We all want to live a healthy life. We all want to look good. However, few of us actually want to exercise.
The result? People force themselves to start exercise, only to drop out in the first 6 months. The consequences? All progress made (becoming stronger, looking and feeling better, posture improvement, losing weight) gets lost.
This is why I put together this guide, to help people like you, start exercising, and actually like it! Along with liking exercise, you will also develop a system to support your exercise habit, so that you never have to lose your progress again.
Sounds unbelievable? Then keep on reading…
Focus on what really matters.
Yes, it’s true that slow, long-lasting cardio burns more calories. It’s also true that weight training with 5 repetitions to failure help more with muscle volume than doing 10 repetitions to failure.
But let’s be practical.
Do you really think that those strategies will get you the body you want, or the healthy lifestyle you are meant to have? Do yo think they will protect you from dropping exercise once life gets tough?
Instead of worrying about how you should start, spend time focusing on what actually matters.
For most people exercise is another boring, time-consuming task that needs to be done.They have to drag themselves to exercise. They start and then they stop. Most of us have been there.
What you should really be focusing is how to make exercise fun and easy. You can figure out the details later.
This is how you can’t help it but become addicted to exercise!
So, here are the 26 steps that will actually help you exercise and love it!
You can use the links below to jump to a relevant section.
Let’s get going…
A. Plan a fresh start.
You come to exercise with emotional baggage from past attempts that failed. Time to clean it up!
Do you really think that those strategies will get you the body you want, or the healthy lifestyle you are meant to have? Do yo think they will protect you from dropping exercise once life gets tough?
Instead of worrying about how you should start, spend time focusing on what actually matters.
For most people exercise is another boring, time-consuming task that needs to be done.They have to drag themselves to exercise. They start and then they stop. Most of us have been there.
What you should really be focusing is how to make exercise fun and easy. You can figure out the details later.
This is how you can’t help it but become addicted to exercise!
So, here are the 26 steps that will actually help you exercise and love it!
You can use the links below to jump to a relevant section.
Let’s get going…
A. Plan a fresh start.
You come to exercise with emotional baggage from past attempts that failed. Time to clean it up!
Do you really think that those strategies will get you the body you want, or the healthy lifestyle you are meant to have? Do yo think they will protect you from dropping exercise once life gets tough?
Instead of worrying about how you should start, spend time focusing on what actually matters.
For most people exercise is another boring, time-consuming task that needs to be done.They have to drag themselves to exercise. They start and then they stop. Most of us have been there.
What you should really be focusing is how to make exercise fun and easy. You can figure out the details later.
1. Do you feel guilty for not exercising? Realize it’s not your fault.
Get over that guilt right now.
Understand that it’s NOT your fault for NOT exercising. There is nothing wrong with you! Especially, if exercise for you means suddenly devoting excessive amount of time (e.g. 1 hour, 4 times a week), it’s only natural that you don’t exercise.
Why do you think most people quit exercise in the first 6 months?
- Because starting a new habit is hard.
- Because people have unrealistic expectations. They rely on willpower, when willpower is the first castle to fall once you actually start working out.
- Because people have no solid system to rely onto, once their willpower is over.
- Because people who fail falsely assume it’s because they were lazy, instead of recognizing the faults on their system.
Start exercising with a system that actually works, and you will see yourself finding exercise easy-breezy!
2. Think about your motivation. Why do you want to exercise?
Is it because you want to have a healthier lifestyle? Get stronger? Or, maybe you want to lose weight? Ask yourself about your “why” and the answer should come immediately to your mind.
Now take a piece of paper and write down all the different motivating goals for you. The order does not matter.
3. Review your exercise motivation. Is there a “should” or “must” or “have to” on the goals you just wrote?
If yes, then
cross it off! Right now! “Shoulds” and “musts” are only going to make sure younever achieve your goal, as you will be naturally inclined to rebel against them! They are a source of negativity.
You have to (yes, have to) to transform those goals from negative to positive.
Time to do some rewriting…Example:
“
I have to lose weight” => “I want to be prettier”
Rewrite all the negative goals, and make them positive.
4. Formulate your goals as long jumps rather than high jumps. Add a time limit.
Let’s assume that one of your goals is to look better by losing weight. You may need to lose 60 pounds. Start by focusing on the first 20 pounds.
Most coaches advocate that you should have very specific and measurable goals. To an extent, I have to argue with that.
When doing a high jump, you have to jump higher than the bar to be successful. Contrary, when doing a long jump, the longer your jump, the better for you. There is not really a specific mark that you absolutely need to reach.
- Here is a high jump goal: In the context of looking better, I will lose 20 pounds in 3 months.
- Here is a long jump goal: In the context of looking better, I will be thinner in 3 months.
- Here is a modified long jump goal: In the context of looking better, I will be at least 5 pounds thinner in 3 months.
Yes, the long jump goal is not measurable at all. That’s why you should use the modified approach. In this case, you could still lose 20 pounds, it’s just that the baseline is at just 5 pounds. In the modified approach there is an absolute minimum you have to reach. Thus, your goal is still measurable, but more flexible.
