Getting fit and STAYING fit
Getting fit and staying fit, two things which have actions that crossover pretty frequently. Fitness is my choice of narrative here because I am a personal trainer but this logic goes beyond fitness and training. Another great example would be dieting, we all know someone who always seems to be on a diet, ALL THE TIME. It looks exhausting, because it probably is for them too. This is the reason I find this such an important topic to touch on, this is the simple idea that ‘once I have lost the weight’ or ‘once I am in shape’ I can go back to ‘eating how I did pre diet’ or ‘not exercising’. Sorry to burst this bubble but that’s not going to happen. The reason that person seems to be always dieting or always trying to get back into the gym, is because they stopped. No, this does not mean you need to be dieting indefinitely or always be in the gym. However, if you are looking to lose some weight or keep a good level of fitness it does mean you need to have made some changes to the habits you held prior. If you achieve a goal, no matter what that goal may be, you have to change something in order to achieve it. If you didn’t then you would have been achieving it already.
Makes total sense when you think of it like this, but this may fill you with dread knowing this is a lifelong venture. We all start to find a enjoyment out of something once we get good at it, exercise is the same, no one starts off feeling fit, strong or athletic. Through practice, time spent perfecting movements and enjoying the rewards of exercise we start to develop a joy.
I would strongly recommend looking at the form of exercise that you are doing and asking yourself if you could see yourself genuinely enjoying this if you were as good as ‘insert some random influencer here’. If the answer is no here is what I would suggest you ask yourself:
Think about your personality - are you competitive?
If the answer is yes - consider if you are self competing or need external ‘competition’. If you need external, consider looking into a sport and joining a local team of some sort. (This is also great if you would never workout alone or enjoy being outside)
2. Think about exercise as more than the physical attributes it can build.
Having juicy glutes or biceps is always fun but would you rather enjoy exercise for how it makes you feel and the mental endorphin rush over having these physical things.
Trust me you’ll stick to exercise when its fun
3. Allow yourself to live life - all or nothing approach
Some people seem to go on a health kick and cut off all social occasions to ‘get in shape’. You are not going to be able to boycott social situations for the rest of your life in order to stay in shape, except that life will keep life-ing and learn how to navigate social situations with this new shift in values.
4. Start small - you do not need to go to the gym x5 a week.
To go from being a sedentary person to pounding your body x5 a week, you’re going to feel sore, you’re going to feel under recovered and you’ve told yourself you’re going to the gym x5 this week, feeling tired after x3 sessions. You have already let yourself down before getting out the starting line. If you start with realistic expectations based on your activity level and give yourself enough time for active recovery you can build to the level of fitness you aspire to have.
Remember, the gym is not all lifting weights and bodybuilding, it is an extremely versatile space which can be tailored around individual training styles.
If you are not sure where to start, shoot me a DM.