Exercising has been known to reduce stress, release endorphines, and therefore, make you happy. It also allows you to keep in shape, and maintain a healthy weight if done correctly.
- Exercising, however, is not always able to be done and is hard to continue on a regular basis.
- After school activities, work, taking care of family, and more get in the way, so it is hard to find time to exercise.
- Some exercises are painful and although to "Feel the Burn" is good, it is not always on our top 10 list of things to do.
- Exercising when we feel under the weather also deters us from continuing to exercise. When we get a cold, all we want and should do is rest and get better, but then we feel guilty for having taken a day or 2 off and then a majority of us drop exercising altogether instead of picking up where we left off. I know as a woman, it is hard to exercise during the time of the month, even though it helps reduce the monthly cramps.
I am not perfect when it comes to sticking to a routine (the 21 days to a habit rule doesn't work with me), but I have found some aspects that help.
Set attainable goals - whether you want to lose a certain amount of weight, do a certain amount of reps, or go down to a certain size, make sure you set a goal that will be attainable in the time you are wanting to accomplish
Don't beat yourself up - If you do not meet your weekly or monthly goal, go back to your calendar and make a new one. So you weren't able to lose 10 lbs in a month, but if you lost 5, you are half way there to your goal. That is better than you were. Maybe next month you will meet your goal or do better, but if you give up now, you won't know or ever get to your goal.
Switch it up - I find that although having a regular routine can be nice, it can also be somewhat boring. It helps to try different forms of exercises like walking, swimming, biking, or cardio workouts. It also helps if you can have a scenery change. One day walk in the park, another day, walk on a hiking trail or around the neighborhood. You might find that you like an exercise better than others and if a more routine workout helps you, follow it.
Don't overdo it - There are many people who when they start to exercise have this HUGE goal in mind and overdo it the first day or week. They feel so beat up and then their motivation is shot as they can't move due to over doing it. Start with light weights if you are doing some weight training. Do more repetitions and go until you feel like you pushed yourself a little out of your comfort zone. Exercise at a slower pace - instead of running, do a fast walk. You can build up your speed or increase the distance you walk later. I suggest sticking with a certain speed or repetition for 1 week and if you feel ready, increase to higher weights or longer distances.
Perform the exercises correctly - As I have researched about different exercises, there are some that have been found to hurt you more than help you. It is important that you perform the exercises correctly and not overdo it as well as this can cause you to incorrectly do the exercise.
Take some days off - Our bodies need to move as that is what they were created for, but our bodies also need rest. Make sure to take at least 1-2 days off during the week to allow your muscles to catch up with the new routine. For example, if your really busy with Karate on Mondays and Soccer on Saturdays, have these 2 days be your off days. For some, this can cause people to get out of the routine, so instead of "taking a day off," I suggest working out every day, but only concentrating on certain body parts one day like abs, but then the next day, work on legs and give the abs a break. You will still give your body a rest time, but you will still maintain a routine/habit to keep exercising.
Set a good time - Some people's days are not as structured as others, so make sure you find a time that you can exercise during the week. Wake up 15-30 minutes earlier to start your routine or try exercising after your kids have gone to bed (this will limit you to your location of where you exercise).
These are tips to help start you off exercising and to try to keep the momentum going to exercise at least 5-7 days a week.