Exercising Faithfully? Maybe!

21 Jun Exercising Faithfully? Maybe!

I try really hard to be faithful in my exercising, but I’m not always regular. How about you? What are your strategies for staying on track?

Weekly calendars

Google Calendar is a help for me. I schedule in reminders for each of endurance, flexibility, and strength activities/exercises, but I confess that sometimes I hit the delete button on a reminder instead of doing the workout. Or I may leave the message in place and add it to the next day’s exercising, when I’m less busy. Mostly, though, I find the calendar useful.

Time of day

I also find it helpful to do my exercising at a set time of day. I like the morning. Otherwise, I might keep putting it off to “later” or “after supper”. Delaying tactics such as this are now a red flag for me, because I know that “later” gets filled up with other things. What are your delaying tactics and red flags?

Exercising with others

I’m a strong introvert and perfectly happy to do things on my own. When it comes to aerobic exercise, however, I have found that regularly scheduled group activities help me to get out and get moving. My two favourites are Nordic pole walking and folk dancing. Asking around may help you find activities you would enjoy.

Example of others

The general push in society for more standing and walking, and a lot less sitting, is having an influence on me. I can feel how much stronger my core muscles are, now that I stand for most computer-based work. I can also stand for much longer periods. Somehow knowing what other people are doing makes it easier for me to follow suit.

Walkable communities

I recognize how lucky I am to have the social and personal resources I do, and living without a car has pushed me to consider walkability at the community level. How many sidewalks are there? What about trails that connect neighbourhoods? Do people feel safe crossing roads? Is there ready access to nature, so that brains as well as bodies can be refreshed?

Exercising as part of everyday living

A different approach to scheduled exercising – or at least a complementary approach – is to incorporate flexibility, endurance, and strengthening activities into everyday living as much as possible: gardening, running errands, climbing stairs, swimming – you get the idea. When I have active days filled with movement, I sometimes cut myself some slack and skip a scheduled exercise session, or maybe just do the flexibility piece.

Starting again

I’ve learned to forgive myself if I “forget” to exercise. I now recognize that each day is a new day and I can try again to stick to my exercise plan.