Exercise Motivation

By Debby Padilla-Hudson

Although at times when we are healing our bodies we don't feel well enough to exercise, exercise definitely helps.  When we exercise we sweat and sweating helps release toxins.  It also helps burn off sugars, helps with blood sugar and a lot more.  Many times it's difficult to find motivation to exercise, so I came up with a few ideas.

I found that for me I thought I might like a workout buddy but when I tried it I found it was not a good idea for me for several reasons. One is that if your motivation hinges on other people then when they lose their motivation yours is gone too. I found that workout buddies tended to suck out of all my motivation too.. it's so much better IMO to find your own way of making exercise rewarding.

Plus scheduling is a pain and I have a hard time carrying on a conversation when I'm breathing a bit heavy. Plus it takes a lot longer to do your workout often if you are waiting around for someone else to move on to the next machine or what ever. Or you find the person has every excuse in the world, when it's hard enough to motivate yourself.

So what I recommend that really worked for me (I was never big into exercise until recently - the last 2 years - so this really worked!) is start by finding something you enjoy that you can do any time, set a time to do it on a regular basis and commit to doing a very small amount.

Also, absolutely pace yourself, and as soon as you feel any burn in your muscles stop.  Why?  Because as a human being your nature is to avoid pain and gravitate towards pleasure.  When exercise feels good, you continue to do it, and are motivated to do it.  When you are sore or have burning muscles during exercise, your mind associates the pain with what you are doing.

So having a gung-ho attitude and over doing things is the #1 reason why people don't stick with it.. in their subconscious, exercise causes pain, and they subconsciously avoid doing it.  Also if it is boring that's also not something people will stick with. When I started out I could only do 2 minutes on the elliptical before my muscles started burning, but I was consistent with it.

I kept going because I had a promise to myself to do this. I really couldn't justify to myself not finding the time to do 2 mins of exercise. I *highly* recommend setting a very slow pace for yourself, because sometimes we get so gung-ho, then we end up hurting ourselves or get sore, then the exercise is associated in our mind with pain and we do not look forward to it.

I stopped at 2 minutes but I could have probably done a bit more.. but as soon as my muscles burned I stopped. I kept at it at a total snail's pace, and never once was I sore after a workout or dealing with pain. Instead I got wonderful endorphins without the pain. But too many people get all excited about it.. over do it then quit.

I can't express how important it was for me with everything I have done to do it SLOWLY, one step at a time. In the past I have overdone it but my mentor told me that people burn out if they make too many changes too quickly.. physically and mentally. It's like the new years resolution mentality, rather then a life-changing mentality. The other thing is that I make it enjoyable for myself by rewarding myself while I workout.

I listen to my favorite tunes on my MP3 player and I look forward to that. I also read while I'm working out, but not some responsible textbook or self-help book but a hot-n-trashy romance novel.. I love those. LOL. So getting to read is my reward for working out. Ok and I'll be honest it is fun to be reading a naughty book when you are surrounded by plenty of well-muscled men. Meow! :D

Ok so that is what works for me. Now this set up might not work for you, but you can apply the same principles, but tailor them to your situation. For instance I used to dance every night next to my computer speakers. I created special MP3 playlists. I couldn't afford a gym back then. I used to rollerblade everywhere. When I learned to rollerblade I was 310 pounds. Just standing in those things killed my calves so for a week I did nothing but stand in them for 5 minutes a day.. not rolling anywhere at all.

The following week I stood in them for 7 minutes. The following week I skated but only next to a railing for balance. After a few months I was so good I was blading on the sides of streets and keeping up with bikers.  At one time I rollerbladed something like 20 miles a day!

One time I took my husband out rollerblading, and he got upset because he wasn't great at it right away and never did it again. The point is that I did it really slowly and found something that was fun for me - I also listened to music while I was blading.

It's so important to have patience and take baby steps.. it's amazing how far they take you! I ballroom dance and it took me 4 years to start getting better at it.. I took regular classes and such, and then later I did some amateur performances. You can take ballroom classes for exercise, they are fun. Get some videos and practice the steps for a while at home first. You can simply march in place while you watch your favorite TV show.

Just find one that's on half an hour each day and promise yourself that you are going to march in place through the show or something. But of course you should start at 3 minutes or so. :) If you are in really bad shape like I was, there's a great show on PBS called Sit and Be Fit.. you can workout from a chair! I couldn't stand for more than 5 minutes at a time back then. Give yourself a reward for doing your workout (non-food) or make the workout the reward somehow.. that is the point.

Another thing I do is take things that I have to do anyway and make it a workout. Like I have to clean the house, but I do it really fast, briskly walking between rooms, putting things away as quickly as possible. The chore gets done faster and I get it out of the way and it's more exercise-like. I love things like that! I guess what I am saying is that I have as many reasons for NOT exercising as pretty much anyone else, maybe more.

The point is that not everyone will find that what I do works for them.. but instead you can look at what I do in a more generic problem-solving context. I found a way to make exercise rewarding by reading and listening to music, seeing it as time for myself, etc. My main reasons for not wanting to work out were boredom, motivation, pain, lack of time, etc. I figured out a way to get past the boredom, went slowly to avoid pain, found something that motivated me and restructured my life so I had the time.

But for someone else maybe their problem is they can't afford the gym or they don't feel comfortable at the gym, or they go too fast so they are in pain, or any number of reasons. What I would say would be an idea to make this problem solving to be more generic is to start with making a list of the reasons you don't want to exercise. Then for each item on the list, find a way to creatively get around it. So to give an example, some people don't go to a gym because they feel uncomfortable with all of the hot bodies there.

Maybe the solution for this person would be to work out at home. Maybe the solution is to join a place like Curves or a gym that tends to have less than perfect people. Maybe the solution is to confront the emotional reason they are uncomfortable. Maybe they can go really late at night when there's not that many people like I did at first.

There can be any number of ways to solve the problems. It just takes creative problem solving in some cases. If you want you can share with me your unique list of roadblocks and I can see if I can come up with some ideas for getting around them, and maybe others here will have some ideas or their own roadblocks to share or be helped by others ideas.