Tag: workout

Getting Past the Discomfort of Exercise

No matter what fitness level you are, your mind will always try to resist exercising in one way or another. However, it’s much more difficult when you are getting started after a long period of not exercising. The excuses come flowing in, in all sorts of ways.

For me, it’s difficult to get the same feeling after a home workout as I do after a sports game. Whether I’m playing basketball or soccer, I don’t have time to think about how awful the cardio is feeling. When I go for a run, I am ONLY thinking about how awful the cardio is feeling. This is why I need to make exercise more fun and exciting especially during quarantine, rather than dragging myself into something and half-assing it. Here are some things I have come up with that might also help you distract yourself from the discomfort of exercise:

1. Wear your favourite exercise clothes

This might seem unimportant, but it makes a huge difference at least for home workouts. I’ve noticed that when I try to exercise in the morning wearing my pj’s and in bare feet, I just don’t try as hard because it feels like I should still be lounging around. If you have a hard time making the move to find exercise clothes, try taking them out the night before so you don’t even have to think about what you’re going to wear. Go as far as wearing your favourite socks and sports bra… Whatever will make you feel 10/10.

2. Create an awesome playlist

If you tell me that you don’t have any songs that give you an abundance of energy, I absolutely wouldn’t believe you. Take the extra 5-10 minutes to create a playlist for yourself with songs that you know will get you in a good mood. When you hear a good beat or start to sing along, I guarantee your energy will change instantly.

3. Choose your environment wisely

Doing a home workout can be hard when you are used to relaxing or cleaning the area that you are in. That’s why I think it’s worth taking a minute to set up your exercise space as best as you can. If you own an exercise mat, put it down on the floor even if you might not use it. Put away all distractions and give yourself the space to be able to move around freely. Alternatively, exercising outdoors is a great way to get fresh air and some nice scenery to look at.

4. Start simple

Being fit and healthy doesn’t happen over night, but any small steps you take will contribute to your health. Sometimes, I overwhelm myself with everything I should be doing when really I should just focus on something that will get me moving. Some days I will just put music on and dance… by myself… whether I’m cleaning or just feeling down. Other days I will just choose 3 exercises and only do them one time through. Even going for a walk has benefits – although it might be low-intensity, it still helps lift my mood and clear my head.

5. Pay more attention to how you feel afterwards

It’s easy to finish exercising and immediately go and get something to eat, or start doing tasks you want to accomplish for the day, or sit down to watch TV. I often forget how good I feel after exercising because I am focusing so much on what I should be doing for my workouts, or feeling guilty if I haven’t exercised in a while or my workouts haven’t been as hardcore as I thought they should be. I think it’s important to take a moment after you exercise to notice how your thoughts have changed, how good your joints and muscles feel, what food you want to eat (I am usually more likely to eat healthy after exercising), and how proud you feel about what you just accomplished.

All in all, I believe it’s possible to minimize the initial discomfort of exercising by using these strategies. Once you get past this discomfort and become more fit, the discomfort won’t seem so bad.

The Struggle of Staying Fit

It seems like it takes a fair amount of effort to stay fit in our society. Obviously more so if you have a rather sedentary job that requires little to no physical labour. It’s a fact that the more active you are, the more energy you have to be more active. In my opinion, having a sedentary job is a pretty big determining factor if you have the energy to workout after work. That being said, it sounds like the best solution is to workout before work to get it out of the way, but then you have to wake up earlier to have enough time to do a workout and shower… after a terrible sleep from being stressed and inactive. It’s easy to be stuck in a cycle of excuses and negative thinking. Not to mention, not having a strong reason as to why you need to stay physically active makes it even harder to stick to a routine.

Know your “why”

If you don’t have a very convincing and good reason as to why you want to keep up with your physical health, I guarantee that you will not do anything. Think of the reason why we go to work. We must have a pretty convincing “why” since we do our best to go in every day of the week. Maybe it’s because you need to make money to survive, or you don’t want to get fired, or you are working with a coworker on a project – these are just a few reasons why we go to work.

I have struggled with having a solid “why” for staying physically active. I genuinely enjoy sports for the social and competitive aspects, but as an adult I have to go out of my way to find and pay for a sports league. I have paid for gym memberships, yoga classes, other fitness classes, recreational sports etc because I know that if I don’t have all of these obligations, I will not stay active. I used to be a personal trainer for a few years so I would workout between clients because I was already there and had nothing better to do. Now that I’m in quarantine, it has become very apparent that I don’t have a strong enough “why” to stay active.

I am not overweight, I don’t have any health issues, I am fairly strong (which may slowly diminish if I don’t do anything about it) and there is no need for me to have good cardio as I don’t have physical labour to do. However, there is still a little fire inside of me that thinks that if I don’t create good habits now, I will not be healthy when I am older. The small little voice I have in the back of my head will whisper the “why” to me every now and then to get me back on track. Ashley, you do not want osteoporosis, heart disease, or to be confined to a wheelchair when you are older.

Make it a habit

Somehow, I manage to brush my teeth every morning and every night. I have been doing this my whole life and thus, it has become a habit. So why didn’t physical activity stay as a habit? Well, in high school you sit in desks all day, then plan to drink with your friends on the weekends, and only some people stay in organized sports. When I was in school, there were only a few people that consistently went to the gym, and I was not one of them. I stuck to sports which is good, but I didn’t do it for the reason of being fit. I just liked the game and hanging out with friends.

In university, you sit in class all day then plan to drink with your friends on the weekends… or weekdays. It’s strange to me that growing up, we never really cared about each other’s physical health. I’m not sure what it’s like now, but it would be amazing if it was “cool” to go to a Zumba class on Friday night with your friends, or to ask your peers what they have been doing to stay physically active.

I think in order to make a habit out of physical activity it’s important to make it a part of your routine at the same time every day, but I think it’s MORE important to surround yourself with supportive people. I have a few friends that I can rely on who enjoy being active or who count on me to do something active. If you currently don’t have a support system with the same desires as you, maybe find people online who constantly support each other in their weight loss journey, or who just generally want to stay fit and healthy.

Do whatever it takes

When I find myself in a sedentary rut, the first thing I do is reach out to my fit and healthy friends, and ask them what they’ve been eating, what they’re doing to stay active, or even just ask them to go on a hike to get started. I will look at healthy recipes, google some workouts, or watch some inspiring YouTube videos on how to stay fit and healthy. Once I am fully convinced as to why I should continue to work on my physical health, I am a lot more likely to get up and do something to get back on track.

The other day, a good friend of mine who I often turn to for fitness advice said to me “just do something simple for 10 minutes – squats, lunges, push ups – as soon as you wake up.” This sounds really simple to do, but I needed her to say that to me because of how I overthink things sometimes. In my head, I need to eat beforehand to fuel my body, do a proper 30-60 minute workout, have something to eat after my workout, shower, and eat healthy for the rest of the day otherwise it wasn’t worth it. That is A LOT of pressure to put on myself every single day, which is why I get into these inactive ruts. The most important thing for your physical health is literally to just move. It’s not a big deal if you don’t eat before, or if it doesn’t make you sweat, or if it’s not a proper workout regimen with sets and reps… just do whatever it takes to move every day.

Support each other

I think that anything is possible with the support of others. I would love to read your comments about how you are staying physically active, especially during quarantine, and any other tips you may have to maintain a consistent routine.