Stay consistent with exercise

Have you ever felt frustrated over not staying consistent with exercise?.Staying consistent with exercise and even despite your best intentions life happens and can throw you off your routine. 

I know that you know the benefits from exercise and movement. Improving energy, mood, focus, creativity, stress, anxiety, depression, bone health. You can find exercise advice for any level easy online these days. If knowing the reasons why you should and want to exercise, how come  is it not enough?. Because you need more of a strategy, a smart strategy and tools that will allow you to integrate exercise into your life in a seamless way so that you are less exposed to when life happens. 

There are barriers like a busy schedule, poor health, injuries and niggles, which can make it more difficult to stay consistent with exercise, the biggest is the mental aspect. Eg the mental barrier is that we use our busy schedule as a valid reason to why we just can’t stay consistent. Of course a busy schedule is a valid reason to some degree but hopefully not to the extent your health is suffering.

Skip the all or nothing approach.

This is not going to help you stay consistent with exercise. Don’t force yourself to the gym if you don’t want to and don’t think you need to do a hard sweaty session every time. Little goes a long way if you are consistent. A 10 min walk everyday will have a big impact on your health. 

Don’t put yourself down.

Have you told yourself Ïm not fit enough, Im too old or I have bad knees.? This will only put you off taking action and you miss out on the chance to feel a huge sense of wellbeing .

Manage expectations.

We are often impatient with results. We want to work a couple of months and be our ideal self. Focus on staying consistent, that’s a huge result in itself. Focus on how you feel, energy and mood. 

Stay consistent with exercise – barriers and solutions.

1st barrier – I hate exercising

Solution – Don’t do something you don’t like. You don’t have to go to the gym if that’s not your thing. You can exercise at home, look at other activities such as 

• Football
• Fencing
• Rock climbing
• Hiking
• Cycling
• Swimming
• Volleyball
• Skiing
• Latin dance
• Contemporary dance
• Horse riding
• Kayaking
• Surfing

There are no limits to what you can choose. Explore what might sound like a fun thing to do

2nd barrier – I’m too busy

Solution – I have seen the busiest of us make time for things that are important. It’s your decision if you want to make time for movement and exercise. Remember that you don’t need an hour to exercise. Also small movement breaks like 5 min here and there with some walking thrown into your commute can really move the needle for your health. 

3rd barrier – I’m too tired

Solution – I just want to clarify that if you are not getting 7-9 hour sleep on a regular basis that should be a priority to work on. If that box is ticked, exercise will increase your energy levels and you will feel less sluggish. 

4th barrier – I’m not fit enough, i’m too old, I have a niggle or injury

Solution – This is not a barrier at all. You might have told yourself that but as a trainer and coach I have never found that to be a problem. Why on earth would it? Most things can be adjusted and modified to your level and ability. 

As I’m writing this is I do know that you can have all these barriers because you are confused with all the information out there. That’s why we tend to do everything but the main thing – Stay consistent with easy simple habits.