It’s no secret that a healthy mind and a healthy body go hand in hand but finding the motivation to exercise on a daily basis can sometimes be a struggle, especially when you’re hustling or working long days. You might not feel like doing it, but exercise one of the easiest ways to balance a busy workload and nurture your body when it needs it the most.
It takes 21 days to break a habit, and the same applies for making one; if you can motivate yourself for just three weeks to exercise consistently, even three days a week, you’ll be hooked on the habit.
Here are three simple ways to make exercise a habit and love it in the process.
- Find an activity that you actually enjoy.
If you’re not an exercise junkie just yet or you shrivel up at the thought of lycra, it might just be because you’re yet to find your favourite work-out mode. Some of us are also built for speed, and some of us aren’t, so it’s important to find something that works for your body type too. If you’re not a fan of sweating, you can try swimming. If you’re not a fan of pumping iron, try yoga. If you’re not a fan of self-discipline, try a group activity like basketball, netball or rowing. When you love what you’re doing while you’re doing it, you’ll be more inclined to stick to it, and a healthy exercise routine will come naturally.
- Start small, build big.
There’s no point planning to exercise seven days a week for two hours a day if you haven’t lifted weights since gym class in school. Making exercise a habit (and one that you actually enjoy), is about starting small and building big, and going easy on yourself in the process. Walking for just thirty minutes a day is a great place to start and stepping it up to 60 minutes of various activities five days a week is a long-term goal to look to.
- Develop an exercise routine that is actually attainable.
If you’re working long hours and big days, the best way to build healthy exercise habits is to establish a routine that’s actually attainable for you. If you know Tuesday’s are 12-hour days, don’t try and squeeze a 60-minute Yoga session in on Tuesday nights, because you’ll probably end up cancelling as you’re dragging your feet out of the office. If you know you have 6pm meetings on Thursdays, don’t schedule a 6.30pm spin class and then guilt yourself for having to cancel every second week when your meetings run late. When you’re starting out with exercise and trying to establish an attainable workout routine, ease into it, make it work for your work schedule, and gradually introduce more workout sessions around your workload. Eventually, you’ll want to wake up at 5am every day because you’ll be motivated by the results and the good vibes that come with being active, but that takes time. Be gentle on yourself and realistic with your goals when you’re setting them.
Maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle doesn’t have to be a hassle either, and it’s why we have a purpose-built yoga studio and OrangeTheory Fitness Studio at CreativeCubes.Co – Hawthorn. You have no excuses when you can walk downstairs for a lunch-time treadmill session, or pop next door for a mid-afternoon Zen-out!
