Ever found yourself staring at a treadmill with the same enthusiasm you’d reserve for a root canal? You aren't alone. Fitness boredom is real. It's the primary reason people drop their gym memberships by mid-February. But there is a weird, almost childish workaround that psychologists and trainers are starting to take seriously: the would you rather exercise format. It sounds like something you'd do at a middle school sleepover, right? Honestly, that’s exactly why it works.
By gamifying the decision-making process, you bypass the "I don't want to work out" mental block. Instead of dreading a sixty-minute slog, your brain focuses on a binary choice. It's low stakes. It's fast.
The Science of Why Choice Matters
We tend to think of exercise as a matter of pure discipline. Just do it, right? Wrong. According to Self-Determination Theory (SDT), developed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan at the University of Rochester, autonomy is a core psychological need. When you feel forced to do a specific workout, your internal motivation tanks. However, when you use a would you rather exercise approach, you're constantly exercising your autonomy.
You're in control.
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Think about it. Would you rather do 20 burpees or hold a plank for two minutes? Suddenly, you aren't thinking about how much you hate exercising; you’re evaluating which "evil" is more tolerable. This is a cognitive pivot. Dr. Michelle Segar, a behavioral sustainability scientist at the University of Michigan and author of No Sweat, argues that "gift-health" or "logic-based" goals often fail because they feel like chores. Gamifying the process turns the movement into a "play-based" activity.
How a Would You Rather Exercise Routine Actually Looks
This isn't just a mental exercise. You can actually build a high-intensity interval training (HIIT) session around these prompts. I’ve seen trainers at Equinox and F45 use variations of this to keep clients engaged when they’re hitting a plateau. You basically set a timer—say, 40 seconds of work and 20 seconds of rest.
For each "round," you give yourself two options.
Here is a messy, real-world example of a circuit. You might choose between mountain climbers or high knees for round one. In round two, maybe it’s a choice between walking lunges or air squats. The beauty is in the unpredictability. If you're doing this with a partner, you take turns picking the poison. It keeps the heart rate up because you aren't pausing to look at a complicated spreadsheet or a rigid PDF plan.
- Upper Body Tension: Would you rather do push-ups until failure or hold a 15-pound dumbbell over your head for 60 seconds?
- The Cardio Burn: Would you rather sprint up a hill once or do 50 jumping jacks?
- Core Stability: Would you rather do "dead bugs" for a minute or 30 bicycle crunches?
The variety is infinite.
Why Your Brain Craves This Variety
Monotony kills progress. In the world of physiology, there's a concept called the General Adaptation Syndrome. Your body is incredibly good at becoming efficient. If you run the same three-mile loop at the same pace every Tuesday, your body eventually stops burning as many calories. It adapts. It gets bored.
By using the would you rather exercise method, you introduce "micro-variations." Maybe one day you feel like focusing on power, so you pick the explosive movements. The next day, your knees feel a bit creaky, so you opt for the low-impact choices. This "intuitive" selection process helps prevent overuse injuries. It also keeps your neuromuscular system on its toes.
Basically, you’re tricking your nervous system into staying "alert."
Overcoming the "Decision Fatigue" Trap
Some people argue that having choices actually makes working out harder. We've all heard of decision fatigue—the idea that making too many choices wears out your willpower. Barack Obama famously only wore gray or blue suits to limit his decisions. Steve Jobs had the black turtleneck.
So, does would you rather exercise backfire?
Not if you limit the scope. The key is the "This or That" constraint. You aren't choosing from 10,000 possible movements on YouTube. You are choosing between two specific things right in front of you. It’s a closed loop. Research published in the Journal of Consumer Research suggests that while too many options paralyze us, a "binary choice" can actually be energizing. It provides a sense of "small wins" before the physical work even starts.
Specific Prompts for Different Fitness Levels
Let's get practical. You don't need a PhD in kinesiology to make this work. You just need to know what you’re trying to achieve.
For the Absolute Beginner
If you’re just starting, your choices should be about movement vs. stillness.
- Would you rather walk around the block twice or do a 5-minute yoga stretch in your living room?
- Would you rather do 10 wall push-ups or 20 calf raises while boiling the kettle?
- Would you rather stand up and sit down 15 times from your office chair or pace while on your next phone call?
For the "I Hate Cardio" Crowd
Cardio is usually where people quit. Use the game to make it a competition.
- Would you rather do 3 minutes of shadow boxing or 3 minutes of "invisible" jump rope?
- Would you rather run up your stairs five times or do 2 minutes of vigorous dancing to a song you actually like?
- Would you rather do "bear crawls" across the room or 40 skaters (side-to-side hops)?
For the Strength Enthusiast
If you like lifting, you can use this to break through plateaus in volume.
- Would you rather do a "drop set" (lowering weight as you fatigue) or a "pause rep" (stopping at the bottom of the movement)?
- Would you rather do 12 slow, controlled reps or 6 explosive, heavy reps?
- Would you rather finish your workout with a farmer's carry or a wall sit?
The Social Factor: Making It Stick
We are social animals. There's a reason CrossFit took over the world despite being objectively punishing. It's the community. You can easily turn would you rather exercise into a social media challenge or a text-thread game with a friend.
Imagine texting a buddy: "Hey, for our workout today, would you rather we do 100 kettlebell swings or a 1-mile run?"
The "external" choice adds a layer of accountability. You've committed to the game, so you're more likely to commit to the movement. This is what behavioral economists call a "commitment device." You’re pre-committing to an outcome based on a fun premise.
Addressing the Common Criticisms
Now, a pure "strength athlete" might roll their eyes at this. "Where's the progressive overload?" they’ll ask. "How do you track 1RM (one-rep max) if you're playing games?"
They have a point. If you are training for a specific powerlifting meet or an Olympic marathon, you need a rigid, periodized program. You can't just "game" your way to a 500-pound deadlift. However, for 90% of the population—people who just want to stay healthy, lose a bit of body fat, and not feel like a zombie at their desk—consistency beats optimization every single time.
The would you rather exercise philosophy prioritizes the "doing" over the "perfecting."
If you're worried about losing track of progress, keep a simple log. Note which option you picked. Over time, you’ll notice patterns. Maybe you always pick the "squat" option over the "lunge" option. That tells you something! It tells you that lunges are a weakness you might need to address later, or that your biomechanics just prefer bilateral movements.
Actionable Steps to Start Today
Don't overthink this. You don't need a special app or a $50-a-month subscription.
First, grab a piece of paper or open a note on your phone. Write down five pairs of exercises. Make sure they are relatively comparable in effort. Don't pair "walk to the fridge" with "50 burpees." That’s not a choice; that’s a joke. Pair "30 seconds of burpees" with "60 seconds of mountain climbers."
Second, set a "Game Window." Decide that for the next 15 minutes, you will play the game.
Third, flip a coin if you really can't decide. The point is to eliminate the "thinking" gap between the idea of exercise and the act of exercise.
Fourth, involve someone else. If you have kids, they love this. They will come up with the most chaotic, difficult "would you rathers" you've ever seen. "Would you rather hop like a frog for a minute or walk like a crab?" Believe it or not, crab walks are an incredible workout for your triceps and core.
Fifth, use it as a "finisher." If you already have a workout routine you like, use the would you rather exercise format for the last five minutes. It ends the session on a high, playful note rather than a feeling of total exhaustion. This is known as the "peak-end rule" in psychology—we judge an experience largely based on how it felt at its peak and at its end. If you end with a fun choice, you're more likely to come back tomorrow.
Start with just three choices tomorrow morning. Don't wait for the "perfect" Monday or a new pair of shoes. Just pick one, do it, and move on with your day.