By Garrett J. Braunreiter,
The very thought of going from zero fitness and marshmallow
softness to full stamina, firmness and energy can seem overwhelming
- enough to make you want to lie down. But even against the odds
and the tide of excuses and a history of couch-potatoness, you can
start. And you can continue..into a regular routine of exercise.
If you're at this point in your life, you're the right candidate
for transformation. This plan just may be your best bet.
Change is an all-or-nothing proposition. You either
do it, or you don't. You can't just exercise for 3 times one week,
once the next week, take a couple of weeks off, go twice a week,
and so on and expect to reap all the benefits.Only a handful of
people can get into a regular exercise routine by suddenly beginning
to exercise. Something just clicks inside and they workout with
energy, and they enjoy it. But for the other 95%, getting into a
regular routine with exercise is not so easy.
For these people, beginning an exercise program comes
in stages, step by step, many of which happen before you even slip
on your workout shoes or enter the gym. The very fact that you're
reading this article means that you're already in one of the important
first stages. And continuing to exercise regularly is also a process
of change, a cycle of smooth sailing and bumpy seas.
Fortunately, there are techniques that you can use
to help you move to the next level. Just be aware that the stage
you are in changes all the time. Of course, once you know where
you are, it's easy to see what's next. Here's how to get there..
Step 1: I don't want to exercise
If you are at this stage, you may be wondering what
could possibly be done to get you to budge beyond it. Other people
might be pressuring you, but IT'S UP TO YOU--you're the one who
has to tie your shoes and go out for a walk. And you don't even
want to make the effort to think about it. Two things can offer
a push: Acquiring knowledge and whining.
Acquiring knowledge involves being open to facts and opinions concerning
your state of fitness (or lack of it) and both the benefits of exercise
and the health risks of not exercising. The source of the information
can be external--others observing that you don't exercise, loved
ones confronting you about it, family members giving you newspaper
or magazine articles about exercise. Or it can be internal--watching
TV or movies about sports, reading about exercise, learning about
the psychology of why people don't exercise
In some cases, simply soaking up the incoming information can at
least make you more likely to start thinking seriously about exercise,
even if you have no intention of doing anything about it. It could
be, however, that despite the good efforts of your friends and relatives,
the fact still remains that you don't want to exercise. And right
now you simply may not be interested in gathering information.
So maybe you need to try venting and whining. This involves giving
vent to the problem. You may complain about what happened the last
time you tried to exercise ("Oh, that cramp I got! I was sore for
days!") or all the things that kept you from working out ("I wanted
to, but Janey had a dentist's appointment").
All this talking and complaining about the problem helps. It at
least gets you thinking about exercising. It gets the wheels turning
so that getting fit becomes a problem to be solved. That is, if
you CHOOSE to look at it that way.
Here's my rule for complainers: You have exactly TWO MINUTES to
vent and complain. Ready? Go... (Tick, tock, tick, tock...) Okay,
done. NOW GO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
It may seem that nothing is happening in the I Don't Want to Exercise
stage, but the more you acquire knowledge and vent and whine, the
more their effects can accumulate.
Step 2: Thinking about it
When you've reached this point, not only are you more
aware that a problem exists, you're also seriously considering doing
something about it. This is great progress, even if you haven't
actually made a commitment to start.
In this stage, you're considering the pros and cons of starting,
even if you haven't quite gotten yourself to plug in the treadmill.
You're at the point where you might increase your physical activity
or you might decide you're not quite ready for prime-time--or any
other time--workouts and give it up for now.
In this stage, you know where you want to go and you may even know
how to get there. But you can't quite cajole yourself into following
through with any action. Acquiring knowledge and venting/whining
can be helpful here, as well as two other techniques: role modeling
and reinventing yourself.
Role modeling goes beyond acquiring knowledge. Here you closely
observe someone you know, someone in the public eye or even some
fictional character who might inspire you to fitness. You might
chat with a friend who exercises regularly, or watch sporting events
like the Olympics. Who would be role models you respect and like?
Pick some activity you might enjoy and watch a master of it. Once
you open yourself up to the possibilities, you may be inspired to
get moving yourself.
Reinventing yourself involves looking at yourself in a different
way. This is the time to return to the power of fantasy. Try imagining
yourself as an athlete or a dancer, or just someone who is really
in shape. This is NOT silly; every champion from every walk of life
had FIRST in his mind a dream of what s/he wanted to become.
