We have our favorite, or maybe not so favorite, exercise workouts and we try to stay “motivated” and keep them on track. But sometimes that motivation fades, our good intentions drift, and we lose our momentum forward.
To do?
Well, while there are plenty of motivating tips and tricks, and just self-discipline, and that’s not fun, there is a way you can make your exercise workouts more regular and more effective.
Add a word to “exercise” and / or “training”. It is a powerful word when used correctly, but be careful because there are traps that come with the incorrect use of said power.
The word is … “routine”.
Yes, that.
Many people approach exercise in an informal and complementary way. They look at all the things they are already doing and try to figure out where they can add some exercise. Your motivation? They really SHOULD get more exercise.
So they work out when, where and if they can, and life intrudes. Since exercise has gotten into some niche in their lives, it’s easy to pull it out again and put it aside when something “more important” happens.
Now, we often already USE “routine”, as in “exercise routine” or “exercise routine”, but generally, we simply mean the group and / or sequence of exercises that we have chosen to perform.
We really need to think of “routine” in the sense of a series of regularly scheduled and practiced exercises. A regular workout should be “penciled”, so to speak, on our daily calendar, and other things scheduled around it.
“No, I can’t go to the bake sale at 2:00 PM. That’s when I exercise.”
Oh, I understand that sometimes we will have to make adjustments due to life’s obligations, but our exercise should be considered so important that it becomes part of, an important part of our day to day … dare I say it … routine.
Once you’ve made exercise a “routine” part of your life, who needs motivation? Do you need motivation to shower, brush your teeth, or get dressed before going out?
Well, having seen some of the people at the local discount store, I withdraw the question.
The point is, once exercise becomes part of your life, it becomes a routine act, you don’t have to stay motivated. In fact, you will find that you feel like something is wrong when you miss, or are about to miss, a workout.
My other point is that since the word has many meanings, some only slightly different, we need to make sure that our exercise routine becomes part of our daily routine and becomes … well … routine.
I’m not going to say that you have to make your training “fun” all the time. But, if you do the same thing day after day, week after week, you will get bored. So, try changing it a bit. Get into an exercise routine, but don’t immerse yourself in a routine to the point where it’s too much.
Make sense?
Okay, set, set, exercise. Start that training and make it an integral part of your life.
