UNITED STATES—If there is one thing I have learned about exercising is that it requires discipline and a plan. For those out there who work full-time jobs, or more than one part-time job, getting that exercise in on a daily basis can indeed be a chore. How so? There are days where you are just mentally and physically exhausted. Your mind tells you that you need to exercise, but your body is saying otherwise. So what do you do in such instances?
Well, you have to make choices. Are you willing to put your health at risk by not exercising? That is the psychology so many of us have to encounter, but at the same time we all deserve a break. So this is when the discipline rule comes into play. You have to make a schedule. The thing that I have discovered about keeping your exercise regimen intact is to ensure you stick to a set time each day or several days of the week.
Once you pencil that time in, make sure you stay consistent with that time because you’ve programed your mind to prepare to exercise during that 30-minute, 60-minute or 90-minute interval. Look, I am not going to tell anyone how long they should exercise, that is completely up to them. All I will say is it is better to do some form of physical movement than no movement at all. Of course you might have a day or two in the week where you fall short on the time interval you committed to, but if that transpires, do your best to make up the difference the next day that you hit the gym or exercise at home.
Varietize your exercise plans as well people, you might do the elliptical one day, the treadmill the next, the bicycle the next, weight training later, sit-ups, jumping jacks and lunges. Change things up to develop a rhythm and prevent the monotony that could force you to sit down instead of getting up. Hell, take a few jogs around the block or a nice walk to get that body moving more than it has in the past.
The biggest issue so many of us have with exercising is the realization that it’s a chore, we look at it as a job and that is something we have to change and we have to change it immediately. Why? It just gives us that much of a reason NOT to do it. Think about your mind, your body and your spirit each time you exercise. The more you get into that discipline of making exercise a norm, you don’t see it as a chore or a challenge to do it each day.
If you accomplished the goal on Monday, there is no reason you can do it on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. This is not saying you have to exercise 7 days a week, but I would argue at least 4-5 days is key to ensure you keep your health stabilized and moving in the right direction not the wrong one. Sometimes when you tell yourself you cannot you have to tell yourself you can.
