I have always loved doing bench presses, rows, shoulder presses, leg curls, planks and leg presses. I have always hated stretching, yoga and calf raises. Guess which exercises I have done religiously? If you guessed the ones I love, you would be correct. I love those them because I can do them well, they make me feel strong, and I can see results when I do them.
Guess how often I have done the exercises I hate? Whenever I got ROUNDTOIT! Which was irregularly and infrequently!
What is wrong with this picture? EVERYTHING!
Let me explain.
Doing what I loved in the gym kept me motivated and kept me coming. That is a good thing. However, the years of neglect turned the areas I hate into potential threats to my health and fitness. They are threats because these areas are most apt to lead to suboptimal performance and injury. This is especially true for me and people like me who are over fifty and living an active lifestyle. As we age, injuries take longer to recover and can be very disruptive to one’s motivation and commitment to a healthy lifestyle. Once an injury puts you on the couch, it can be hard to get off it.
How do you learn to love doing exercises you hate?
For me, the answer was to make it a habit. Here are a couple of tactics that help me incorporate what I hate with what I love:
- I signed up for yoga classes. This forced me to go and helped me not suck at it as much.
- Doing calf raises between sets of leg presses or leg extensions.
- Doing 10 minutes of active stretching before going to tennis.
- Put reminders on my calendar to do stretching and yoga poses daily.
- Do balance exercises while waiting in line at a store (Stand on one leg, stand on my toes or heals).
Do I love those exercises yet? No! However, I do not hate them as much, and I am getting better at them. The less I suck at them, the more tolerable they are. I do not like taking a vitamin, but I do it. I do it every day because it is a habit. After all, you become what your habits are.
Do not wait until it is too late. Take an objective look at your exercise program now and see how your ROUNDTOITs are impacting your health and fitness. Then create the habits to correct it.
If you have strategies or tactics that helped you turn ROUNDTOITs into habits, please share.