6 keys to alleviate fitness frustration

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Dr. G

Have you purchased a home exercise program? Is it gathering dust?

It’s late night; you are lying in bed with your eyes open, wide-awake after just 3 hours of sleep. You know there is no chance of getting back to bed. To save yourself from your internal dialogue driving you mad, you turn on the television. There is an image of a woman with your body, just a few years ago. Look at the before pictures, just 90 days earlier she looked the way you do now. What did she do to get these results so fast? Why is she so happy and energetic? When you can barely get the energy to pick the kids up after school and get dinner started.

You begin to think “If she can do that in 90 days, then I can do it too”. You grab your credit card and call the 1-800 number to place an order for “The 21 day fix, Insanity, P90X, Brazilian But lift, etc.” The package soon arrives and you begin your 90 day or 21 day journey toward the new body you know you could have.

We purchase home exercise programs for many reasons:

Convenience: comfort of your own home. No equipment needed.
Saving time: Do not have to travel to and from the gym.
Saving money: No recurring monthly membership fees, that continue whether we go or not.
Fun: Many home fitness programs are fun to watch, the trainer and the music entertain us.
Personal attention: At least the feeling of personal attention, to make sure you are doing the exercises correctly without hiring a personal trainer.

I place no judgment on the exercises people choose because my philosophy is the best exercise is the exercise you are going to do and enjoy, and yes enjoyment is important. If exercise is purely a chore, it will not last.

Many people choose a home video, going to classes, hiring a personal trainer, joining a gym, joining a cross fit community, dance class, a walk or run outside, the list goes on and on. I do or have done most of the above just so I don’t get bored.

Most people will purchase a home exercise program with all the right intentions and preparation to make it happen. They may begin the process and get immediate results; weight loss, increased energy, clothes fit better, etc. Compliments come from family, spouse, co-workers. They want to know what you’ve been doing to look so great. For many of you it’s a wonderful honeymoon period.

Then the results plateau and there is no longer feedback from your body that things are improving. Then perhaps you slip backwards and gain weight, energy declines, you no longer can wake up early enough, the list goes on. Finally you resign yourself to saying I just don’t have time. Life’s stress overwhelms you.

Sometimes this is a repeated pattern that occurs over years. After a year or two, you remember that 3-month period that felt and looked so good and you are inspired to try again, but this time with a different video series and the cycle starts again. Lose 20 lbs. then gain 25lbs., energy and self esteem rise and fall, we call it the “yo-yo experience”. Can this cycle be broken? Is it possible to get permanent results? The answer is simply, YES!.

If you don’t solve this problem, eventually you begin to feel there is a weakness of your character, you don’t have the will power, and you don’t have the genetics needed to be fit, healthy, strong and beautiful. Before long, it becomes depressing and the whole experience of fitness has a negative association in your brain and nervous system. The subject of fitness begins to zap your self-esteem. The brain learns and becomes good at failure…or success. Which one the brain learns, failure or success, depends on the choices you make.

I always teach my audiences about the 5 pillars of health.

Hormone health
Detoxification systems
Nervous System health
Fitness
Nutrition

If you are not having any challenges with the 1st three pillars. Then the last two, fitness and nutrition should be all one needs to restore health and achieve your goals. If you are having challenges with one or more of the 1st three pillars, then all the fitness and nutrition in the world will fall short of your goals and result in frustration and declining health.

If we assume it is fitness and nutrition that is needed and all else is well. Then how do you get ongoing results?

REMEMBER “ACTIONN”

6 key components to making fitness a permanent, exciting lifestyle choice.

Accountability. Research is clear, there is no dispute. Being held accountable to what you say you want to do is the most important component to long-term fitness success. Accountability is a positive relationship with someone who can give you the extra push, motivation. Someone who can see that you are capable of more than you think. Unfortunately most people pair up with a friend who winds up quitting before they do. Accountability should be professional; someone with experience and education on how to motivate and create a positive environment that celebrates achievement.
Community. Being a part of a group, something bigger than you. A shared set of values and goals. A place where you are motivated, where you can be yourself and feel safe stepping out of your comfort zone. This is kind of like the allure of a “secret society” a place where you have your own special code, values and language.
Timing (Convenience). Do not overlook this. Look at your schedule. There is always room for fitness. However, as much as I like to play basketball, there are only so many days per month I have available to dedicate that much time. I also know I can get an incredibly vigorous routine done in 10 minutes. Actually it’s my 10-minute workouts that take the most out of me and requires me to be in the best shape. How do you know someone is full of s#@t when it comes to exercise? They say, “I don’t have time”. Everyone has time. Between my business, practice, family obligations (3 young active kids), educational obligations and travel schedule, there are few people who have less time than I do. Fitness just happens to be at the top of my priority list, right up there with brushing my teeth. No matter how busy I am, I have time to brush my teeth, the same holds true for exercise.
Innately Fun, Fun, Fun. You must enjoy what you are doing and therefore it must be kept interesting. Change is good.
Objectives to meet. It’s important to keep score. Keep track of and share your progress. There should always be progress. Reaching milestones for your weight, strength, endurance, and flexibility. You are more likely to work towards a goal than to just go through the motions. Going through the motions gets old and runs out of steam quickly.
New & Nutrition.

New/Novel: Repeatedly doing the same routine over and over not only gets boring, it causes stagnation of progress. You get results for the 1st 12 weeks and then nothing changes. Repetition that is chronic can also set you up for injury. I will design a new routine for myself ever 8-12 weeks. A fitness program should incorporate a variety of principles, strength, flexibility, agility, endurance, and core support. They all do not have to be in the same workout but they should be a part of your week.
Nutrition: Fitness and nutrition go together. Sustainable principles of nutrition that are time tested and consistent with having energy, repairing tissues, healing, weight control and hormone balance. I believe that a basic nutrition education that gives you a reason ‘why’ you do what you do is easier and requires very little will power. We have become a culture that just labels food ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and that is too simplistic. An example of this is eggs. Doctors have been telling us for years that cholesterol is a contributor to heart disease, and eggs have cholesterol, so therefore eggs are ‘bad’. Then someone says eggs are rich in protein, and we need high quality protein so therefore eggs are ‘good’. Then someone finds out they are allergic to egg protein and now eggs are ‘bad’ again. To break this cycle of simplicity we need to understand basic time tested principles that are based on ‘known facts’ about food and who we are and what we need as humans.

Remaining a member of this community will ensure you receive this education over time.

Thanks for reading!