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Getting Started
Make it an event
Look at your exercise as an investment. Set aside at least three unchangeable times a week, and look for another couple when you can. Early mornings can be great – it’s easier to roll out of bed and leap onto a treadmill or bench than it is to get to a gym (in most cases!). Evening sessions can be a real wind-down - a time to separate yourself from the day – and they can displace less desirable activities such as consuming stuff and/or killing time in front of the TV.
Find a time or two in the weekend - and if you’re really serious about achieving your goals, you’ll make time to exercise. (Do you want a vital, strong and useful body - and mind - right through the rest of your life? Exercise is optional for the young; there's increasing proof it's mandatory as we age)
Try music as an accompaniment, or TV, or a DVD. If you’re using free weights or gym balls, though, you may wish to concentrate on the activity and your form, so TV mightn’t help.
And remember:
It's easier to act your way into being motivated than to hang around waiting for motivation to turn up. How many times have you been encouraged (pushed!) into something that didn't attract you, only to later find it was a great idea with unanticipated outcomes? This is how we get out of a rut. (Before a big wheel comes down it!)
It’s not just about looking good, but feeling great and having long-term health: Feeling good and having a strong and useful body for as long as possible must surely be an important factor in a worthwhile life. It empowers you for everything else.
Make it easy to start: Have your gear ready to go. For instance, pack your gym gear. Or a treadmill ready to go in one movement (platform lowered), plug it in, and turn it on. A bench should similarly take a moment to get in place. Dumbbells should be handy, not under three suitcases in the garage. Same with a gym ball.
You need a little space. Without it you’re uncomfortable at best and physically restricted at worst. With a bench, weights and gym ball you need about eight-plus feet square to be comfortable. And if you’re using a piece of cardio gear (treadmill, exercycle etc) you need to have a better view than a wall two feet away. (Some people don’t mind though).
What’s your physical and social comfort zone for exercise? Are you a gym person? Some people see and don’t enjoy social and competitive pressures, or are uncomfortable with their own and others’ bodies at close quarters.
There’s a huge array of options for non-gym exercise that don’t require much of an investment, covering everything from strength-building and weight-loss to cardio, and balance, posture and agility. Then there’s the outdoors – our environment would have to rank among the world’s best in terms of walking, hiking and running variety and accessibility. And the variety beats boredom by making the planning fun.
Exercise with a friend: If you have a neighbour or friend that lives close by then why not exercise together? Take it in turns to go to each other’s house or go for a jog outdoors or perhaps a power walk. Or go to the gym together. And remember, having someone to share your goals and experiences with can make a big difference, and working out with a friend makes the exercise session a social occasion as well.
Concentrate when necessary: Strength, balance and coordination exercises need it – to get your form (technique) right – and to put in the best effort. Wherever you are, be there! Concentration on your exercise will relax you for later stuff.
Some people are the record-keeping kind; it pushes them along. Get a notebook if necessary.
Think about the post-exercise feeling: There are few things better than relaxing after exercise, even if it’s only for a few minutes. In fact, to move directly on to something else can be just as good and bring fresh perspective. There's no other stress-buster like it.
Goals…. Make it easy on yourself: Many studies have shown that people very often have unrealistic expectations about personal physical goals. For example, in one survey, a 31% weight loss would make a dieter “happy”, and a 15.7% loss would be “disappointing”. Crazy! We sometimes set ourselves up to fail!
What’s wrong with a 4-5% strength or fitness improvement per month (1% per week, say) when you look at it over a longer period? What’s a half-kilo a week in weight loss, added up? More than 12 kilos in six months.
When you start, you don’t even need specific goals, just more general ones. Aim, say, for 15-20 minutes cardio, and/or 3 sets of ten repetitions with just a little stress on the exercises in your plan. And when you do get to push things harder, small increments get you a long way, avoid injury, and feel good.
But....once you're into it, give it some beef: Our bodies are built for physical effort. It’s only over the last one hundred years most of us have stopped using them so much. We can’t do ourselves harm if we build our intensity gradually.
List and read your reasons for exercise every day or two:
Pick the ones that really count to you; the ones that really get you going! As you may know, one difference between people who achieve things and those who don’t, is having a list of goals, and very often what makes big achievers is that they actually read and develop the list frequently! (Feeling listless? Make a list!)