Imagery could involve mentally picturing yourself as more flexible
or thinner or whatever else exercise could help you with. Take three
minutes, sit down, lean back, close your eyes and fantasize about
anything physical that you want to try, like weight training, skiing,
roller-blading, etc. Just do it.
When it's over, how does it feel? If you imagined skiing, could
you feel the wind? The crouch? Did you see the hill, sun, snow,
trees, other skiers? Could you feel the thrill in the pit of your
stomach and your head when the run was through? Make it happen in
your mind. The brain is extraordinarily powerful. You can if you
think you can, just like the Little Engine that Could.
Also, you can use imagery to conjure up a picture of yourself benefiting
from exercise. Think of the thing exercise could help you with that
is most important to you. Could your joints be more flexible? Would
you be happier 10 pounds lighter? Close your eyes. Imagine yourself
moving as you would like to move. Watch this in the theater of your
mind for however long it interests you. When you grow bored, stop,
whether five seconds have passed or 10 minutes. Repeat this two
or three times a day.
It's even possible that performing certain movements in your mind
rehearses the motor pathways so that when you do try the actual
movement, it'll be easier.
Step 3: Getting ready
This stage combines intending to change with making
some small changes in behavior. In this stage, your intention and
behavior crank up a notch. This means more reinventing and imagery,
plus some baby steps toward the real thing.
For example, exercising has been on your to-do list for years. After
watching some fitness shows on TV, you fantasize about looking like
the people in them. Then you decide you could do those exercises.
So you start making tapes of the shows to fit them in when your
schedule permits. Plus, you're walking to work more frequently,
when you used to take a cab or drive to work.
Step 4: Starting
This is when you begin exercising on a regular basis.
But this is the stage where most people equate change, overlooking
the other steps that are part of the process. This is understandable,
since in this fourth step you actually choose some type of exercise
or group of activities and start working out.
People can see that you've changed your behavior in order to overcome
your comfort zone that has kept you from getting fit. You appear
to have gotten off your duff by committing time and--yes--energy.
This is the most challenging stage. Many people overdo it. Then
if they hurt or exhaust themselves, they become discouraged and
drop back to Step 1. If you have begun exercising andkept at it
for anywhere from a day to six months, you may think you're home
free. Unfortunately, it's not so. For true change, you must also
develop new habits and skills to keep from falling back and skills
to deal with new problems.
One way to start is to announce to the world what you're about to
undertake. Once you've publicly connected yourself with exercise,
social support pushes you to keep the connection. If you stop, people
may ask what happened, and you probably won't feel good about admitting
failure.
Your pronouncement is your "coming out." It can involve very personal
meanings and is different for each person. It often involves a dramatic
statement or gesture that signals a break from the past. You're
declaring that the rest of your life will be different from your
past. Your coming out could be as simple as buying your first pair
of workout shoes or joining a gym.
Starting also involves making slight adjustments in your world.
Move your exercise equipment to a more convenient location or join
a gym that is on your way to or from work, or close enough to visit
on your lunch hour, rather than one you have to make an effort to
get to.
In this phase, you should give yourself plenty of positive reinforcement.
Promise yourself a treat if you exercise today. Call a friend you
haven't talked to in a while, or get tickets to some show or concert
or ballgame you would like to see. Use your imagination to reward
yourself for signs of progress.
Step 5: Keeping on
You know that you've been keeping on when you can
successfully overcome new obstacles that get in the way and not
lose the gains you've made in Step 4. Mastering this stage is crucial
if exercising is to be an integral part of the rest of your life.
The techniques for keeping on are the sum of everything that got
you this far. So whatever tricks work for you, use them. It doesn't
matter if they're different from the ones that help your best friend
or that work for Cindy Crawford.
Remember what we said earlier: The stage you're in changes all the
time. You may work yourself all the way up to Step 5, but then you
get sick or injured, or take a trip, or otherwise get distracted.
You may have fallen to Step 2. Maybe even to square one. Nothing
magical about reaching the final Step 5 will keep you there. If
you find yourself at some lower level, you have to use the techniques
appropriate to that level to climb back up. Then you may have to
use bits of them to keep on keeping on.
This article was provide by Garrett J. Braunreiter, CSCS, GHF's
Success Coach. Please visit his site at http://www.worldpeakperformance.com
