So you’re an average guy or gal who doesn’t love exercise and has never been consistent. You exercise once or twice a week but you don’t really care or put in much effort, you just do it because you think you should and are attempting to lose a few kilos. Perhaps you’re in that vicious cycle, going to the gym balls out for a while, then life gets in the way or you get super busy watching Love Island and forget the gym exists. You want to be fit (sometimes) but deep down, you doubt exercise will ever be for you.
I worked in an awesome strength and conditioning gym and owned my own PT business for a number of years and we’d always see people coming in either burnt out, confused or both and the fitness world is getting more confusing everyday! You’ve got all these fitness enthusiasts at your finger tips, spamming social media claiming their way of doing something is best. It mean make exercise feel overwhelming, like where the hell do you start? What do you choose? What’s the best type??????
Well if you hate running, you’d rather watch paint dry than go into a weights room and you have zero desire to ever do a Zumba class, then these aren’t the best style of exercise for you. No matter how good a fitness regime claims to be, if you dread exercising in that way, you will never continue to do it. If you find something you actually like, you have a much higher chance of doing it for the rest of your life and not just as a stupid New Years resolution.
In some cases, finding something you actually want to do can open the door to different forms of exercise. My love of fitness started from distance running. I then started doing body building splits and that led to power lifting then CrossFit.
Everyone is different and you need to spend time finding something you like. This could take months, years even and it will probably change many times in your life. Just because you lifted some weights, tried a yoga class or went for a jog once and hated it, it doesn’t mean you always will or that all exercise sucks.
What if we consider all the reasons to exercise that aren’t appearance based? I believe the more people exercise, the more they’ll enjoy it because they’ll fall in love with the benefits, which extend far beyond your appearance.
Like not being an old frail fuck for one. Do you want to be able to lift yourself off the floor if you fall? How about having strong bones so you don’t break a hip? What about being able to run without getting puffed? Being strong enough to pick up heavy things? Walk the stairs and not die? Carry your own suitcase? Sleep better? Increase energy? Ease stress? The list goes on and on and on, much like me sometimes.
Okay you’ve convinced me, so where the fuck do I begin Helena? So glad you asked. Explore!
Try different gyms, train outside at a boot camp, try yoga, F45, kick boxing, dancing, cycling or group classes. Join a park run group or a hiking group. Try a social sport! If none of this feels appealing, find a good personal trainer that you get along with, ask your friends or read reviews about people. This way you will actually want to see them and attend the sessions. Make bookings with your personal trainer in advance so you’re more likely to go. If this still sounds unappealing, find an environment that you enjoy exercising in, rather than the exercise itself. When I used to work at a gym, the social aspect and community of members was often the thing that kept our clients consistent. They didn’t are for the exercise much, but seeing their friends after work every day? Hell yeah I’ll go to the gym!
Once you find something you enjoy, I reckon you’ll naturally want to progress and learn. It will take time but I promise exercise will become less chore like more you ingrain it in your life and build strong habits.
Okay look this all sounds well and good but if you’re sitting there thinking ‘Fuck no I still don’t want to’ maybe you truly won’t ever find something you enjoy. Some people just aren’t big exercisers. If this sounds like you, my advice is to set some reasonable, achievable goals that you‘ll feel good about and stick to. I’ve seen so many people dive in to hour long sessions, five to six times a week. Then they get overwhelmed, crash and burn. Which starts that damn vicious cycle again. So how do we do this?
Start by penciling in 3 x 20 minute exercise sessions a week or 2 x 30 minute sessions a week. This could be one walk/jog, a home body weight circuit or home yoga. Try Google, YouTube or Pinterest for these, they have heaps of them. It’s pretty hard to make excuses for such small amounts of time. If you start small and build your routines, your might even find yourself enjoying it, heaven forbid.
I wish you luck on your endeavour and if you need any help or want some advice please message me!
Yours in fitness,
Helena