According to doctors and other healthcare specialists, exercise is important--really important, actually. Everyone should be exercising at least 150 minutes per week, according to the American Heart Association. Unfortunately, exercise isn't as fun as it is important. The problem is that exercising is difficult, but it's also pretty boring. After all, repetitive movements are rarely entertaining, and it's easy to start thinking of exercise as a chore. If you remove the dullness from exercise, though, it's easy to get those 150 minutes in each week. Try using some of these ideas to get your weekly allotment of cardio activity; eventually, you'll be exercising without even knowing it.

Dance

Dancing is a great way to burn calories. After all, it is an aerobic activity. Faster variations like swing dance or jazz dance are great for your heart, but even ballroom dancing can get your heart rate up. An hour of ballet will burn around 400 calories, while an hour of belly dancing will burn about 300. You can join a local dance class and work out a few times a week. If you're a little too shy to dance in front of strangers, there are lots of videos available online to get you started at home. Speak with a company like Debbie's Dance Studio to learn more about the benefits of dancing.

Do Chores

While some people don't find yard work or cleaning particularly entertaining, they're both necessary evils that some people actually enjoy. Instead of spending a half hour running or doing aerobics, you can cut the grass or wash the car and burn about the same amount of calories. While chores aren't very entertaining, they can distract you from the fact that you're exercising. Best of all, you're accomplishing something that needs to be done anyway. You might as well burn a few calories while you work.

Have an Athletic Hobby

Sports are always a great way to exercise while staying entertained. Whether you've always been an avid football fan or you've never picked up a ball in your life, you can always start a new hobby or pick up an old one. You can start your own team with friends or join a local league. Oftentimes, churches and other community organizations have their own teams as well. If you're not particularly athletic, try swimming or another low-impact sport that's easy to do.

There are lots of ways to exercise without actually focusing on exercise. With a little creativity, you can burn lots of extra calories and get in shape without even realizing that you're actually working out.