This Year, Start to Exercise BEFORE the New Year

Hate to say it, but we are less than two months out before the start of 2019! It might be cliché to have a resolution around getting back to exercise, or increasing the frequency of your weekly exercise routine, but I think it’s a great one, to be honest! Why not spend time working on yourself? Why not work towards a healthier version of you? Why not sweat a little, at least a few times a week? So I say, get moving now (or sooner rather than later).  Don’t wait for the new year, don’t wait for those extra holiday pounds to weigh you down, don’t wait for the January chill to stop you in your tracks.

But how do you make change happen? How do you commit yourself and maintain that momentum? How do you manage to add something else to your plate when it is already heaping? We all have our reasons to do and to not do something, so here’s a list of ways that might help get you doing:

    Figure out what motivates YOU – This is probably the hardest and most important element of this exercise (see what I did there?). You need to dig deep and figure out why exercise and physical activity is important to you. This is an important step in convincing yourself that you can and should exercise!
    Figure out what you WANT TO DO – let’s face it, not everyone is cut out for the gym (or for me, running!). Decide what you want to do to be active and go from there. Sure, some forms of exercise are more expensive than what may seem reasonable, but is it reasonable to do nothing?
    Set REASONABLE goals – We often set lofty goals for ourselves, which is great! A lot of the time however, when we fail at that goal we often get discouraged and give up. If this sounds like you with exercise (for example, you want to work out 4 days a week), start with a more achievable goal (say 2 times a week) and build from there.
    Write it into your schedule – Putting your exercise routine into your scheduler will hold you accountable. Luckily you won’t get fired if you don’t follow through, but set a plan in place to make up for your missed exercise appointment so that you can reach your goal(s) (for example, maybe you have a pre-designed 20 minute home bodyweight workout you can squeak in after dinner).
    Incorporate exercise into your family time – Can you convince someone in your family to ‘get their sweat on’ with you? Maybe you would rather go solo, but the busy parent might not have this option… so get your kids moving with you!
    Get out of your own way! – Don’t self-sabotage. I know it sounds harsh, but all I mean to say is that you should stop stopping yourself from achieving your goals! You might fall down, but you can get back up and push forward.

I hope you have found this list helpful and it gets you at least one step closer to where you envision yourself being. As always, if there is ever a concern regarding an injury, whether current or from your past, feel free to contact us to set up an appointment with one of our rehab specialists so that they too can help you achieve your goals!