Have you heard the saying, “make fitness a lifestyle’? It’s very true that those who are able to incorporate a fitness regiment into their lives and who have the capacity to stick with it forever, have indeed “made it their lifestyle”.
Why is it easy for some, but incredibly hard for the majority?
Did you know that nearly 73% of people who start a new fitness plan will give up within a month of setting that goal? If you’re the work-at-home type, a new study has shown that 1/3 of people who buy online fitness and health products never even download them!
Why do some people have the capacity and others do not? And, if I am in the realm of NO CAPACITY, how do I develop the capacity to stick with it for the rest of my life?
Good questions. I think I have found some answers.
“Saturday, 31 December. New Year’s Resolutions. I WILL go to the gym three times a week and not merely to buy a sandwich. -Bridget Jones’ Diary: A Novel”
One of the questions I will ask a new client is whether or not they were an athlete when they were young. I don’t just mean playing hopscotch at the park or gym class at school, rather were they a part of an organized sport? Were they on a team, did they have regulated practices, was there a commitment for a length of time, were they challenged, was it difficult, were they pushed, did their parents make them go when they didn’t feel like it? I understand that not all of us were afforded the opportunity to participate in sport. It may not have been important to our parents back then or the time commitment was too much or the cost too great.
Whatever the case may be you will fall into one of two camps: You played sports growing up or you didn’t.
For those who did, here are some of the skills that were developed in those young years, that aid them today in having the aforementioned “capacity” to stick with exercise:
- Commitment
- Endurance
- Vigor
- Pain Tolerance
- Knowledge
- Vitality
- Capability
- Confidence
- Belief
- Perseverance
- Tolerance
- Grit
- Stamina
I see these skills all of the time in clients who have decided to make fitness a lifestyle. It’s not that people who were not athletes when they were younger don’t possess these skills as well, most people possess a number of these skills. They just never had to access them in the realm of physical fitness. Maybe Sally didn’t play varsity basketball but she was the lead in every high school play. She certainly would have developed many of these skills from her time spent acting. Capability, confidence, stamina, belief, commitment, endurance….but no pain tolerance. What about Barry who achieved straight A’s and went on to work in pharmaceuticals creating new medicines? He has knowledge, vitality, perseverance and grit….but no physical pain tolerance.
Isn’t that interesting?
It’s interesting because there are people who have made fitness a part of their lifestyle who do NOT like the physical pain part of exercise. They don’t like sore muscles, burning lungs, and over stretched ligaments. I know this because that is half of my clientele. They merely do it because they know that its good for them. Then there’s a whole other camp of people, the former athletes, who LOVE the pain. They get off on the pain. If they can walk the day after leg day, they didn’t push themselves hard enough. If they didn’t taste blood biking up 3000 vertical feet, they weren’t fast enough.
If you are not part of the circle of people who actually crave this physical torture (as some see it), then you had better find another profound reason to put fitness on the list of your daily to-do’s, or believe me…it just won’t stick.
Creating That Profound Reason
I am certain that you are already aware of the enormous benefits of daily physical activity; that it can not only increase your longevity, but your performance, your energy and your sex life…to name a few! But what is YOUR reason for doing it? More specifically, what is your profound, guttural reason for doing it, especially when you don’t feel like it?
This has got to be specific to you. It can’t be someone else’s reason or it won’t persuade you. Try to attach a meaningful image or story to your reason so that when you have days or weeks of ambiguity, you can conjure up that image to inspire you.
Maybe your mother never exercised a day in her life. By the age of 60 she began to develop severe arthritis. At the age of 70, she fell trying to pick something up and could not physically pull herself to standing. In her early 70’s she passed on. Maybe your profound reason is that you want a life where you can watch your grand kids grow up, you can golf and go for a bike ride, or you can sit on the ground and stand back up by yourself. That is a true story of one of my client’s imperative reason’s to make fitness a lifestyle.
In the end, there may be multiple reasons why you have not stuck with exercise. I have heard many excuses but far more legitimate reasons why it doesn’t work. If it’s legitimate, honour that and be kind to yourself. You will get there when you’re ready. If it’s an excuse, you’ll know it. For now, you will need to learn to love the pain, or discover a profound reason to do it. Either way, it is critical for your longevity that you move daily.
So please do.
If this article resonated with you, please share it. Also, be sure to check out our upcoming workshop -Elevate 2016- taking place on October 22, 2016. The workshop will address issues like this and so much more! For more information, click on our home page!
