How to keep moving
A few years ago I joined an exercise group with a friend. It was led by an energetic couple, they’d switch who was there from week to week, and the woman was a labor & delivery nurse and later on would become someone I’d reach out to for postnatal care after my son was born. Every week we’d do an exercise video – it usually was 40 minutes of cardio followed by some stretching or strengthening exercise. After the workout, we got to try a new vegan Shakeology shake from week to week, made with superfood ingredients and filled with antioxidants and probiotics. I got hooked to their T25 workouts very quickly (25 minutes of high intensity cardio and you're done) – my friend and I both ended up buying the dvds and I looked forward to it – yes, I actually looked forward to exercising – because of the rush it gave me and the energy I felt afterwards.
So how do you start and how do you keep moving, so that you can sustain physical moving as part of your life? Routine is definitely a key one. Building a habit. Having an actual plan and commitment to when you’ll do it and making it work in your life so that it’s a time of day that works for you.
Fun is also an extremely important component. Going to the gym was never what worked for me, and eventually I became more interested in other activities than the cardio dvds like biking because of the feeling of being free that it gave me when I’d be rolling down a hill and the fact that I could see different sights and neighborhoods. I also tried stand-up paddle boarding once and loved it, although I spent more time falling in the water than staying on the board. I made a commitment to trying this again this summer. But fun is key because it makes you want to come back for more. It’s about finding the right type of physical movement so that it’s enjoyable and that it meets other needs you may have (connecting with others, having a new hobby, wanting more adventure, expressing yourself in a creative way through dance for example).
Having a community of support is also vital, such as going to an exercise class or having a friend join a sports league with you. If you prefer to get moving alone, there is value in telling a family member or friend to help motivate you and keep you accountable if you worry that you may give up.
Setting goals can help, even if they’re small ones. It keeps you moving forward and it gives you a direction you want to move towards. Wanting to be able to run or swim a certain distance in a set time or being able to practice yoga three days a week instead of once a week.
Tracking your successes can also allow you to see your progress. We often focus on what we didn’t do, but celebrate the times you did and track it on a paper so you can see the change from week to week.
Rewarding yourself is the part people often miss. Change is never easy. So when you meet your goals, do something kind for yourself. It doesn’t need to be anything big, just something to tell yourself that you did, and you held on, and you’re still going, and that’s worth recognizing.
Still stuck? Keep exploring to find the right type of physical movement for you (again, fun is key). Reflect on if this is really the right time for me to start to work on these goals, given other things that may be happening in my life. If it’s not, try later. If it is and you feel it’s important to you, then look at what else may be getting in the way. Many people talk themselves out of exercise. It’s good to challenge those thoughts – why is this important to me? What benefits will I get if I do it? Using affirmations is good, especially if you use words that make you feel a sense of control (eg. I choose, I will) – “I choose to go for a bike ride right now because I know it improves my mood and helps me with fatigue”. Don’t let your thoughts hold you back – as the poet Horace once said, “Rule your mind, or it will rule you”.
What helps you most (or what do you think could help you most) to build physical movement in your life?
