Welcome (kinda) back to your fitness life!
Hi! My name is Sarah and I am addicted to working out.
If you are like me, you still worked out every day during quarantine and tried to close all your Apple Watch circles…every single day. And I realize you may NOT be like me and THIS in love with fitness (or some may say attached). You very well may have flushed the smart watch down the toilet or turned off the notifications to “Stand!”. All in all, we are getting back at it. Some of us are treating it like any other day, while others are having to start as if it was one of their first days working out. After all..the gyms were closed for how long?!
In any situation…HALLELUJAH, the gyms are OPEN! Welcome back to your fitness life.
From Rosemary Beach to Destin, our Destin/30a indoor fitness is back in action!
I admit as a fitness instructor, personal trainer, and nutrition specialist, I am going to miss the down time. The time to just take care of my personal fitness. In the same breath, I am really happy for everyone. Not all of us build home gyms, own a spin bike, elliptical, or are obsessed with running and doing HIIT workouts. I feel you. I had a conversation about a year ago with another trainer who said she did not like working out. She just did it because she knew it was good for her. WHAT? That blew my mind because from my point of view, I am in love with working out. Addicted. How in the world can a person do this for a living and not feel the same way I feel?? I was truly taken aback.
And then it hit me….
Most of my close friends don’t really love it like me. AHHHHHHH….. #perspective. In fact, I googled how many people get enough exercise. According to USA Today in 2018, it’s only about 23% of the American population. Welcome back to fitness?
How about you? Do you love working out? I know you are excited about being back in the gym (me too). Is it because you want to keep the weight off or get rid of the unspeakable weight you put on from being quarantined? Was working out a drag before we all got quarantined?
Chances are.. most of you are NOT like me. You might loathe working out. And I am here to try to help you find pure delight in it. Besides doing it for your health, weight maintenance, etc.
So, here you go! Here are my secrets to loving my workout.
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I set ridiculous goals and CHASE them
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Music is everything when I’m exercising. Netflix is also pretty bomb for a LONG cardio session.
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I exercise OUTSIDE at least once a week…outdoor run, yoga on the back porch, sprints on the beach, push ups and stair routine at the beach access…we are lucky to live so close, so use this stuff!
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Endurance days. These are days where I set my 1-10 scale (1 is easy, 10 is breathless) at a 6…. AKA not going all out. And I just go steady for 45-60 minutes at a time. “Slow and steady wins the race.” 😉
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Active days are days where I allow myself an active recovery. These are my easy days. A walk down the road or skateboard with my kids (while they ride scooters).
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REST days. These are key. Your body will not do what you want if you are not mentally in it. I don’t know a single person that goes all out 7 days a week.
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I break the rules constantly. In the gym and in the kitchen. I do a dumbbell exercise one week and use cables the next time I do that same exercise. I also have wine, pizza, and cake (or cookies). I allow myself to cheat, within reason. 😉
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Intentionally switching my perspective from “I have to” to “I GET to”.
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Alternate between push exercises and pull exercise. If you are like most of the population… when you worked out you didn’t have much equipment so you did mostly push exercises: ie: push ups, chest press (or push the baby up laying supine), tricep dips or extensions, etc. Even in a squat you might have focused on the PUSH away from the ground instead of the slow descent. Then, the primary muscles in a PULL workout would be: all back muscles, biceps, hamstrings, obliques and trapezius. You get my point. While you may have worked your entire body, you might have focused on all push. But now as you welcome back your fitness life, you have the opportunity to get back to BOTH! Doing both is simply important for optimal overall desired strength. (I could go into a lot more detail here, maybe later.)
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I set a time limit, whether it’s only a 30 minute workout, or a 90-120 minute session if I have it in me.
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I rearrange each week. For me, everything looking EXACTLY the same bothers my ADD brain. I stay consistent by being inconsistent.
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I check in with my goals often and shift them when needed, even when that means lowering the bar for myself. Taking that pressure of yourself does NOT mean failure!
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Find an empty group fitness room and record myself working out. Then I watch it later and daydream about new ways and methods to have MORE fun the next time. (sounds cheesy, I know…. I promise it works)
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I prance myself into Lululemon and buy a new sports bra. Then, I look forward to rocking that in my next workout.
Try any or all of these, but as you are getting back into the gym, the most important element is to Love You. Be gentle on yourself. Allow this post-quarantine body and mindset to start with a clean slate. Be judgment free of where you were, and see how you can improve in the upcoming days and weeks and months. Welcome back to your fitness life.
HALLELUJAH, the gyms are OPEN!
