Why I hate doing “organised” exercises – particularly when I’m stuck at home!
Sitting at my desk and staring out on the beautiful spring day the last thing I would want to do is to don some lycra and start jumping around to an online video.
In fact, I’ve always found that the hardest thing about any sort of exercise is to actually start it – whether it be going down the gym, sports ground or just a local jog around.
It’s not that I don’t know the benefits! Having worked in and around the fitness industry for many years, I know exactly what the great benefits of exercise are and the positive effects it has on the body and mind.
But, apart from the obvious problem about time (in our former lives going to the gym always takes at least an hour out of the day, however you quick you are in the changing room), the main barrier for me has always been the actual process of doing it, the actual mental “starting”.
And now I’m stuck at home, it’s even harder. Get up and do a workout – or sit down and have a cup of tea? No contest.
It’s made worse by the presence of two teenage children and a slightly bored husband. They would be immensely amused to see mum jumping up and down to Joe Wickes.
The other obvious barrier is my increasingly creaky body. Even though I’m only 53, doing a continuous 30 minute workout is just really hard!
My solution to keeping active is to do lots of little exercises throughout the day – ones which don’t require lots of space, an exercise mat, special clothes or equipment. This works really well because I never feel I have to “start” the exercise – I just do them – and I never get really tired, or fail at doing them. And because I do them all the time and everyday, I do considerably more activity than I would doing a 30 minute workout three times a week.
The New In 90 Team have created a great Guide “10 easy ways to turn your everyday life into an exercise circuit”
which will give you a good idea of what I’m talking about but the key thing is to make the exercises easy to start – so that you never fail doing them – and to connect them to other daily activities such as cleaning your teeth, climbing the stairs, waiting for the kettle to boil (we call them “triggers”) etc.
And I make the most of my daily walk because walking is the undoubtedly the best exercise you can possibly do.
Happy lock down.
Sue from the New In 90 Team