Making Regular Exercise A Habit
This was me at 7.15am this morning, off out for an outdoor HIIT workout, on my own (well with my dog!)
When we see people out exercising we presume that it was easy for them to get out. We presume that they bounce out of bed, into their work out gear and fly out of the door with glee. Now this may be the case for athletes, sportsmen and women, those that are obsessed with the gym and their abs but for the average person who just wants to be fit and healthy it is not that easy !
So, I thought I would take you through the steps and self-talk it took to get me out this morning.
Firstly, I made two mistakes – although I had planned to go out this morning, I had not got my exercise clothes out last night and I had not written it in my diary. This meant that I needed more willpower and motivation than normal. When you get up and see your clothes there waiting for you it is almost a given, when you open your diary / calendar and it is written in there, again, it is almost a given.
I roused at 5.15am after not a very good nights sleep (which is unusual for me), I dozed on and off until 6.30am. I was tired when I got up (again, not great for motivation and willpower) and my self-talk started, talking me out of exercising. It went a bit like this :
“I am tired, I don’t feel 100%, I think my body needs me to rest”
“I should listen to my body, I haven’t slept well, maybe a need a day of not doing much”
“I will just pop out with the dog for short walk, I want to get on, I have a lot to do today”
Then it changed slightly.
“Uum do I really feel unwell ?”
“Maybe I will do a few bodyweight exercises instead and then the dog walk”
“Do my legs ache ?”
“Taking the dog out plus doing a few exercises will take even longer”
Then I started talking myself into the exercise.
“How will I feel if I don’t go out ?” “How will I feel if I do go out?”
“I could go out and just do one of two rounds if I feel a bit off”
“Louis-Rae (my son) always told me (when he was a PT) that consistency is key, so even if I just get out I would have done well”
“Oh it’s getting lighter earlier, if I go out now I will be back in time to make sure Ellis (my other son) is up and ready for school”
“Shall I go ?”
“You need to hurry up if you want o be back by 8am”
“Yep, I’m doing it”
And I was off. I smashed three rounds and did not feel at all unwell. In fact I now feel brilliant and can show off to all of you how I got out there and done it !
The point / moral of this story is that us healthy people are not necessarily good at wanting to go out to exercise. We are good at talking ourselves into exercise rather than talking ourselves out of it, we are good at recognising and believing that we will feel great afterwards. We are good at this because this is what we practise.
We know that the temporary feeling of not wanting to go out is, in no way, a match for the long-term feeling we get from exercising – because that feel good, post exercise, feeling is something we experience regularly, it is hard-wired in our minds so is easy to visualise and feel.
So, if regular exercise is something you are trying to get to grips with do three things ;
1) Prepare – get your clothes out, ready and waiting.
2) Be Aware – of your self-talk. Practise talking yourself into exercise.
3) Remember – anything is better than nothing and consistency is key. If that 10k run you have set yourself seems too daunting, just go out for a 5k run. Who knows once you are out you might find yourself doing 11k !
It’s tough at the beginning but remember your body wants to be fit and healthy so it does get easier. Before you know it you have talked yourself into an outdoor HIIT session, on your own, at 7am in the morning !
To feeling great from the inside out !
Lisa x