5 Simple Ways Any Exercise Program Can Be Successful
Exercise programs don't "fail" and neither do the people whotry them. What happens, however, is that many people don't understand what ittakes for them to be successful with any exercise program.
The five main reasons that most people are not successful with their exerciseprogram are these:
1. They try to do much too soon.
2. They have inaccurate or inappropriate expectations.
3. They get bored.
4. They lose their motivation.
5. They quit too soon.
Since these are the main reasons that many exercise programs don't seem to dothe job, then addressing them may make us more successful with the exercise sideof our fitness and weight loss plans. So, let's take a look at each in turn andsee if we can figure out what to do.
The dangers of overdoing exercise.
A factor that figures into all five issues is simply ignorance. I don't meanthat as an insult, it's just that people go out and buy a piece of equipment ora Richard Simmons DVD and jump in with both feet. Even if they read thedirections, those are normally written from the viewpoint of "this is what youshould be doing" rather than "this is how you get to the point where you can dowhat you should be doing". Since most people don't really know much aboutexercise or how it works, and I was once one of those people, they tend to makea lot of mistakes, even though they have the best of intentions.
One of these mistakes is to try to do too much too soon.
Let's say your new barbell set says, that for maximum effect, you should be ableto three sets of ten reps a certain exercise with the weight set at one-fourthof your body weight. So, you figure you weigh 160 lbs, set the bar at 40 lbs,and do ten reps. You're a little winded. It was a bit hard, but you were ableto do it. You rest a minute, and try again. It's harder, but you're still ableto get through it. You take another short rest and do the third set. Wow! Youhad to squeeze out the last couple of reps, but you did it! You feel good. You've got what it takes, and you can't wait until the next exercise day.
What has happened is that you have produced a large amount of damage to muscletissue that your body will now have to spend the next couple of days fixing. Since you are out of shape (even if you were able to do all three sets), yourbody is going to have a hard time getting that work done. I can tell you thatthis is certainly going to impact almost every physical, emotional, and mentalevent or episode in your life over the next several hours or even days.
The next day, what happens? You hurt like hell! That's what happens. Even ifyou can convince yourself that this is a good sign, continuing on in this mannerwill eventually either produce a real injury, or will set you up mentally andphysically to begin wanting to avoid your workouts, whether you are doingaerobics, lifting weights, running, swimming, bicycling, or working in yourgarden.
Most people simply do not realize how much is going on internally when they takean out-of-shape body and begin demanding that it perform as if it were alreadyin shape.
So, just take it easy. Start off slow and gradually ease your way up to higherlevels. Many highly successful marathoner runners were barely able to walk tothe end of their street and make it back without stopping to rest when theyfirst started. Many a housewife has begun her "exercise program" with a can ofCampbell's Chicken Noodle Soup in each hand. Start light and increasegradually. Don't worry if you don't see "results" at first. All sorts of goodhealthy things are going on inside your body.
When it comes to expectations, get real.
As trite as it is, one of the best remarks to remember is: It took you years toget this way and you're not going to change things in a couple of days. Nomatter how badly you try, you simply will not lose 20 lbs in 10 days. Ithappens, but that's the exception rather than the rule. Also, each of us isdifferent. If your neighbor tries an exercise routine or diet and loses weightright away, you cannot assume that you will respond the same way. The one mainthing you can say is that if you do your exercises regularly and graduallychallenge yourself, your body will make the appropriate changes in outwardappearance and inner capabilities.
Yes! Exercise CAN get boring.
Doing anything day after day can be boring whether it's exercise, sex, or eatingice cream...at least for most of us. A few people can do things over and overand never get tired of it, but most of us aren't built that way. Even if youare doing everything the right way, have good expectations, have a greatprogram, and are seeing good results, getting up 45 minutes early for the 150thday in a row and strapping on those running shoes is going to get oldeventually. Do what you can to liven it up a bit. Even if you just like to gofor a walk, can't you walk somewhere else today? Why not substitute a swim, abicycle ride, a visit to the zoo, or an hour's worth of yard work for your walk? If your normal routine is comprised of Press, Curl, Bench Press done with abarbell, why not substitute Triceps Extensions, Preacher Curls, and Chest Flysall done with a dumbell once in a while? Or, you could go to the park, do somechin ups and pushups and then take a long walk yours! elf. Who says you have to do exactly the same thing in the same place everyday?
I listen to the news or play a motivational video while I'm on my walker. Before I know it, the walk is over and I didn't even notice it.
Your goal is to stay motivated.
