Alright guys, it's finally time for some exercise talk! I had stated in the introduction of this blog that I would write about healthy foods, tips, and exercises, but so far I've pretty much only covered foods and tips haha. And to be honest, the reason for that is because I haven't really been doing a lot of intense workouts yet. Because so far I've already lost 14 pounds, which is almost half my goal by the end of this project, and that's without doing any kind of real workout routine. All I do is make sure that I walk about one and a half to two miles during school, and then run a mile when I get home (usually to Starbucks, not going to lie) and then I walk another two or three miles in the evening. So really, what I've been doing to be active is nothing impressive at all, I wouldn't even consider it exercise. But I am expecting to plateau soon, which means that I will be reaching the point where losing weight will be a lot more difficult, as my body is adjusting to all of the healthier changes that I've been making in my life. But that's okay, because I want to move onto the next stage of this journey and continue to challenge myself. In the beginning of this blog, it was very challenging for me to make healthy choices in my diet, and to meet my minimum of ten steps, five miles. But now, I don't get many craves for bad foods, and I enjoy going on my walks/runs because it's invigorating and makes me feel good throughout the rest of the day. And so now that I'm expecting a plateau, I need to start kicking up my exercise a notch. Okay, so I think that's enough background of why I need to start exercising! I wanted to write this post about exercise so that I can help others who need to change up their workout routine, or are seeking motivation, as well as to prepare myself for the next steps that I will be taking to enhance my fitness journey.
Okay first off, let's talk about how to form your exercise routine:
1. Pinterest has a lot of routines that you can search up, and you can easily find exercises that will work out any area of your body that you want to work on. I also really like the routines where you search a certain amount of minutes, because they'll tell you exactly how long your workout will last, and how long you should be focusing on each exercise within that routine.
2. YouTube has all kinds of workout videos. What I like about YouTube videos is that the person instructing in the video will be explaining to you what they're doing in that routine, as well as doing it themselves so that you can see what the exercise should look like, so that way you'll always be doing the exercise properly and giving your body the most benefit.
3. Join an exercise class! There's so many fun classes that you can take, such as yoga, pilates, cycling, kickboxing, water aerobics... the list goes on. Signing up for classes can be good for forming habits if you're one of those people who say they want to exercise but then never do because of time or laziness. If you sign up for a class, you're most likely not going to opt out of it if you paid already, haha. But really, these classes are a way for you to find which exercises are really fun for you, exercising doesn't have to be a pain! Apparently there are even Xbox games that are designed to make you exercise at the same time, which I think is pretty cool because who wouldn't want to be blasting aliens while getting a workout?
4. Design your own workout; that way, you won't have to follow an instructor or video if you don't want to do some of the exercises they're doing. By customizing your workout, you can be strengthening all the areas of your body that you want to focus on the most without having to skip the exercises in a video or whatever platform you're using that you aren't interested in doing. A good way to keep variability in your workout is to write down all the exercises you want to do on slips of paper, and place them in a cup, drawing them out as you progress in your workout. That way, the exercises you do next are always in a random order, and you won't fall into a rut with your exercises or blank out if you can't think of any. Here are some exercises that all together, will give you a full body workout: squats, lunges, mountain climbers, burpees, planks, push-ups, jumping jacks, bicycles, superman, high knees, and vertical leg crunches. But feel free to incorporate any exercises that you want in your routine, just make sure that you're always pushing yourself! I promise, you'll feel great afterwards. Everything that you put into your exercise routine will pay your health back in full, if not more!
Now, time for motivation! Here are some ways to get you off your tush:
1. Find a friend to keep you accountable-- specifically someone that wants to set goals just like you. That way you guys can keep checking in on each other to see how each of you are progressing, and encourage one another. If you both want to exercise more, change your friend's name on your phone to "go exercise" or something like that so that when they call you, they can remind you that you should be keeping active. Also, if you have an accountability partner, if you're a foodie and you post pictures of some unhealthy food on your social media, your friend can yell at you for not sticking to your goals. (I'm kidding, it's okay to eat unhealthy foods to treat yourself, just eat in moderation! I'll probably do a post about cheat meals and balancing your diet later.)
2. Go run with your dog. I say this because usually dogs can run faster than you, so that way they'll be pushing you to keep up with them and continue running. And you're helping your dog exercise too! it's win-win.
3. Sleep in some of your workout clothes. Then in the morning you'll be most likely to not want to change out of your workout clothes when you're already in them. Or when you wake up in the morning, put on your entire workout outfit, including your shoes and grab your water bottle. Both ways will make it more likely that you'll work out since you're already ready.
4. Work out first thing in the morning. If you get your workout over with in the morning, you won't be dreading it throughout the day, or putting it off. Working out in the morning is also a sure-fire way to wake you up!
5. Prepare ahead of time. Whether it be planning your workouts for the week on Sunday, or assembling your outfit and pre-workout snack ahead of time, being ready will make it easier for you to immediately go out to exercise the minute you have free time.
That's all I have to say about this for now, hopefully I will have more to add on to this subject later as I learn more about exercise and motivation myself. Hope this encourages you to start pushing yourself harder, because I know it'll be worth it. Good luck!
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