5 Tips To Create An Environment For Exercise
Exercise. That word can bring up many different emotions in us. Some will feel dread. Some stress. Some excitement. Wherever you are in that spectrum, this post will help you learn some tips that can help reduce that stress and maybe even help you look at it as a joyful movement instead of dread. If it brings you excitement typically, hopefully, this post will still alleviate some stress and make it even more enjoyable.
Know your why so you can plan.
If you don't have your why. Find it. You can be told to exercise repeatedly, and we "know" it is essential. However, that is not always going to work to motivate us to move. Intentionally move. My, why came first because of weight loss goals. I now thankfully don't move for that reason alone, and I highly encourage you to find other reasons. Mentally it is not a good place to be for your motivation and can cause disordered eating patterns and increase the risk of under-fueling for exercise if that is your only reason why. My "why" now is for my mental health, reducing the risk of my cancer coming back, being active for my kids and grandkids (someday), and strength. Now I can also say for the enjoyment of it. However, I do not enjoy strength training, but I do it for health reasons and to reduce the risk of injury of what I do love doing, running! Find your way to motivate your how.
Schedule it. Plan it. Most things don't happen if we aren't told to do it (a job) or aren't intentional, and it isn't in front of us. I understand busy. I'm a mom of 4, working on my master's, having my own business, and building a house. Life is busy for most people. So if I don't plan my exercise schedule and put it in my calendar from time to time, it is easy to skip it. When we plan it, we remove the stress of "when do I do it? Or what do I do today? Types of questions/stress. Most people who do ultras have a plan, print it off, and schedule it in their day. I believe that should happen with all exercise. Even if it is a class at a gym or a dance party with your kids if you aren't enjoying exercise, this is even more important, but find what you do enjoy first before adding in what you don't. We put our doctor's appointments, our outings with friends, and our kid's (if you have them) shows in our calendar because they are important, and we don't want to miss them. Do that with exercise because your why is important.
Prepare
Prepare. Okay, if you've ever run a race before, you know you need some stuff for it, and rushing around the morning is too stressful. Have it ready the night before. When we have no clue where stuff is (yep, this is me too often), it creates stress and can be like, screw this. We don't want that. Have a box for your exercise stuff. Set out what you need the night before. Or be really prepared and wear your workout clothes to bed (I do this, I don't like mornings). If you know you will work out after work, take the bag with you and have it ready the night before. Fill up water bottles. Have shoes by the door or in the car. Keep an extra set in the car.
"Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day-in, and day-out."
- Robert Collier
Celebrate good times ;).
Reward/Celebrate. Our brains like to have fun or appreciate any reward for hard work. Our brains like easy and play more than work most of the time. When exercise is challenging (most of the time, it is), it is even more important to teach our brains that exercise will come with rewards. Sometimes (usually down the road), it's intrinsically. The prize is the gift of less stress, less inflammation (exercise can increase it temporarily depending on the type but then decreases it overall), and better mentally. A lot of the time, it needs to be extrinsic, external rewards. Find what works for you. However, I urge you not to have it be around food. Yes, I will be running and thinking, oh, I can't wait for my pickle and oranges to the next aid station. What I'm talking about is when we use it as a reward, and we have the belief we can only eat "XYZ" because we exercised. This gets into disordered eating patterns, and we don't want that. New shoes, new workout clothes, new art, medals, travel, or a fun girl's night to celebrate are all great rewards to trick your mind into this is fun. Exercise. Yes, those two words can go together.
Lastly, community. I love a good run on my own. I also ❤️ time with family or friends moving. Hiking, swimming, classes, running, or walking is more motivating if you have someone to meet somewhere and pass the time with. I know some people who don't like to exercise with others because of the talking, so they go quietly together, whatever works. Maybe you are good on your own, great. However, if you are struggling to move, you need community. I know I did when I first started. I needed childcare too. So classes are what I did, and I got to meet new friends and get my workout in. I couldn't afford the childcare package, so I made it a priority and worked in the childcare for trade. This helped me not allow excuses to overtake me. Staying at home and doing a class on the screen was not motivating enough for me. I needed a lot of outside motivation from an instructor telling me what to do. I also was broke, so I found a good deal and made a trade. Where there is a will, there is a way.
Here are some ways (links are local to me) to be part of a community and move. Check if your health department has something like this. Ottawa County has a step it up program to check out the parks in our area and walk! Rewards are included too! Check out the link below. Running clubs are another great option. They have great support wherever your running level is. Holland running club is a local one, and so is Gazelle Running clubs in Michigan.
https://www.hollandrunningclub.org
I hope these tips are helpful or a good reminder to reduce stress with exercise. When we remove stressors and have a plan, it can make it easier just to do it. Then we can celebrate and help create a healthy pattern our brain will crave in a good way. I also highly recommend a coach if you decide classes aren't your thing. For many reasons, but that will come later. As a trainer, I have had periods where I had a trainer even. I learned more from others, and I also needed the extra outside motivation. It's okay to seek help. Now I’m off to go find races to do (another tip ;).)!
Blessings- Bea Well
RDN, CPT, CHWC
Cold winter run photo shoot. I got my shirt from an amazing marathon in Florida! Marathon Mania. One of the best running shirts ever!