How many times have you begun a program or project with a very strongmotivation, only to find that after a few days, you just didn't feel like doingit any more? The other night, you saw a documentary on the potential dangers ofheart disease in sedentary people and were so affected by it that you took anoath to begin exercising regularly. Perhaps you were in Sears or Dillard'sshopping for some new clothes, or even worse, a bathing suit, and found thatyou needed the next size up...again! You went home and vowed that you would dowhatever it took to get back to the size you were in high school (unrealisticexpectation) and that afternoon you began your exercise program and felt so goodabout what you were doing. A few days later, you just couldn't find the time orthe motivation to do your workout. In fact, you weren't even thinking aboutwhatever it was that kicked you into gear in the first place.
Write it down. As you are writing it down on paper, try to relive in your heartand mind every boliling emotion...pain, fear, embarrassment, anger...whatevergot you started on the exercise pathway in the first place. Make it a statementabout what you feel, what you want to change, why you want to change, and howyou intend to change. Put it in your purse, wallet, or pocket, and take it outand read it a few times a day. Every time you read it, try to read it out loud,and try to reconstruct in your very being the thoughts and feelings you had whenyou wrote it down. Paste it on your mirror, put it on the fridge, tell yourbest friend if you dare, but revive it in your heart several times a day, everyday.
Whatever you do, don't quit.
One of the main reasons many people feel that their exercise program has failedthem is because they quit too soon. Remember that thing about how it took youyears to get this way and it's not going to change overnight? The visibleresults of a day's exercise, a week's exercise, or a month's exercise may notgive you a reason to keep on getting up at the crack of dawn or paying those gymfees. However, six month's worth of steady, regular, moderate exercise willawaken most people to the wonders of life that await them in their newer,slimmer, physically fitter body. Oh, six month's won't be enough, and somepeople may have to wait a year or more to see the real results, but science andseveral million people have proven that if you are exercising regularly,challenging yourself and moving upwards, you WILL see the results you have beenhoping for.
You will see results, and so will everybody else.
RESOURCE BOX: Donovan Baldwin is a writer currently living in a small town inCentral Texas. He is a University of West Florida alumnus, a member of Mensa,and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. His interestsinclude nature, the environment, global warming, health, fitness, yoga, andweight loss. You can learn more about exercise and weight loss athttp://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory/
The five main reasons that most people are not successful with their exerciseprogram are these:
1. They try to do much too soon.
2. They have inaccurate or inappropriate expectations.
3. They get bored.
4. They lose their motivation.
5. They quit too soon.
Since these are the main reasons that many exercise programs don't seem to dothe job, then addressing them may make us more successful with the exercise sideof our fitness and weight loss plans. So, let's take a look at each in turn andsee if we can figure out what to do.
The dangers of overdoing exercise.
A factor that figures into all five issues is simply ignorance. I don't meanthat as an insult, it's just that people go out and buy a piece of equipment ora Richard Simmons DVD and jump in with both feet. Even if they read thedirections, those are normally written from the viewpoint of "this is what youshould be doing" rather than "this is how you get to the point where you can dowhat you should be doing". Since most people don't really know much aboutexercise or how it works, and I was once one of those people, they tend to makea lot of mistakes, even though they have the best of intentions.
One of these mistakes is to try to do too much too soon.
Let's say your new barbell set says, that for maximum effect, you should be ableto three sets of ten reps a certain exercise with the weight set at one-fourthof your body weight. So, you figure you weigh 160 lbs, set the bar at 40 lbs,and do ten reps. You're a little winded. It was a bit hard, but you were ableto do it. You rest a minute, and try again. It's harder, but you're still ableto get through it. You take another short rest and do the third set. Wow! Youhad to squeeze out the last couple of reps, but you did it! You feel good. You've got what it takes, and you can't wait until the next exercise day.
What has happened is that you have produced a large amount of damage to muscletissue that your body will now have to spend the next couple of days fixing. Since you are out of shape (even if you were able to do all three sets), yourbody is going to have a hard time getting that work done. I can tell you thatthis is certainly going to impact almost every physical, emotional, and mentalevent or episode in your life over the next several hours or even days.
The next day, what happens? You hurt like hell! That's what happens. Even ifyou can convince yourself that this is a good sign, continuing on in this mannerwill eventually either produce a real injury, or will set you up mentally andphysically to begin wanting to avoid your workouts, whether you are doingaerobics, lifting weights, running, swimming, bicycling, or working in yourgarden.
Most people simply do not realize how much is going on internally when they takean out-of-shape body and begin demanding that it perform as if it were alreadyin shape.
