Have you EVER enjoyed a workout? Like EVER? If you’re anything like me, you’ve had some workouts you’ve LOVED, some you’ve been ‘ok’ with, and some you’ve frankly HATED! I know, I know…how can I, someone who’s been a fitness trainer and nutrition coach for over 15 years possibly HATE a workout? Well…it’s this thing called HUMANITY! Although I like to often claim I’m a superhero, and my kids at various times in their lives would claim I WAS, much to their disbelief, I am ONLY a mere mortal, which means I have all the feelings you have. I can be motivated one day, and the next want to be as lazy as a slug. I can love how I felt doing yesterdays workout, and today it can feel like I’ve never done a workout in my life and I HATED it! So…how can we get to the place where we have more fun workouts than not?
It’s this thing called ‘Self-Talk’! I do it all the time, and it can be SO helpful as I try to find more fun in my workouts. We can ‘self-talk’ ourselves into doing anything. We can ‘self-talk’ ourselves into grabbing 2 donuts and eating them (yes, I’ve done this too!). We can ‘self-talk’ ourselves into setting an alarm and getting up and going to work our job. We can ‘self-talk’ ourselves into making all those phone calls to set appointments, or pay bills. We can ‘self-talk’ ourselves into cleaning our home. Not all of the things we talk ourselves into doing are necessarily ‘fun’ in the moment, but the end result is definitely a feeling of accomplishment! And, we can either choose to do it with a horrible attitude, or we can crank up some music, listen to a podcast, and try to make something that’s ‘not so fun’ turn into something that can be much more enjoyable!
When it comes to self-talk in working out, the start of this self-talk begins before your workout ever begins! Quite frankly, if you’ve ever tried having a solid workout regimen before, answer this question for me :: “What is the most difficult part of your workout?” [pause] Do you know? I’ll wait…
The most challenging part
Ok, if you’re unsure, I’ll answer that for you. The answer to ‘What is the most difficult part of your workout?” :: STARTING!! Yep! Your workout hasn’t even begun and you’ve talked yourself out of it! You’d THINK that the hardest part of your workout would be when you’re running the fastest or when you’re lifting the heaviest, but no, I don’t believe that’s the case. For most people, once you’re in the middle of your workout, or even 5 minutes in, you’re committed! You’ve already put on your workout clothes, you’ve put on your running shoes, you’ve gotten down the road on your run, you’ve gotten to the gym, or you’ve set out your weights and started lifting…you’re committed! Once you’re committed and have started, you’re most likely going to finish it out.
STARTING is the most difficult part because we constantly have conversations with ourselves in our head. ‘Kelly, do your workout’…’oh, I’ll do it in an hour.’ […an hour later] ‘Ok, Kelly, it’s been an hour, do your workout.’ But, I can find all kinds of reasons to put it off. I can suddenly get hungry, or I can be so tired cuz it’s been such a busy day, so I start to rationalize why it would be ‘ok’ not to do my workout. Or, I can be in the middle of writing or working on a project and I’ll convince myself I need to finish. Or…I’ll just frankly be lazy on my couch and just NOT want to make it happen! So…HOW CAN WE HIT THE START BUTTON MORE OFTEN SO THAT WE FIND THE FUN IN OUR WORKOUTS?
There’s a science to it. Ya wanna hear it? It’s kinda complicated. The answer is…[drum roll]…
GO! GO! GO! Yeah, that’s the nitty gritty of it — there is no magic and no scientific formula (sorry, I was kidding about the science). There is only this thing called ‘self-discipline’ and sometimes, we have to just FORCE the habit. Once we FORCE that habit, it can become fun more often than not. But unless you actually start saying ‘yes’ more often than ‘no’, you won’t even begin to formulate that habit to where it can start to become fun. AND…I can almost guarantee that the HARDEST part of your workout, the STARTING…THAT part will never be fun. That’s just a fact. So, you WILL have to self-talk yourself into STARTING, but when you do that, and you allow yourself to speak positively about how that workout will affect you, they become more enjoyable. It WILL not cause you to flip a switch to always wanting to do it, but it WILL cause you to enjoy your workouts more often because you will have developed this sense of accomplishment over time. Your body will start feeling better. You’ll feel stronger. You’ll feel more confident. You’ll feel good about yourself. So THAT is the key to having workouts become more fun…which MEANS…[long pause]…you’ll just need to practice DOING IT for a while until it’s more habitual and your body feels better to where you just don’t want to stop how great it’s making you feel — THAT’S where the fun truly lies — in how you’re enjoying the effects the workouts are having on your body!
When you don’t know what to do
It may be that you really struggle to figure that out on your own. Maybe you feel ‘lost’ as to where to even begin! If that’s the case, you may need to join a fitness group, grab a buddy to setup regular workout times, or find an online program that gives you exact workouts to follow so you’re not guessing. Incorporate music if that gets you going. Yell at the trainer on the screen of your online fitness program if you have to! LOL
In all my years as a trainer, most of my clients came to me initially because they just couldn’t figure out what to do on their own AND they also felt that they needed that person (aka ME) pushing them along the way, motivating them, and calling them into action! So…DO WHAT YOU NEED TO DO to make it work! Even I as a fitness trainer have at various times in my life joined a program. I’ve joined online fitness programs for inspiration and motivation to push myself, I’ve joined the gym, joined online challenges, etc. There are many of these kinds of things you can do to really take the brain work out of it and just follow what someone else is telling you to do. And that’s OK and in fact ENCOURAGED!
BOTTOM LINE :: You need to find something that you will stick to that will help workouts become a more enjoyable part of your life. Also incorporating a good mental attitude around it can make all the difference!
After selling my physical fitness business years ago, I created an online fitness program after some of my clients begged me to still offer something. While they would have loved to still have me as an ‘in person’ trainer, they also just wanted me as their trainer. They had developed a relationship with me and were comfortable with me, so even though they had me now through video workouts, they still felt like I was their trainer. That program took me some time to develop, but I did what they asked — I developed an online fitness program where I created workout videos, nutrition guidance, and motivation to help continue to push them in their journey. Not only was I able to help many women, I also fulfilled a dream I had for a while by creating an online fitness program.
Real Hard Truths
After I was smacked in the face with betrayal trauma, I shut down that online fitness program for a while because I was so LOST. I was foggy-headed, couldn’t focus, was in the fetal position, and didn’t feel capable of really helping others for a period of time. It’s all about those ‘cycles’ in life we go through, right? Sometimes we just have to step away from the norm, heal, grow, and if the time is right, we can revamp again. You likely know exactly what I’m talking about…maybe not the same exact story, but you understand based on the cycles we all go through in this life — seasons for everything!
I will say that I have now come through a DEEP place of healing and growth. And I’m happy to say that I have completely redesigned my online fitness program and have relaunched it. I haven’t talked about it much yet because I’m still at the very beginning of even getting back out into the public eye after disappearing [read my blog post “Why I disappeared for 1400 days”], but that program is revamped, and a lot of work went into making that happen, and I’m so proud of that. You can check it out here on my website on my shop page. It’s called ‘Mindful Movement Membership’. You can find it HERE.
So…with THAT…let’s get to it! Me included! In fact, no joke, I’m gonna get on my shoes right now and head out for a walk — not even a crazy wild workout, just a walk…but it’s part of my self-care day, and I’m gonna go do it! And I’m gonna have FUN! 😉
