5 steps to help you get back into a fitness routine?

The most important part of any fitness regime/ lifestyle is consistency. Without being consistent you wont achieve your goals, or if you do the results will only be short lived. In order to get the true benefits of exercise, whether that’s from a mental health standpoint, hormonal health, longevity or female health, we need to be consistent. Therefore, if we are looking to getting back into a fitness routine we need to take this into consideration to avoid making the classic mistakes that people usually make when starting/re starting exercise plans.

Step 1) Start small: Going too fast too soon is a recipe for injury. We find if you throw the kitchen sink at people straight away they tend to give up quicker. We want to start with small actionable steps that we know we can keep and stick to. For example booking a PT session, group class, reformer Pilates session before the week begins help to increase commitment and also requires you to go through your diary and book in time for you to exercise before social and work commitments get in the way. Oftentimes, the hardest part about getting started  is simply figuring out how to get to a facility or space to actually exercise—and not the exercise itself. “Just showing up is more than half the battle,”. Instead of worrying about the workout, instead prioritising booking the time off and how you are getting there.

Step 2) What do you enjoy: trying a different variety of exercise at the start (swimming, tennis, yoga, spin, weight training, boxing) can help you discover different practices that you may enjoy more. It should be of no surprise but we tend to stick to routines and habits we enjoy more.

Step 3) Don’t be so hard on yourself: Even some of the most motivated fitness personalities have days they just don’t want to exercise, and that’s okay. On the days you aren’t feeling up to it, avoid judging yourself or reading too much into the fact you don’t have the motivation to exercise that day. Understanding that up front can help you embrace those difficult feelings and move past them, rather than internalizing them or viewing them as signs of weakness. An all or nothing attitude, where there is no flexibility in a new routine can lead to an increase risk of you just throwing in the towel at the first sign of failure.

Step 4) Enlist help: Even some of the best trainers I know have trainers themselves. By having someone create a plan for you, it can help give you a guide on what to do so you have structure, can help keep the workouts interesting and new and teach you new skills helping improve your confidence. On top of that it can provide you with support during the early stages of your routine where you may need more accountability.

Step 5) I get to: I think it is always important to remember the vocabulary we use when we are thinking about exercise and our fitness regimes. Using a phrase like “I get to” rather than “I have to” should not only create positive associations with exercise but also avoid creating negative ones. Remember there are many people who would love to but can’t exercise. If we can view exercise as a celebration of what our body can do and remember that by exercising we are adding to the quality of our lives in our later years we should have more motivation to continue with our fitness regimes long into the future. This simple shift in our vocabulary will help create a more optimistic, I-can-do-it mentality that will power you through times where that motivation is tested.

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