exercises designed for meditation and self-defense, are both great ways to exercise in a calm, collected manner. Often these practices allow you to receive the benefits of exercise, without having to exceed your maximum heart rate. And, because they are taken in classes, they also allow for the opportunity to make new friends, creating a circle of comfort in the process.

Exercise and Sleep

Garfield, the comic strip cat created by Jim Davis, always used to run around the block whenever he couldn’t fall asleep. When he returned to his bed, he would dive in, and sleep soundly until morning. While exercising right before bedtime may actually keep you awake, Garfield still had the right idea.

Exercise, when done prior to late at night, can not only help you sleep, but help keep you asleep. Because it’s a physical stressor, your body compensates by increasing deep sleep, causing you to sleep more easily and more soundly. In a nutshell, it makes you tired, and being tired makes you sleep.

Exercise also helps you sleep because it regulates body temperature, by elevating it and then cooling you down. This is similar to a Natural Latex Mattress, a type of mattress that breathes, keeping you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. And, because it conforms to your body, a Natural Latex Mattress can keep you from tossing and turning; thus saving all your energy for the next day’s work out.