THE ARTICLE
Believe it or not, those folks who exercise four or more hours per week are not all people without jobs, kids, or household responsibilities. In fact, many have all of the above and still get in their exercise time. One of their secrets is that they make it just as much a part of their routine as anything else they regularly do. They schedule it. Cooking for the family a few times a week takes at least four hours, more if you count shopping time. People make the time to cook because it’s important to them and to their family. Exercise is as important, if not more so. And like cooking, it takes some planning and time management. The other secret to their success with exercise is that they love doing it. Forcing yourself to do something you don’t enjoy won’t result in hours spent doing it every week.
It doesn’t help that we’re sold “instant” fitness and weight loss products every day of the week by companies promising miracle results with no effort and no investment of time. Unfortunately, “miracle results” seem to sell (even though they don’t work), and the truth doesn’t sell so well: getting in shape and losing weight takes effort. It usually involves an overhaul of both eating and exercise habits, neither of which is easy or quick to achieve.
The good news is you don’t have to accomplish everything overnight. You can’t, in fact, so just relax and start experimenting with new ways of living your life. It will take time. You might not love exercise the first or second time you try it, so you’ll have to stick with it a little longer than you might initially want to. Fortunately, particularly if you are new to exercise, it won’t take long to see some results. Even after just three weeks of exercising 3 times a week, you’ll begin to feel differently. For starters, your muscles won’t be as sore anymore, which means your body is already stronger and more able to handle the load. If you’re not enjoying your choice of exercise, tweak the activity, or change it altogether, and see what lights your fire. Your body loves exercise, really it does – so the key is finding the activities your body will enjoy most. That may take some trial and error. Don’t give up after just one session. Just like we tell our children to do, hang in there for at least a couple of months, so you can start to see the benefits and see if you like it more than you realised when you started. (Obviously, if you hate something, you can change it sooner). If you’re not feeling excited about whatever it is after a few months of concerted effort, keep looking. There are hundreds of possibilities for exercise in the world, so there’s really no way you can say you hate it all. Persistence is key to finding what works for you. One day, out of nowhere, you’ll be exercising and feeling the rush of adrenaline and endorphins that makes regular exercisers say, “Wow, this is awesome.” That feeling is not reserved for any special kind of person. It’s available to everyone, and your body hopes you’ll take the time to find it!
You’ll have more luck finding what motivates you to exercise for four hours a week if you do a bit of planning and research ahead of time. Sure, you could throw yourself into the gym and randomly try classes and the machines, but you risk hurting yourself and hating the activity because you feel like you don’t know what you are doing. A personal trainer can help you by getting to know your likes and dislikes, and designing a programme to fit your personal tastes and schedule. No worries if you’re not the gym type – personal trainers can also help you design programmes for home use or for outside. Maybe you’d like to join a class, or maybe you’d prefer to work out on your own. Maybe you’d prefer to work out to your favourite music or perhaps the sounds of nature are just the break you need when you are exercising.
Remember that anything worth having takes extra effort. At the same time, when you find the right exercise program for you, it won’t be painful or feel like drudgery. You’ll want to do it – maybe even for more than four hours a week.
YOUR FEEDBACK
Have you got any comments about this article? In an effort to provide an unbiased site for our visitors, we ask that you provide your opinion!
