What’s Love Got to Do With It?

“I used to workout, then I stopped.” “I joined a gym, but then I didn’t go.”  ” I bought a treadmill, but never use it.” 

How does one ingrain the daily habit of movement? For me, daily movement is very ingrained, but it was easy to ingrain. I genuinely enjoy exercise, I have positive feelings towards it, and I’ve never seen it as anything other than feel good. What’s your relationship to exercise? Do you force yourself to do it? Do you view it as torture? Are you doing it only because your doctor says to? I’ve never met a daily exerciser who didn’t enjoy it. In fact, I think the secret to workout consistency is love!

Ask yourself these five big questions: 
1. What time of day is my ideal time to workout? 
2. What method is my ideal workout? 
3. What intensity level is my ideal workout? 
4. What duration is my ideal workout? 
5. What setting is my ideal workout? 

You get to choose, but first you need to know yourself: 
1. Don’t workout at 6pm if you are more of a morning person.
2. Don’t do spin class just because it’s offered at your gym. (I dislike spin class. It irritates me. If spin was all there was, I’d sit on the sidelines!)
3 and 4. Intensity and duration fluctuate day to day I think, but figure out what fits you now. A two hour, steep-incline hike might be good once per week, but a 20minute neighborhood walk might feel great on a Wednesday night.
5. Workout setting is more important than you think. For instance, an overly air conditioned space is my definition of torture, but for someone else, it’s heaven on Earth. 

Daily fitness is not so much as a habit – it’s more like a lifestyle. It’s not your job to be a martyr. It’s your job to find out what movement formula feels good for you…and then say yes to it!