Gym Dropout

PDD

Hi Guys,

I was just wondering what people to keep themselves in the habit of going to the gym. The reason I ask is that th past 3 times Ive made a stern effort to go to the gym and workout Ive eneded stopping a while down the line and then I find it so difficult to get back into the habit of going to the gym. Most of the time its because I get so busy and then I get side tracked by something else. I was thinking maybe a good approach would be to ease myself into it over a few weeks and to throw in a few other small changes in lifestyle aswell even down to the simple things like drinking your 2L of water a day (right now I just drink gallon's of tea). I was thinking of starting off with a simple home workout based on exercising for some small part every day which would help me get into the habit of exercising physically and mentally. Then I would build on this to a more strenous exercise so that when I start going to the the gym its not a shock to my body. Any suggetions or wisdom from your own experiences would be much appreciated.

Dave

Mr E

If you haven't been exercising, you're going to feel it when you start. There is no way to get around this, so suck it up!

As for motivation, set goals. Decide what you want to achieve (and make sure its achievable in a short space of time, so you don't lose interest before you get close). Something like losing 1% body fat, losing a half stone of weight, adding a couple of pounds of muscle, being able to run at a certain speed for a certain length of time, being able to benchpress/squat your body weight, etc. Track your progress, so that you can see improvements.

Good luck, and have fun! Exercise is addictive when you start hitting your goals.

turbot

There are several layers to this:

1) Make it as easy and convenient and pleasant as possible to exercise.
This means have 1 or 2 gym bags, with everything you need; an Mp3 Player with music that motivates you, towel / flip flops if there is a spa....

2) Realise that, by living life firebrigading (constantly dealing with urgent stuff that if not tended to can cause disaster) you get into a high stress / tension way of living and your producitivity can be affected. If you exercise, you deal with some of this stress and oxegenate yourself to make smarter decisions. Do it

3) Good ways to keep yourself in line are to:
a) Get a workout partner who you don't know too well, so you push each other
b) Get a personal trainer to whom you are accountable
c) Tell lots of people you have a goal to lose a stone / make it public forcing you to commit to it

4) If you are drinking that much tea, do yourself a favour and read "The Low GL Diet" by Patrick Holford. As a self confessed caffiene junkie myself, I'd finding it amazing how eating certain foods, and taking vitamins, and cutting out sugar / coffee / most tea is leaving me stunningly more energised. Couple your gym habit with a nutrition habit and you'll have more energy

5) To help motivate yourself, you could use hypnosis

6) Write down your goals, envision yourself in better shape and healthier... and stick them up on your wall so you see them

7) Get rid of stuff in your life that wastes your time; for example

8) Ultimately it's about priorities and deciding much more strongly that you are gonna go. If I came round to your house and held a shotgun to your head and said; today your going to go to the gym; you could. Therefore you have to decide more strongly that you will.

Combine together everything that helps and you have a practical solution.

Umaro

7) Get rid of stuff in your life that wastes your time; for example

co-workers?

BossArky

turbot wrote:

7) Get rid of stuff in your life that wastes your time; for example

Girlfriend?

Ag marbh

BossArky wrote:

Girlfriend?

Spot on.

g'em

TmB wrote:

Exercise is addictive when you start hitting your goals.

oh it really is. It'll get to a stage when you can't imagine going without the gym as opposed to struggling to get yourself there. It takes times and a bit of patience, but when you start getting results, they're a huge motivator.

r3nu4l

Setting goals is a great idea.

I wanted to lose the belly and tone up the skinny arms.

My gf took a photo of me, in side profile (not a pretty sight) and I stuck it to our fridge door and the inside of the main food cupboard.

I set up my routine, trained for a 6 weeks and took another photo, slight improvement, not great but enough to make me wonder what another 6 weeks would do...

6 weeks later, another photo, not bad!
Two more photos (6 months into routine) and I like what I see

It's great to hold the before and after photos up together, that's my motivation!!