Do you have a love-hate relationship with exercise?
I want to share with you ways you can make exercise more enjoyable, more purposeful so you just get out tere and do it consistently.
The word is out…..
The science is in….
For good health & well-being, you need to have exercise in your life.
There is absolutely no doubt that exercise needs to be a non-negotiable part of your daily routine.
Yes daily.
Not 3 or 4 times a week.
Everyday.
And why wouldn’t we want to exercise every day?
It can help manage the effects of ageing so you can live your life, your way.
Even up to the 9th decade of life.
But only 20% of older adults are getting the recommended dose of exercise.
Whilst over half of older adults are doing enough aerobic exercise, very few are including strength training in their activity routines.
We have very good intentions about including sufficient exercise in our lives. But these intentions get lost in translation. We don’t see them materialise into an established exercise routine.
It can be really frustrating and soul-destroying.
Many women have long-established fears about exercise. A fear of:
- failing at yet another attempt to exercise consistently.
- getting anxious that it won’t work for them.
- getting too sore or worse, injured.
They believe that:
- everything else in their life is more important than their self-care.
- they’re too busy to do everything they need to do, so putting your needs at the front doesn’t happen that often, if at all.
So we need all the help we can get to get out there and exercise.
Let’s face it exercising can be boring, uninspiring, and just hard work and not much fun. And many traditional forms of exercise are unsuitable for us older women.
It can seem we’re up against it when it comes to prioritising exercise.
But there are ways you can boost your motivation and turn exercise from a chore into a treat that your body craves.
Five ways stand out as effective boosters for exercise motivation.
Here are those ways:
- Find a way of exercising that’s suitable for you and your stage of life. Now you’re an older, wiser, and discerning woman, you want to find a way of exercising that helps with the issues you face as an older woman. That strikes that sweet spot balance between being challenging but not overwhelming.
The magic combo of exercise for us mature, wise and discerning women is 4 days of low to moderate-intensity aerobic activity and 3 days of strength (resistance) training.
I did say you need to do 7 days of activity.
And the upside of doing this is that you’ll experience health and fitness benefits and you’ll look and feel better as well.
Group exercise classes tick all the boxes as they include the ever-so-important ingredients of social connection and fun.
This ups the benefits for you- your overall health and well-being manyfold.
One of the emerging exercise styles is called Brain-based fitness which is the style of exercise class at Fit & Fabulous.
It’s where you do physical exercise with the added benefit of brain training.
Setting you up well now to cope with all the physical demands of life and protecting you from developing Alzheimers, other dementias, and Parkinson’s.
2. Finding your Exercise Why’s.
A common focus when trying to find the motivation to exercise is around losing weight and/or getting fit. If this is your only why, then it will often be doomed to failure. Because our expectations are usually not in harmony with how things work.
Exercise has many benefits.
Positive mood, feeling stronger, changes to health-related issues, less stress, and more energy.
So, you can draw on these benefits to help you reset your mindset around exercise. And when you consider your values as well, your motivation to exercise gets a real boost.
To do this you need to tap into the power of your values. Your values give your life meaning and purpose.
Your values give you clarity about what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.
When you dig deep to find your values and then reset your focus on exercise, things can work for you.
Rather than against you.
This will help you to turn exercise from a chore into a treat your body craves.
What inspires you, and gives your life meaning and purpose?
What is your why?
What I find has helped me reset my mindset around exercise is to remind myself of 3 things:
- My health is crucial to how I live my life. There are body & brain changes I can’t control as I get older. And there’s even more that I can do something about.
- Being fit and healthy in my body and brain benefits my family and friends. The last thing I want is to be a burden to my family because I didn’t look after myself as well as I could.
- I have a lot of regrets in my life. So, I want to be as fit and healthy in my body and brain for many more years to come. Then I can live my life the way I want to. And guide as many people as possible towards fitness and strength in their bodies and minds.
3. Making Exercise Enjoyable:
A. Self-compassion does wonders to help make exercise enjoyable & satisfying.
Self-compassion is all about treating yourself well- like a good friend.
And learning to balance your needs with the needs of others.
Many people use self-criticism to try and get themselves exercising. But this has been shown to just not work, and it makes you feel even worse about yourself.
Offering yourself words of encouragement, for instance, something like, “Well done you, that’s amazing.” “You’ve got this” or “Just imagine in a few months you’ll be beaming with energy and joy.”
A supportive touch is also nice. Where you use the power of a supportive touch to elicit that feel-good experience of touch.
This can go a long way to adding that sense of satisfaction- a hand on your heart as an example. A tap on your shoulder, and clasping your hands together are all ways of building in the essential ingredients of exercise enjoyment and satisfaction.
B. Using a process called temptation bundling.
On a practical level, you do the action you do not want to do and then do the one you like immediately after. For example, going for a power walk and finishing up at your favourite cafe for a coffee. Also, doing something you enjoy.
Like listening to music while doing the new thing you wish to establish as a habit.
C. Paying attention to the experience of exercising. Or, in other words, using mindfulness while exercising.
Let’s face it, exercise can be tedious and challenging. This is due to focusing on the wrong things. Like the time and how many more exercises you have to do.
How you’d prefer to be doing something else, and how you are too busy to exercise. No wonder it’s such hard work, a chore.
So, another way to make exercise a treat you crave is to focus on or be mindful of all the fantastic things that are happening when you’re exercising.
Bring your attention to the physical sensations in your body.
The feeling of your feet on the ground, the sensations as you move different parts of your body. Also, the temperature on your skin or the physical sensations in your muscles.
You can also pay mindful attention to the contact points between your body and any equipment you use.
Like weights or resistance bands, noting temperature, shape, texture, and sounds.
Being mindful or aware of your breath is also very helpful.
In maintaining your focus and concentration.
Ensuring you get the safest, most enjoyable, and most efficient workout possible.
Research shows that awareness of what you’re doing, that is, mindful focus, does wonders for motivation.
So if you are one of the many people who know they should exercise but don’t because you don’t enjoy it. Try out 1 or 2 or all of these suggestions and experience that exercise can be enjoyable. And in this way be more consistent with it.