revitalise

If you think back to the last time you were in the ‘habit’ of exercise, whether you went to the gym everyday, kept to a daily running schedule or stuck to a programme of home DVD exercise, you will know that exercise can be addictive. The key word here is habit. Because if you’re reading this, it’s likely you have fallen out of the habit and forgotten how, once you get the adrenalin pumping, you have the urge to do it again and again. These ten tips have been devised to help you get back into the swing of regular exercise. The hardest part is starting!

1. Don’t Break the Habit – Once you get back into the habit of exercise, the worst thing you can do is break it. Okay, we all have hurdles in life that set us back, whether this be stress, illness, a busy period or any other life event which prevents us from doing what we normally do.  The thing to remember is that exercise helps overcome all of these problems by keeping mind and body fit and healthy. SO when you’re feeling down, have too much to do and think about avoiding your daily regime, don’t! Get on your trainers and go for it.
2. Beat procrastination – Haven’t got the right gym-kit? Dishes need doing first? My friend STOP! You are procrastinating. Procrastination is quite simply the art of not doing what you should be doing because something far less important that you can do anytime needs doing first. Remember, when you have something to do, whether an assignment for work or a scheduled session at the gym, all the other mundane, everyday tasks you dream up to avoid it can be done anytime. Dishes can wait. Record that TV programme.
3. Make it Fun - If you don’t enjoy yourself exercising, it is going to be hard to keep it a habit. If boredom or sheer hatred starts to creep in, start doing something else. If you were a gym-goer, start going for a run instead. If you used to go running, try a dance class. Often, variety really is the spice of life and exercise.
4. Get an Exercise mate – If you go with someone else, there’ll be nothing worse than cancelling on them so you can do your dishes. Not only will exercising with a friend boost the fun, social aspect, it will keep you in check from breaking the habit, and you will do the same for them.
5. Make it a ritual – If you just decide to exercise when you have a spare few minutes, or you care to remember it, you find it so hard to keep it a habit. If you assign special times, like Tuesday and Thursday evening for an hour before dinner, for example, you will have apportioned that time in your mind and are less likely to become distracted into doing something else. It is essential to forming the exercise habit.
6. Monitor your progress – Motivation spurs achievement and achievement spurs motivation. Whether you want to lose weight, improve lung capacity or just improve your speed, monitoring your progress is a fantastic tool. Not only will you feel a sense of achievement as you start to near your goal, you are less likely to avoid exercising for fear of sabotaging your progress record.
7. Stress Relief – Exercise is a brilliant way to de-stress. It’s part of the feel good factor that exercise brings as one of its many benefits. Whenever you next feel stresses or anxious, go for a long walk or run or whatever you enjoy doing that gets your heart rate up. In time, you will come to associate stress relief with exercise in the same way some associate stress relief with popping pills. It will be the first thing you turn to when you next feel stressed.
8. Baby steps first – If you haven’t exercised for some time, setting out on a 10k running session tomorrow isn’t go to do either your body or your mind any good at all. Not only will you be wrecked, but you’ll come to associate exercise with exhaustion, displeasure and something that causes pain. This is not what we want. So start small and build up your fitness levels. Not only are you more likely to stick with it, but you will also enjoy the feeling of achievement you get from upping your exertion over time. This goes hand in hand with step six.
9. Blend it into your daily regime – Is there any rule, anywhere, that says you can’t dance about whilst doing housework? Or take the steps to your office rather than the lift? Small, daily changes like this not only increase your fitness levels but also start to change the way you think about how little impact exercise has to have in your life.
10. Rest – Just like no exercise is bad for your health, doing too much can also be bad for you. Some people become so addicted to the exercise habit that it starts to be all they think about. Be sure to have a healthy approach, little and often is the key, along with plenty of rest so as not to damage your body from overwork.

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