When you start exercising, it's easy to either be really soft on yourself or to push too hard. Here's a few basic tips for setting the right balance.
Make a Habit
It takes 60 days to turn a daily activity into a habit. If you're having trouble getting into the routine of exercising, just put a calendar on the wall and X-off 60 days in a row for every day you work out. As long as you create the habit and get your body used to being active, it doesn't matter what you do. This could mean a 15 minute jog around the block, a sun salutation of yoga poses or doing a few sets of push-ups. The idea is to make it not feel weird or like a chore to lace up those sneakers every day.
Keep It Simple
Your workout should be a basic game plan. The more you add to it, the easier it is to over think what you're doing and talk yourself out of it or over-do it. If you plan on doing more than one or two activities per day, memorize your circuit so you can flow directly from one activity into the next. If that's too difficult, try taking a class for a while. The peer pressure of having an instructor, a friend or even strangers watching you work out is a motivator, and if someone is telling you what to do next, you can't tell yourself to do more or less than what was planned. If you're by yourself, wear a heart-rate monitor and stay in your zone so you know when you're over-working or under-working. Force yourself not to change that routine once you set it for at least 2 months. That way you'll get the most benefit out of your current routine and see realistic results from what you're doing.
Stay Alert
Get a good night's sleep each night and lay off the caffeine. The best way to stay awake is to get plenty of rest and eat foods that are easy to digest and don't weigh you down. Eating seems like a very sedentary activity, but digestion takes a lot of energy! When you eat less, your body expends less energy throughout the day. Start your morning with hot water with lemon, herbal tea, a smoothie or a probiotic drink such as kombucha. Easing yourself into eating throughout the day allows your body to rehydrate itself and reenergize itself for the long day ahead. If you still have trouble staying alert, try elevating your workstation so that you have to stand at your desk. When you stand you move and shift your weight more, your blood flows more and it's easier to think clearly.
Don't Make Excuses
If you worked too hard yesterday, don't automatically give yourself a pass for today. Likewise, if you missed yesterday's workout, it won't do you any good to run twice as far today. If you make a mistake or didn't do your routine quite right, learn from it and move on. You can always try again today with what you learned yesterday. It's more important to keep the healthy habit than to vary your routine to try and balance it out. And if something is always stopping you from working out or doing your plan like you planned, treat your time like an appointment. What you do for yourself is important too and shouldn't be blown off or pushed aside for extenuating circumstances.
Take an Off Day
All of that said, it helps to close out the week and have a fresh start by taking one off day. Usually people choose Sunday or Friday, but it can be any day you like. It also helps your muscles to recover and get ready to be pushed further for the coming week. Try not to overdo your time off either: Taking more than two weeks off from working out will set back any previous gains you have made.
Forming healthy, balanced habits is not always easy, which is why not everyone has them. However with great patience, the willingness to keep trying again and again, a forgiving mindset for your mistakes and healthy pats on the back when you reach your milestones, before you realize it you'll already be in great shape. Until next time!
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