Combining Audio Puzzles With Exercising

I find exercising can be a laborious task especially if doing, for example, a long jog and therefore I thought it would be a good idea to find a way to make the experience for me more entertaining and appealing in order to be more motivated to do it and that is where I have found an audio puzzle beneficial. A puzzle can come in many formats but the audio format I have found lends itself the best to the exercises I do as I can play an audio puzzle on a portable device like a phone via headphones whilst I exercise or I can play the puzzle out loud through speakers. There are exercises where it would not be appropriate for me to use headphones or have a puzzle played out loud because it could be dangerous as I need to be able to hear what is going on around me or the wires from my headphones could get caught in the apparatus I am using or something else within close proximity to me. However, for the exercises I do, I have found so far there to be no real dangers whilst listening to an audio puzzle and found it a good way of helping the time pass quicker whilst doing something additionally productive which would not really be the case if I was listening to music instead. If I exercise daily with audio puzzles I am hoping this could lead to huge benefits for my mental capabilities and physical health especially as I am hoping to exercise for quite lengthy periods like half an hour or an hour every day. Doing these two activities together means I gain time for something else that I would not have had if I had done them separately which is important as my schedule can sometimes be crammed full. I am hoping that the audio brain teasers I choose to listen to will keep my mind sharp and maybe even improve some of its capabilities as I have noticed when I stop doing puzzles my brain performance does feel like it declines and can lose a bit of the benefits gained from doing puzzles especially if I haven't done one for a while. There are numerous skills that I could improve upon with this format of puzzle, as it can offer numerous challenges, such as memory, maths, logic, problem-solving, concentration etc which are all very useful skills that are also transferable skills that can be applied and used in other aspects of my life. I might also improve my general knowledge as an additional benefit and learn some new information that I might not otherwise have come across that will make me a more well-rounded individual as a result. An audio puzzle book can be of one level of difficulty or can have many different levels of difficulty to it with the latter helping to build my level up towards the more challenging puzzles it contains so what audio puzzle book I choose will very much depend on my own level of ability for a particular challenge, how enjoyable I think I would find the challenge and what level of difficulty I would be prepared to try. When listening to an audio puzzle whilst exercising I will have to wear headphones when I am in or at a place where I don't want everybody around me also listening to it, for example, in the gym. Headphones can be problematic as they often have wires that could potentially get tangled up in whatever apparatus I am using for exercise or they block out all outside noise when I need to be able to hear what is going on around me. When I do need to hear what is around me then I will have to do without headphones and not listen to an audio puzzle whilst doing that particular exercise and if there is a risk of the headphone wires getting caught on the apparatus Id could try to find some headphones that are wireless to eliminate this problem. If I am at home doing an exercise then I don't need to bother with headphones and can play the audio puzzles out loud through a speaker as I am in the privacy of my own home so don't have to think of others in terms of noise except maybe my neighbours and those I live with. The audio puzzle challenges I choose will have to be ones that I can solve in my head and that don't require that I have to write down information or do any working out on paper as my body will be busy with the exercise I am doing and I might not be able to use my hands. When I am exercising I will not want to or maybe won't be able to stop so it is important that what I am listening to doesn't disrupt the exercise in any way with the challenges it sets. Some audio math brain teaser problems, for example, may need written working outs as they are too complicated to work out in my head or that I would need to work them out with a calculator so I will definitely avoid these. A good audio puzzle to listen to whilst I exercise is maybe a mystery where I listen to a story and try and work out whatever it is that needs solving like a murder or a strange happening in which I would be simply following a story and then making mental notes of what I consider important to work the mystery out which I should be able to do in my head. Another example could be an audiobook that has a series of short riddles or conundrums that have time limits to answer them and if I can't pause them due to exercising then I can't cheat and give myself longer to answer. Humorous audio challenges will be good for keeping my mind off whatever arduous exercise I am performing and there are plenty of puzzles that incorporate humour to make them more engaging. The audio puzzles I listen to need to last for the duration of the exercise which may mean having more than one puzzle audiobook to listen to if the exercise is going to take significant time as in numerous hours. Most exercises I do are an hour or less but occasionally they can take up a significant proportion of the day such as when bike riding or walking. A marathon, which I have never done before, can be a few hours or even all day of an undertaking and this could be an ideal opportunity for me to listen to puzzles to ensure it wouldn't become a long drawn out experience. Also, it would be a good opportunity for me to listen to the audio challenges that are longer in duration such as the ones that involve stories which ideally need to be listened to in one go. It is important to be well prepared for these longer exercises that can take hours by making sure the device I use to play the audio puzzle is fully charged so that it will last the full duration of the exercise. Most phones or mp3 devices will last for several hours if just playing audio and it may be worth checking more carefully before I buy one of these devices in future how long the battery lasts on them. A possible good opportunity for me to listen to audio puzzles whilst exercising could be on a treadmill that can again like many exercises be a rather dull and monotonous experience but listening to puzzles could make the task more fun for me and can be done at home if I purchase one or in a more social setting of the gym. One exercise I do already is cycling and this could also be an ideal opportunity for me to combine exercise with audio puzzles especially when I do the longer distances that can take hours. Cycling does come with some risks such as car traffic and pedestrians in which I could endanger them or myself if I am distracted or I can't hear these dangers due to wearing headphones and having the noise around me blocked out. I will have to be sensible and stick to places that are reasonably safe to cycle like cycling paths or cycle at times of the day that are quieter in terms of the number of people and vehicles and also pause what I am listening to when I encounter hazardous places or obstacles. I certainly won't listen to anything whilst doing such extreme activities as BMXing or downhill mountain biking in which I would have to be fully focused on what I am doing with no distractions and also the wires from the headphones could also make doing these activities very hazardous if they got caught on anything. An exercise bike that is stationary, which I do have already at home, would give me another opportunity to listen to audio puzzles and I would have very few distractions or potential hazards that I would in comparison to cycling outdoors so would be perfectly safe from these sort of dangers that are on the streets or roads and have privacy. When I am tired from exercising this can impact my ability to think clearly and at this juncture, I will stop listening to the audio puzzle book as the puzzles will become far more difficult for me to solve and less enjoyable as a result and also maybe even take a break altogether from the exercise. As stated before safety for me is of most importance with any of these exercises so if I need to be able to hear what is around me in order to be safe or there is a chance my headphones could be entangled or catch something or I need to be fully focused on what I am doing then I will stop listening to the puzzles and put my headphones away. I see puzzles as an exercise for the brain and that if I stop then potentially my level of puzzle-solving and mental capabilities would diminish just like my fitness would if I stopped doing physical exercises so it is, therefore, important for me to keep doing both and doing them in tandem will help me with this and keep both to a certain level and also improve. In conclusion, an audio puzzle can be a great way to make some of the exercises I do more fun whilst fitting in and training my brain that is often neglected at the same time so I have to keep reminding myself to do this every time I am doing a suitable exercise which should be relatively easy once I get into a routine.

I am not a doctor and nothing in this article is medical advice, treatment or diagnosis. It is always best to consult an expert for the exercise, sport or piece of equipment you are going to do or use and doing so without consultation would be at your own risk (see disclaimer).