So, just take it easy. Start off slow and gradually ease your way up to higherlevels. Many highly successful marathoner runners were barely able to walk tothe end of their street and make it back without stopping to rest when theyfirst started. Many a housewife has begun her "exercise program" with a can ofCampbell's Chicken Noodle Soup in each hand. Start light and increasegradually. Don't worry if you don't see "results" at first. All sorts of goodhealthy things are going on inside your body.
When it comes to expectations, get real.
As trite as it is, one of the best remarks to remember is: It took you years toget this way and you're not going to change things in a couple of days. Nomatter how badly you try, you simply will not lose 20 lbs in 10 days. Ithappens, but that's the exception rather than the rule. Also, each of us isdifferent. If your neighbor tries an exercise routine or diet and loses weightright away, you cannot assume that you will respond the same way. The one mainthing you can say is that if you do your exercises regularly and graduallychallenge yourself, your body will make the appropriate changes in outwardappearance and inner capabilities.
Yes! Exercise CAN get boring.
Doing anything day after day can be boring whether it's exercise, sex, or eatingice cream...at least for most of us. A few people can do things over and overand never get tired of it, but most of us aren't built that way. Even if youare doing everything the right way, have good expectations, have a greatprogram, and are seeing good results, getting up 45 minutes early for the 150thday in a row and strapping on those running shoes is going to get oldeventually. Do what you can to liven it up a bit. Even if you just like to gofor a walk, can't you walk somewhere else today? Why not substitute a swim, abicycle ride, a visit to the zoo, or an hour's worth of yard work for your walk? If your normal routine is comprised of Press, Curl, Bench Press done with abarbell, why not substitute Triceps Extensions, Preacher Curls, and Chest Flysall done with a dumbell once in a while? Or, you could go to the park, do somechin ups and pushups and then take a long walk yours! elf. Who says you have to do exactly the same thing in the same place everyday?
I listen to the news or play a motivational video while I'm on my walker. Before I know it, the walk is over and I didn't even notice it.
Your goal is to stay motivated.
How many times have you begun a program or project with a very strongmotivation, only to find that after a few days, you just didn't feel like doingit any more? The other night, you saw a documentary on the potential dangers ofheart disease in sedentary people and were so affected by it that you took anoath to begin exercising regularly. Perhaps you were in Sears or Dillard'sshopping for some new clothes, or even worse, a bathing suit, and found thatyou needed the next size up...again! You went home and vowed that you would dowhatever it took to get back to the size you were in high school (unrealisticexpectation) and that afternoon you began your exercise program and felt so goodabout what you were doing. A few days later, you just couldn't find the time orthe motivation to do your workout. In fact, you weren't even thinking aboutwhatever it was that kicked you into gear in the first place.
Write it down. As you are writing it down on paper, try to relive in your heartand mind every boliling emotion...pain, fear, embarrassment, anger...whatevergot you started on the exercise pathway in the first place. Make it a statementabout what you feel, what you want to change, why you want to change, and howyou intend to change. Put it in your purse, wallet, or pocket, and take it outand read it a few times a day. Every time you read it, try to read it out loud,and try to reconstruct in your very being the thoughts and feelings you had whenyou wrote it down. Paste it on your mirror, put it on the fridge, tell yourbest friend if you dare, but revive it in your heart several times a day, everyday.
Whatever you do, don't quit.
One of the main reasons many people feel that their exercise program has failedthem is because they quit too soon. Remember that thing about how it took youyears to get this way and it's not going to change overnight? The visibleresults of a day's exercise, a week's exercise, or a month's exercise may notgive you a reason to keep on getting up at the crack of dawn or paying those gymfees. However, six month's worth of steady, regular, moderate exercise willawaken most people to the wonders of life that await them in their newer,slimmer, physically fitter body. Oh, six month's won't be enough, and somepeople may have to wait a year or more to see the real results, but science andseveral million people have proven that if you are exercising regularly,challenging yourself and moving upwards, you WILL see the results you have beenhoping for.
You will see results, and so will everybody else.
RESOURCE BOX: Donovan Baldwin is a writer currently living in a small town inCentral Texas. He is a University of West Florida alumnus, a member of Mensa,and is retired from the U. S. Army after 21 years of service. His interestsinclude nature, the environment, global warming, health, fitness, yoga, andweight loss. You can learn more about exercise and weight loss athttp://nodiet4me.com/articledirectory/
What can I say? WOW!
We at AtoZ Fitness are backing
The Fat To Fit Program fully, no hesitation
what-so-ever. I like it. I like the kick-butt, no bs approach, nothing wrapped in cotton or pink fluff,
just hard iron and facts. It's a little like, what can I say, like having Jillian from the Biggest Loser, only a little less pushy,
right there with you.
Sarah, CPT
AtoZ Fitness
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