Can I trust you with my secret for never getting bored with your workout routine, even when it's as often as 5 days a week?

I began with aerobics and spent years moving on to each new healthy workout.

It began in college during the Jane Fonda years when I followed the lead of the girls in my sorority. We put a video tape in the VCR, moved the coffee table out of the way and proceeded to jump, bump and squeeze our way into shape.

This was followed, post-college, by aerobics classes at the gym where I wore cute little leotards and colored tights. I could admire myself in the mirrored wall while following the movements of an enthusiastic instructor. And if I was lucky I'd meet a nice guy in the weight lifting area and, well, that's another topic.

Marriage brought children. After my first child, via an unexpected, painful, emergency C-section, I bought a step. Once again, I found myself, moving the coffee table out of the way, putting the video tape in the VCR and climbing my way to fitness. It took about a year after my son's birth to get back into my pre-baby clothes (plus 7 pounds).

Son number two arrived by C-section yet again and spurred my purchase of the latest exercise gadget, a slide. This equipment came with nylon covers for your sneakers so you could slide side-to-side on its slippery surface. Once again, the trusty video tape went into the VCR and you followed along and slid your way to fitness. One more year went by before I could squeeze into my before-the-baby clothes (with another 4 pounds added).

Around that time Oprah started running marathons. I figured if she could do it, so could I. What came next was a daily ritual of rising before my husband had to leave for work, donning my running clothes and heading out each morning for a 2 1/2 mile run. By 6:30 AM my husband was off to work and I was home with two boys, proud in knowing I'd already accomplished my daily fitness routine.

My third son arrived uneventfully by a planned C-section and I started biking in the mornings. Talk about variety! I could bike each morning or run my usual route. If the weather was bad, I still had my healthy stack of video tapes and could take to moving the furniture again.

Life was good!

It took another a year to get back into my pre-baby clothes with zero pounds added. Fast forward three years, morning workouts were still a habit and boring as hell. I didn't even feel like I was exercising any more because the routines were all so familiar to me, the required effort level was dropping, lower and lower.

Do you see yourself in this workout nightmare?

Now you have sufficient background to understand my answer to busting the boredom. It's a genuine proven system that works for all ages. I found Martial Arts.

Any martial arts program provides a thorough healthy workout in every way imaginable. Your personal level of fitness will increase dramatically with an added benefit. Martial arts training exercises your brain at the same time. And I don't mean the learning curve we all suffer when we start anything new.

This kind of healthy workout is very similar to learning ballroom dancing. There are specific steps performed in a specific order at the right pace. You work to learn the proper martial arts techniques to build a solid foundation. And you exercise your mind to remember what comes next while you work your body to new levels of fitness.

Another great benefit to learning martial arts is that it's family friendly. You can learn with your children and engage them in a fun activity that's bringing them better health at the same time. It's impossible to get bored. The workout is different every time you step into the classroom. You will achieve greater flexibility, build strength and increase confidence while learning a useful tool.

Unlike those aerobics classes, when you get good at the routine, not only does it change, but you earn a belt that tells the world how hard you've worked and where you stand in the process.

So if you're a goal oriented, type A, easily bored health nut like me, there's nothing like martial arts.