WORKOUT MOTIVATION
How To Stop Yourself Being Kidnapped By The ‘Best’ Workout Plan
It’s more common than you think, and it stops you getting in shape
I had a client I referred to as The Hostage when talking about her to my wife.
What, you thought personal trainers wouldn’t b*tch and moan about work like you do?!
You see for every single minute of our sessions she looked miserable, as if she wanted to leave, but was being held against her will. There were lots of sighs and frequent tuts as we moved from exercise to exercise.
Now I don’t expect clients to love workouts, grinning as they squat, push, pull and lunge. Pushing yourself a little bit outside your comfort zone isn’t exactly Fun City… but most of them at least enjoy those endorphins, the feeling of doing physical work that’s benefiting them.
But The Hostage didn’t want to chat, didn’t want to be there, showed no signs of having ever met an endorphin, and yet she had paid me for the privilege of enduring this torture each week.
Wait, I know what you’re thinking:
Well I bet you were screaming No Pain No Gain at her while forcing her to do exercises she hated until she puked, you Sadist…
Nope. I asked if it was:
- the exercises
- the intensity
- an injury
- my inane chatter and Dad Jokes, or
- ANYTHING that I could change or tweak to make her enjoy the sessions at least a little bit.
No, she said, it was all fine. She’d read this was the best kind of training to do to get in shape, so let’s keep going.
And so every month she renewed her sessions and signed up for more misery.
Exercise You Should Do vs Exercise You Want To Do
Why am I telling you this random story?
It’s relevant when it comes to my goal of helping folks get (and stay) in shape after 40.
You see, if you hate exercising, you will eventually give up and stop, concluding that you just don’t like working out.
And I was relieved when, after 4 months, The Hostage did stop our sessions. She had great looking arms and a flatter stomach by now, but had had enough of the misery every week.
But, Plot Twist, I still coach her husband, who told me recently she’s been going to yoga now for 6 months and loves it, can’t get enough of it.
It wasn’t all exercise she hated… it was just MY way of exercising. And I’m OK with that.
Because herein lies the important lesson.
Yes, the way I train clients, mixing
- effective but non-hardcore strength training;
- simple mobility work; and
- short periods of high(ish) intensity cardiovascular exercise
is great. I would even argue it’s the ‘best’ for busy folks 40+, since it ticks a lot of boxes health and fitness-wise without you having to live in the damn gym. This is how I’ve managed to run my own successful facility for 15 years.
But whatever style of working out YOU choose, needs to be something you enjoy at least a little bit.
I know it’s easy to get sucked into following an exercise regime you’ve read is the ‘best’, or ‘fastest’ way to look and feel great ASAP. And there may well be studies, lots of Before & After pics and Testimonials to back up those assertions.
That doesn’t mean it’s the best for you.
For you to fit exercise into your life longer-term it needs to be something you want to do, not something you feel you should do. Because discipline and willpower are finite resources, and if you use them up by forcing yourself to work out in a way you hate, you’ll eventually just stop.
How to Find The Best Workouts For YOU
Broccoli is super-healthy. Technically I should eat it.
But I hate broccoli. So I found other veggies I enjoy instead.
Same healthy outcome, much less broccoli ;-)
And so it is with exercising and working out.
You need to find a way to get the outcomes you want (health, fitness, body shape, strength, mobility, whatever) from something you look forward to turning up and progressing with for weeks, months and years.
Maybe for you that’s fitness classes, martial arts, yoga, powerlifting, Crossfit, swimming, WHATEVER — the best workout for you is the one you’ll stick to longer-term, not one that you’ve been told you have to do.
The only thing you have to do is keep exercising and making yourself bulletproof as you get older.
Over 40, fed up and out of shape — get free access to my Programs Vault (40+ friendly programs for diet, workouts and healthy lifestyle) and you’ll be subscribed to my weekly newsletter too!
