Ahh January 1st. A day for reflection, promises and hangovers. After that last one fades and the brain fog begins to lift, you may find yourself staring deep into the face of the promise you said you were going to keep for yourself.
Perhaps for you, this was the year of the gym. Why not, lots of people do it. In fact gym memberships sky rocket this time of year. Most gyms anticipate this particular promise and throw sales in our faces like small children fling strained peas.
You went out, signed up and bought some really awesome sneakers and perhaps some new workout clothes. Good for you. Perhaps you've even been there a few times. You jumped on the treadmill, then the elliptical and then maybe you even did some weight training. Then, the next day it starts to happen. The effect of sudden strain on your muscles after months or even years of non-movement begins to set in. Rolling over is agonizing, and the idea of getting out of bed, well that thought is too much to bear. So, you take a day off from the gym. That's okay, you don't want to over do it in your first week. Injury is never the way to go.
Sometimes however, that motivation tends to slip. Sure you took that first day off because your muscles were in total revolt and the simplest task, such as breathing brought you pain. But, what happens next is all too familiar. Maybe it doesn't happen in the first week or even the first month, but for so many it does happen.
Life gets in the way. Perhaps you skipped a couple of days because work was just so insane. Or perhaps you had a doctors appointment or maybe one of your kids got sick. All of the sudden, those nights off turn into weeks off, which suddenly turns into a month so on and so forth until suddenly you are back at January 1st again making the same promise you did last year.
Oh what a vicious cycle indeed! Here's the deal, for some reason the human race in general is fantastic at making excuses. And, really let's face it life moves a lot faster and there are so many more things to distract us than there used to be. So how do you get off the cycle that is currently speeding downhill at break neck speed with you holding on for dear life? Simply put, stop making excuses.
Yes, these excuses make perfect sense in your head when you think about them. And indeed, they could be very valid excuses. Not every event in life is planned. What you need to do is set a reasonable schedule for working out. Sure, 6 days a week for 2 hours a day sounds like a good idea but, for a lot of us it just isn't feasible.
So, here's what you do. Take a look at your usual week. Start out with three days. Maybe two of them are on the weekend, and only one during the week, but that is still better than nothing. Then as things progress and you actually start enjoying it try adding a fourth day. Don't be unrealistic about the time you actually have available. If you can't do a full circuit on all of the days, just make sure you leave time for something. For example, you have enough time to do part of your workout, maybe just do half an hour on the treadmill and fifteen on the elliptical and skip the weights.
Long story short, this is up to you. It's your life and your body. The benefits of working out have been measured by a bajillion doctors and independent labs. They really aren't making it up. What you need to do is make the promise to yourself, or if it helps make it to someone else. The end results will be worth it, and hey, if you can tack an extra few years on your life that should more than make up for the time you're actually at the gym.
