Archive for April, 2009

Exercise At Home — How To Restart A Forgotten Fitness Routine

Monday, April 6th, 2009

Once you break the habit of doing your exercise at home, it can be extremely difficult to get back into the groove of things and stick with it. The exercise habit is not different from starting or stopping a habit of any other kind. It often takes several false starts to get going. In the beginning, you may find that you’re fighting with yourself to get going. The trick is to make sure you go right back at it if you find yourself slipping. If you can just get yourself exercising regularly and consistently, you may find that you can’t wait until exercise time!

Identify And Treat Triggers

Most of us have certain things that cause us to stop doing our exercise at home. It could be a schedule conflicts, a dislike for the activity, or plain inconvenience. Regardless of what it is, you will be unable to stick with the fitness program until you identify and slay the dragon. For a scheduling conflict, try adjusting your schedule and either moving, or breaking up the amount of time you set aside for attaining physical fitness. If you find that you have trouble getting home from work, try exercising in the morning or later in the evening.

Making Exercise A Conscious Habit

If you don’t “pen” in a time slot for exercise at home, you must! Making the conscious decision to commit to exercise in your daily lifestyle will greatly improve your chances of succeeding. To help remind yourself, leave a note where you are sure to see it- perhaps on the phone, the fridge, or even by the microwave. It doesn’t have to be a standard written note. Some people bring out a weight or the clothes they like to wear when they work out. You need to choose the ‘trigger’ that works best for you. Eventually, the routine will become like second nature, and the day won’t feel the same without it.

Reward Yourself

Many people that want to exercise at home on a routine basis find it isn’t the physical activity that makes it difficult, but getting started. You may find it hard to get up and get moving, but are fine once you get going. If this is you, don’t be afraid to bribe yourself! It could be a small treat, an hour doing something you enjoy, or any small thing you enjoy doing. If you don’t follow through, don’t reward yourself.

Find A Motivator

Sometimes, we just need a good friend to tell us to ‘toughen up!’ Don’t be afraid to tell your friends, families, and co-workers of your goals and difficulties and ask them to help. You’ll find it much harder to skip your workout if you are accountable to someone else for it. As an added benefit, you might be able to convince some of them to join you. You could take turns working out at each other’s homes, or just share in each other’s achievements and troubles.

The most important thing to remember is not to be too hard on yourself. If something happens and you miss a day, don’t give up completely! Either make it up later that day, or start again tomorrow. Each time you do miss your p90x workout, keep track of ‘why’ and ‘when’ to help identify any patterns that exist. Once you get these out of the way, you’ll be slim and trim in no time!
About the Author

Author is a freelance copywriter. For more information on P90X, please visit
http://www.extremebodyworkout.com/.