Remember when lockdown happened and everything, including your gym, closed? Determined not to have a fitness set-back, you went to Walmart or Dicks and tried to buy weights or a bike and basically absolutely every piece of fitness equipment was sold out. Remember how you then went on e-bay and all the prices were through the roof? And then on top of that all the legit fitness stores had everything on backorder?
How Fitness Changed Under COVID-19
We all worked from home. Public events were cancelled and there were no social events on the horizon. Finally the weather was getting better, and almost everyone instantly became a runner. That was a great example of all obstacles to exercise having been removed–or at least in theory, with fewer commitments allowing for more to devote to exercise.
And now, several months later, the shelves are restocked with unsold fitness equipment and the runners have left the streets. Many new exercisers have lost their pandemic motivation and slipped back into pre-pandemic exercise habits.
Do You Exercise or Are You an Exerciser?
What now? First, you must get through the identity debate, settling on whether you are someone who simply ‘does’ exercise (when it’s convenient and you feel like it), or if you ‘are’ an Exerciser. If being an exerciser is part of our core identity, then it is much easier to find that motivation. Second, we need to set ourselves up for success.
Here’s How to Set Yourself up for Success
- Be a (Wo)man with a plan: Figure out when you are most likely to do your training. I like to get it done first thing in the morning, before breakfast and checking email, so that nothing gets in my way.
- Easy peasy: Get your workout clothes and heart rate monitor out the night before. Fill up that water bottle; do all the little things that might slow you down when the time comes to lace up your shoes.
- Try Chunking: One step at a time and one foot in front of the other. Focus on getting dressed. That’s easy. Next stop on the mat or outside. Next, job to the sidewalk. This makes it harder to avoid exercise.
- Love it or lose it: Start by exercising in the way that feels good and fun. No need to run if you hate it. Get up and dance, or stretch, or walk. Just get started. Before you know it, you will be an exerciser and then nothing, not even a pandemic, can stop you.
And, if you need help to craft a plan or hold you accountable, contact us.