Tips for falling in love with exercise

Tips for falling in love with exercise

I always encourage people to work out for better health. I believe that everyone should be physically active regardless of body size.  One thing though, I didn’t like exercise up until a few months ago and am sure that I am not the only person who has exercised for a day then took seven months rest. It goes without saying that health benefits of exercise go beyond looking good. Exercise is the one regimen that helps with all lifestyle diseases and general well being but how do I get to the part where I actually like it enough to make it part of my lifestyle is the question for many people.

Know where to start

If you are now making the decision to start exercising, start at a level that is not so hard but also make it challenging enough to get results. If you have health complications, see your doctor before you start and look for a trainer who knows what he/she is doing. If you would rather workout at home, do enough research before you decide what workouts to do. 

Bring intention to your workouts

Know why you are exercising; and when you feel like you just can’t do it anymore, remember why you started.  Setting attainable goals is the best way to know what you want.

 Fight through the first few weeks. Forming a good habit is not easy; just keep at it till you get to the point where you look forward to exercising.   

Look the part

I don’t know about you but cute workout clothes really make me look forward to my next workout. Make sure that your workout clothes are comfortable and appropriate for easy movement.

Get a partner

Good thing about having a workout buddy is that the day you really don’t want to work out is the day he/she will be super motivated and vice versa and so he/she will get you up and moving. If you cannot get a partner to physically work out with you, make good use of technology. Call and text each other to make sure you keep each other in check. With a work out buddy who is far, you also have to be true to yourself because lying to him/her will not bring you results. Just make sure that your workout buddy is as committed as you are or more.

Have a routine

Working out at a particular time helps build a routine. Make it flexible enough so it doesn’t feel like you are a slave but routine enough to form a habit that is easy to maintain.

Celebrate your victories

This motivates you to keep working out. Just don’t celebrate by taking a month off.

Make it fun

Listen to music or audio books if they make it more fun for you. If you are a social person, get into group activities and mix activities up to keep it interesting.

Do what works for you

As much as you have to make sure that you mix up your workouts, pick what you enjoy doing. Forcing yourself to do workouts you hate will just frustrate you and make you hate exercise. This, however doesn’t mean that you stick to what you can already do in you sleep. Try out new things and remember to include:

v  Aerobic/cardio

Aerobic activities include walking, jogging, cycling, jumping rope, swimming, kickboxing, using the treadmill, aerobic dancing etc. The whole point is to raise your heart rate and ultimately burn fat as you strengthen your heart muscles.

v  Strength/resistance training

These are the kinds of exercises that build your muscles. They also increase your ability to perform daily activities. Most women stay away from strength training because they are afraid of getting big and looking like men but the chances of you looking like a man are nil. For you to look like a man you would have to have put in a lot of work and have high levels of testosterone,  hormone found in abundance in men and in very little amounts in women so quit worrying and get some strength.

v  Flexibility training

This includes stretching exercises. Pre and post workout stretches are ignored but they are important for keeping the body flexible, relaxing muscles and protect you from physical injury. If you want to stretch some more, try out yoga.

Eat healthy

You cannot out exercise a bad diet so if you want to see results, make sure that your diet is not pulling down all the work you are putting in at the gym.

Drop the guilt

If you miss a work out or a day don’t beat yourself up. It takes time to get the rhythm. Just try the next day.

Remember that to make it a lifestyle you have to fall in love with it and so aim for healthy outcomes rather than focusing on size. It is also advisable to do workouts and diets you can maintain for life to form lifestyle habits.