Some of them may be:
* To lose weight, or assist in a weight loss plan
* To reduce stress, improve sleep
* To increase general energy
* To perform better at a particular activity, or sport
* To slow the effects of aging, or manage and recover from illness
* To improve cardiovascular fitness
* To improve your muscle tone
* To enhance the overall quality of life
* To have a better feeling of wellbeing
Great Ideas From a Coach
Garrett J Braunreiter, a coach, offers nine tips for a strong mental approach to achievement with exercise...(frankly, they work with a lot of things):
- Listen to the experts (determining who really are is sometimes a challenge)
- No pain, no gain vs. Patience, pacing, and persistence - the first is wrong, the second is what it's about
- Use "What next?" thinking. Don't dwell on what didn't go the way you wanted. Spend your energy on moving forward, finding an answer or a next step.
- Let comfortable with the unfamiliar. Change your routine, do something different from what what you would normally do.
- Think and speak well of your health. Too much attention is paid to minor ailments. We tend to make real that which we think is our main feature.
- Watch out for fads and easy schemes. Go with the pro approaches
- Hang out with people who've achieved similar goals, or who're after the same ones, not the regretters.
- Focus on desired results. Dwell on the rewards of success, not on mistakes and failures. Be in the present.
- Expect the unexpected. You can't control what nature and others do. Anticipate what MAY happen, and prepare as best you can. You can also control your response to what happens.
Weight Loss Plan Not Working?
The plan not working? Change it.
Remember, the human system attempts to preserve itself and its resources against adversity. (Think of the immune system, temperature change, physical threats) It also constantly tries to maintain a state of balance between all its components, because this makes protective responses more effective. If we make changes to what the body is getting used to, we’ll keep it busy handling the changes, and use more calories doing it. Let it settle completely, and it’ll make the changes you want to make more difficult.
Suggestions:
Vary your calorie intake. Have normal-sized meals one day, much less the next. You’ll lose weight when this happens, but pretty soon the reduced calories will make your body think there’s a famine ahead, and it’ll preserve the calories by moving them to fat instead of burning them. (This is the big disappointment of diets- you stop losing the weight) So surprise it the next day or two with more normal intake. It’ll get back to burning off the calories at the regular weight …then cut back again. This is called diet zig-zagging.
Change changing the frequency of your meals – say from three to four smaller ones. Increased frequency boosts your metabolic rate.
Change what you eat. Try a protein-based snack rather than a carb-based one or vice-versa. The same principle of giving your system a start or a little shock applies.
If cardio exercise is part of your plan, lessen – or increase – significantly (20% of heart rate max) - exercise intensity from time to time. Or take up resistance exercise – do some strength training. This really burns the calories, and the resultant muscle (1) burns up calories faster than fat, and (2) takes up less space because its denser!
Keep Stress At Bay
There’s more stress out there than usual. Being in the best physical and mental shape makes things easier to handle. Here are some suggestions to get that way.
Get active
Daily, brief (at least 30 minutes) physical activity that’s either sufficiently physically intense or mentally distracting to separate you completely from the rest of the day. This can give new, different and even creative perspectives on what’s important in your daily life. Has huge other health benefits as well. Running, brisk walking, squash, tennis, swimming are examples.
Make time to relax
Aim to completely relax, physically and mentally for twenty minutes. Close your eyes, breathe deeply (through the diaphragm, top of the tummy, 3 seconds in, 3 seconds out) and aim to empty your mind by thinking only of the breathing. Yoga or meditation works for many people too. Music’s great if it helps empty your mind….much music doesn’t.
Get regular and even amounts of sleep
Perhaps after the relax phase above. Most of us need regular sleep and plenty of it (7 hours for most people) The extent to which we don’t get it has a major influence on many aspects of life, including weight, mental and emotional well-being and much of our physical health. Try to avoid big meals, alcohol, caffeine, and strenuous exercise within a couple of hours of bedtime – perhaps get the exercise before a light dinner.
Limit caffeine and alcohol
A coffee a couple of times a day can be a great boost, but any more can encourage elevated levels of stress hormones. And depending upon how you take it, it can add useless calories and eat your money. To many people, alcohol is one of life’s pleasures, but there’s always the problem of too much. One or two drinks is OK, but consistently more than this can raise long-term blood pressure and the risk of unhealthy stress levels.
Review your job
Remember the 80/20 rule – our lives tend to lead to us spending 80% (or large amounts) of effort/time on things that are of 20% (or smaller amounts) of importance, and 20% on the things that are really important. There are things we should concern ourselves less with, and there are big upsides with just a few items. In our job, what are the really important things that must happen? To whom do they really count? (Is this view shared by them?) (Do I need to change the way I think and act, now I’ve reviewed the situation?) Big gains can be made by thinking this way.
Review your life
The same thinking applies. What’s really important? What do I really want? What do I really need? What’s holding me back? (Can I ask someone? Can someone give me an independent opinion?) What ideas, and goals would make me really excited? Do I know…should I try some new things for fun? How to the answers affect my finances? What are the clear priorities?
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Attitude and Motivation)