Learn to Love your Workout Routine

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After my “least favorite” of my workouts… HIIT

After my “least favorite” of my workouts… HIIT

  • 11 years ago I hated anything to do with fitness.

  • 9 years ago I would only workout in the privacy of my own home (so no one would see)

  • 8 years ago I got certified to teach TurboKick... But never planned to teach.

  • 6 years ago I taught my first TurboKick class.

  • 4 years ago I surprised myself that I not only had learned to enjoy fitness, but I was okay with early morning workouts.

  • 4 years ago I “found” my soulmate workout in PiYo, and immediately got certified to teach.

  • 3.5 years ago someone convinced me I would be a good personal trainer, and after some initial persuasion, (hesitantly) I jumped.

  • This morning I woke up excited to start a new and (always) challenging day of helping people change their lives.

  • This morning, instead of convincing myself to workout I have to convince myself to skip or heavily modify my workout to allow my body to recover from my injury last week (Big toe injuries are the worst!)

So why do I share this timeline with you? Because I want you to know it’s possible to learn to not only tolerate, but love and look forward to your fitness and wellness routine.

“Yeah right, Erin.  It worked for you, but I’ve been doing this fitness thing for years now, and I still dread it on most days.”

If you’re one of the people thinking this to yourself right now, I’ve got some tough love for you.  You’re doing it wrong.

Fitness doesn’t have to be, and shouldn’t be a terrible, horrible ordeal to endure.  In fact, I’ll go so far to say that if you don’t like something, there’s a high possibility you don’t have to do it… and you’ll STILL be able to find a way to get the results that you want. Seriously.

That being said, your routine doesn’t have to look like anyone else’s routine.  Do you need to get your heart rate up? Yes.  Do you need to do some kind of work to maintain (if not gain) your lean muscle mass? Also yes.  But do you have to run, do CrossFit, or circuit work on the machines in the gym.  Nope.

If you don’t like running, don’t run.  In fact, unless you love running (or decide to go crazy and run for a cause like me), there is no reason you should ever run for long distances.  Sprinting, maybe… but I find that as much as I dislike running, I tolerate sprinting much better (probably because it’s a short distance and I know it’ll be over quickly), even though I’m a slow sprinter.

There are plenty of other ways to get your heart rate up from walking briskly to ballroom dancing. You could go for a hike, grab a pair of skates, or dust off your old bicycle.

If you don’t love the idea of lifting barbells at the gym, you don’t have to.  Integrate your strength training by doing bodyweight workouts at home, rock climbing, or using equipment like TRX Straps or equalizer bars.  OR try something completely different like aerial silks or pole fitness (we’re talking upper body like whoa!).

The possibilities really are endless.  Instead of focusing on all the things you don’t like when it comes to fitness, figure out what you do like.  Not sure where to start or what you do like? One of the best pieces of advice I ever received was to think about what you enjoyed doing as a kid.

Maybe it was roller skating, maybe it was climbing on the jungle gym, or maybe it was dancing in your basement (can guess which of those three was me?)

  • Was it a sport?

  • Did you do it alone? With a partner? With a team?

  • Was there music? If so, what kind?

  • Where did you do it? Inside? Outside? On a court? In nature? On a track?

  • And thinking about that activity, what was your favorite part about it?

These are just a few questions to help get you started in discovering a fitness routine you enjoy. 

So today I challenge you to take a moment and figure out what you like and don’t like about your fitness routine.  Then, I encourage you to do some research and try something new.  My hope for you is that you will eventually look forward to routine, if not all the time, most of the time.

 

Oh, and by the way…

This morning I am grateful for the journey and all of you who have been with me along the way. 💜