If you decide to go for high jumps though, keep in mind that failing to achieve the goal, will make your attempt look like a failure. You certainly don’t want more disappointing experiences with exercise, do you?
Your mantra should be “fun & easy”, not “stressful and hard”.
The only goals that must be absolutely measurable are the process ones. Example: I will exercise 4 times a week, for 30 min each time. Such goals describe the process that will get you to your long jump goal, and it’s super important to be kept each and every week! We’ll get into those in step 6.
5. Think in terms of “fun and easy”.
The best workouts are the ones we find fun and convenient. Why?
- You are not going to make it more than a couple of times to a workout that is fun but not convenient.
- You are also not going to make it more than a couple of times to a workout that is convenient, but boring.
Think of two to four ways you want to work out: your favorite most fun activities to work out, and the most convenient ones. It does not matter whether it’s cardio, resistance training, or playing sports. It only matters whether it’s fun, or convenient.
Criteria for fun-ness are: fun, joy, happiness, playfulness, mind-body connection, or whatever makes you happy.
Criteria for convenience are:
- Amount of hidden cost activities. E.g., apart from the actual time that working out takes, going to the gym also requires 30 min to get to the gym and back.
- Availability of activity: Can I do it whenever I want to? E.g., I can only attend a yoga class at 5 pm on weekdays vs. I can work out at home whenever I want to.
The less time hidden cost activities take, and the more available an activity is, then the more convenient it is.
Activities example:
- Fun: Hiking, yoga.
- Convenience: Work out at home, jog in my neighborhood.
B. Set-up a fail-proof system!
People believe they can rely on willpower to exercise. Well, willpower is limited, and this is the exact reason that people repeatedly fail to stick to their exercise goals for more than a few months. There is a solution though: setting up a support system.
6. How much time are you willing to devote to exercise every week?
Start by thinking what you can do, rather than what you think you “should” do.
a. Ask yourself: How long am I willing to devote to exercise every day?
Yes, you heard right, every day. Your answer can be 1 hour, or 5 minutes. It does not matter.
b. Ask yourself: Can I CONFIDENTLY say that I will work out for X minutes daily for the next 1 year ?
Hey there, you didn’t ask for the next month, you asked for the next year.
If the answer to the question is no, then lower the amount of time, and rinse and repeat the question until you say yes.
You have to be 100% confident that you will stick to it for at least a year! 95% certainty does not work.
c. Make a weekly plan that is a mix and match of the two to four activities that you chose in step 5.
E.g., you can do twice a week hiking and 5 times a week jogging. This plan is your process goal. From now on, your only focus should be on following through with the process that you just set up.
7. Announce your exercise goals to your family and social circle!
Announcing your plans to your social circle will dramatically increase your chances of following through with your goal. Don’t dare skip this step! Making yourself accountable is a strategy that works.
Ways to make the announcement:
- New status on facebook.
- E-mail your friends.
- Announce it verbally to your family.
- Set up a Google Doc to track your fitness progress and share it with your friends.
- Write your plans on the kitchen board.
Finally, commit to updating them with your progress. You can ping them with your results every two weeks, or every month.
Note: You won’t have to update your friends forever. Once exercise becomes a habit, you won’t need to do that. However, until that moment, updating your friends will really help you embrace exercise in your life.
8. Set up triggers to remember your workouts.
Making your exercise plan is not enough for you to actually do it. Even if your plan is ridiculously fun & easy, you may still need that extra nudge to get going. This is what triggers are used for. 
- A trigger can be an “I-love-squats” post-it on your computer.
- Or, a text “Exercise makes me feel so good” reminder from an online service like Remember the milk.
- Or, your husband asking you when you’ll do your workout…
- Or, all of them combined!
9. Structure your workouts.
You have roughly two options (simplified for the purpose of this guide):
- Make sure you work all big muscle groups ( back-chest-core-legs) each week. If you are only doing cardio or total-body exercises then you are fine with this rule.
- Do not repeat the same exercise for two-days straight.
- Add resting time/days if you need to.
That’s it! Simple, right?
When just starting, your plan does not have to be great. Just come up with something according to the guidelines above. You can tweak later to better fit your needs.
“You don’t have to be great to start. But you have to start to be great” – Joe Sabah
Remember that your current goal is to come up with a plan that is fun and easy to do! It does not have to be hard. You don’t have to get sweaty.
10. If thinking about muscle groups is overwhelming, then just start with working your core, doing squats, or push-ups.
Don’t worry whether you know enough to make your plan. Believe me you already more than you should when it comes to exercising.
Don’t you know how to do a squat?
Don’t you know how to do a push-up?
Don’t you know how to work your abs?
Yes, you do! You just need to do more of it! And, don’t worry about the number of sets, or repetitions!
Pick something and go do it! Do it daily!
C. Actually exercise!
Just do it.
12. End each workout session with 1 min of stretching.
This is why you should devote at least 1 min to stretch.
- Stretch because it feels good.
- Stretch to increase your range motion, protecting yourself from possible injuries.
However, if adding stretching makes exercise complicated for you, then just skip it! You can always add it later on, when your exercise habit will be more established!
13. Follow your workout plan! Every day!
Enough said. Just follow what you have already planned! Now is the time to do it!