So you have been inspired by an athlete, sportsperson or
friend and set yourself a challenge. You want to make yourself stronger,
faster, complete a challenging event or just get healthier. You’ve even
announced it on Facebook, Twitter. The challenge is on!
Then comes the reality check.
Even though you know you should get your workout in, life
gets in the way. Running around after the kids means all you want to do is flop
on the sofa at 7pm or those extra 10 minutes in bed when the alarm shrieks is
far more appealing than dragging your tired behind out to the gym or perhaps
the extra glass of Cabernet at the party should be ordered, you know, ‘to be
social’. All in all, it doesn’t take much to derail a finely thought-out plan
if you don’t put some fail-safes in.
Exercise should preferably be set firm in your schedule. It
should part of your daily and weekly schedule that it doesn’t require thinking
about to do. Think of exercise as a chore and it will be. Think of it as
necessary as say, eating lunch and you make time for it in your busy life.
However, it takes time to form the habit. So how can you make the challenge you
have set, be successful?
Tip 1 - Task yourself for success!
Near-impossible challenges are a sure-way of feeling overwhelmed
and lead to giving up before you even get going. Breaking up a big challenge
into sub-sets is a great way to prevent overload of your schedule (and mind!). Set yourself weekly and monthly objectives and tick your achievements off bit by bit. If you’ve never been a big runner but want to run a marathon, then start with
shorter distances and build through; adding a little more training and a few
races in as you go. If your goal is to workout 5 days a week and you currently
don’t even know where your sports bra is, then start with 1-2 days per week and
add in extra workouts.
Tip 2 - Be the early bird!
 |
Be like Superman......
but perhaps set your alarm a little earlier, |
It’s a fact of life. We busy ourselves throughout the day, get bogged down with
conference calls, meetings, children not napping when scheduled. Cut out the
risk and set that alarm an hour earlier and get yourself up and out. Preparing
workout gear the night before helps. Once complete, you’ll be left with that
smug feel-good factor, safe in the knowledge that the rest of your day can pan
out as it likes but you’ve got some solid training in the bag.
Tip 3 - Buddy-Up!
It’s more difficult to bail out on a workout if you know your buddy is waiting outside in the cold to meet you. Find someone who is working towards a similar goal and enjoy the friendly competitiveness of working out with another person whilst being held accountable for the workout!
Tip 4 - It’s all about you!
Time to invest in you and make yourself a priority. Block off an hour in your
schedule as you would a meeting or coffee-chat with friends. If you don’t look
after yourself, who else will? Set an alarm and go.
Tip 5 - Don’t be fooled by your body
Ever gone to put your training shoes on or even gotten out of
the door and felt every ounce of your being, battling the urge to go back
inside and put your feet up? Your brain will put up an Oscar winning
performance trying to persuade you to go and rest. Some kind of integral early
human survival mode that tries to make you conserve energy just in case you are
chased by a sabre-tooth tiger later or something. However, with the lack of
jaw-snapping predators in the majority of gyms these days you can easily
overcome this feeling. Most of the time, once you begin your warm-up and feel
the initial rush of oxygen, you will carry on! If you genuinely feel too tired
then you can stop or alter/scale your session with no harm done.
Tip 6 - Track, Log, Blog!
See how far you have come and what improvements you have made by tracking your
journey. You can track everything from workouts to nutrition to results and
everything in between and there are lots of Fitness Apps available that make this easy. Alternatively if your style is more 'old school' then use a diary or notepad to track your progression. Take your journey to a public forum such as Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and
let your friends know what your up to and gather support! Technology is now on your side too; there are plenty of gadgetry to adorn your body or kit that can keep track of steps, heart rate, sleep patterns - the list goes on!
Happy Training Friends! TF x
