Today one of my clients said to me:
“I’ve got a wedding that day... can we train earlier?”
To which I paused for a moment to reabsorb what he said and
then replied, “Of course.”
You see many people (probably him included at some stage)
would say “I’ve got a wedding that day so I can’t train.” Taking the first
hurdle or potential issue as enough reason to not exercise.
There’s an old phrase:
“Those who want to, will find a way.
Those who don’t want to, will find an excuse.”
There will be endless barriers and seemingly legitimate
reasons to NOT exercise throughout your life. But is your glass half empty or
half full? It’s how you approach these potential issues that will dictate your
frequency of exercise and, ultimately, your progress (or lack of).
Here’s a few simple ideas for the millions of people that
this applies to:
- Pack your kit and take it with you or leave it on your car seat: If you go home to get changed, the chances are you’ll have a quick sit down, maybe have a snack and soon decide it’s got too late for the gym now. Instead, have your kit staring at you as a constant reminder it’s a gym day
- Exercise before work (1): Your end of day might not be set in stone and work may drag on causing you to miss the gym. Or, you might be tempted by other things to fill your evenings with like social occasions, seeing friends, spending time with family or, just relaxing. Get the gym out of the way first thing and you’ll know your evenings are yours to do as you wish.
- Exercise before work (2): If you wake up late or genuinely need more rest some days this gives you a chance to fall back on evening training as a back up. For example, you wake up and REALLY need another hour, that’s fine. Because you usually train before work you now need to go to your back up option of training that evening. Always have a back up
- Train in your lunch break: This might not be practical for some people as they’re nowhere near a gym or there aren’t shower facilities at work. If you can visit the gym in your lunch break then you’ll be forced to not waste time, train short and intensely and you’ll probably end up fitting in more into a short period. Alternatively, consider outdoor training, bodyweight work and running. If your offices have shower facilities then there’s no reason why you can’t train for 30 mins at lunch time.
- Meet a friend: If you’re reading this blog then you have some sort of conscience as you’re looking for ways to improve yourself. If you have a conscience then you won’t want to let down your friend. Make plans and stick to them.
- Hire a personal trainer: People utilise personal trainers for all kinds of purposes. One common one is to keep them regimented. If you’ve booked something in your diary and their diary and you’ve paid for it then you’re much less likely to miss it.
- Book into a class: Similar concept as the PT idea. Booking yourself into classes is a great way to make yourself accountable and also not go to the gym “later” but plan something precise that means you’re in the gym at the exact time of the class.
