Don't you find it hard to get your body to move?
Feeling sluggish carrying around that extra load on your body? Well, you are not alone.
Early this year, I realised ALL my pants were extremely tight - to the point where I need to unbutton when I sit down just so that I can breathe better.
It didn't help that everything just go downhill the moment you hit the big FOUR ZERO and so, between changing my entire wardrobe and devising a workout routine, I decided to go for the hard route and challenged myself to move more.
Despite my height and deceiving lanky frame, I have never been athletic. I have always been known to be the one with two left foot. I only play badminton and swim. I detest ball games because I am a ball magnet. In a bad way.
Finally, after a period of trial and error, I found some hacks that work for me and this is what I will be sharing in this post.
In another upcoming post, I will be sharing the resources I have found over the years that work really well for my current exercise routine. I hope these will be useful for you in some ways or another.
This is in no way to say that I have "reached" the point of being totally disciplined! I am still a work in progress and my mind need a lot of persuasion in order to get my body moving.
Let's get started, shall we?
Hack #1
You only need to take the FIRST step. Nothing else.
That makes it sound achievable, right?
And you take the step so that you HONOUR yourself. If you fulfill promises made to others, why break the promises you made to yourself?
One of my favourite first step is the next hack.
Hack #2
Prepare your workout clothes (if any), water bottle, shoes etc the night before.
Success is not by chance. You plan for it.
Hack #3
Set a 5 minute timer to start your routine once you are up and changed.
Eg. When I first started Yoga (will share the app I use in the next post), I only started with the minimum duration I could set, ie 5 minutes.
Celebrate the small wins so you feel confident enough to slowly increase the duration and challenge.
You can set this 5 minute timer for your jogging, stretching, morning walk, climbing stairs, etc. You get the idea.
You just need to start small.
Hack #4
Find an exercise buddy.
Otherwise, join challenges in fitness app like Samsung Health where you can earn badges and track your fitness level ranking to motivate yourself (especially for the more competitive folks out there.) I am a sucker for this kind of challenges to get my badges, so it has been working well for me. If I see my ranking and percentile drop to more than 30%, you bet I will be working a little harder to move more that day.
Hack #5
Get a fitness watch.
You don't even need anything expensive. I got my kids the basic Xiaomi fitness watch for less than S$30 on Lazada and they work like a charm. Just sync them to your fitness app and voila. You are good to go.
Hack #6
Buy pretty workout clothes that make you feel good.
Shallow, I know 😂
But when you look good, you feel good.
Hack #7
Experiment with different forms of exercise.
Sometimes it's not that you don't want to workout, it's just that you haven't found the right exercise that motivates you.
I realised that I HATE running. Through the years of experimenting with different classes, I realised I enjoy Zumba, Kpop fitness - basically any forms of dance cardio exercises. Pilates and swimming are also my favourites. Just make sure that over time, you get a good mix of cardio and strength training and slowly stretch yourself further from there.
One last advice:
Be patient with yourself. Fitness is a process, not an event.
