Finally Getting Back into Exercising!
Finally getting into a groove of exercise after moving to 🇵🇷 . Today is day three spread out over the last week. A short jog to the community gym, weights, then some lake-side meditation. Not a bad way to start the day.
Here's my new spot right on the rocks overlooking one of the two ponds in our neighborhood:
And my view from that spot:
Do you have a regular practice of exercise and meditation? How do you stick with it?
I've found that I can easily follow a pattern for about 30 days and then I often drop off it, as if the pattern itself is limiting me in some way. Usually I get a minor cold or maybe some travel disrupts things. I'm thinking it's in my best long-term self interest to keep this pattern going though.
I’m 15 months into daily exercise. I began with the goal of doing 9 minutes of intentional exercise everyday and recorded my exercise in a daily planner that I have with me at all times and use everyday. I saw another commenter mentioned making a spread sheet. The daily planner works the same way. Looking over a month of activity and seeing blank days on the calendar doesn’t feel good.
9 minutes of intentional exercise can be a lot of things. I began with a calisthenics routine: doing 100 hundred jumping jacks, 20 squats, 20 push ups, a one minute plank, 1 minute of high knees, etc, and have since branched out quite a bit. In the beginning, doing calisthenics everyday was too much for me, so I intentionally walked with hand weights first thing in the morning. Then I started running. Now I run three or four days a week, often between three and eight miles and I go to the gym to do weight training two or three times a week. If I’m pressed for time, I go back to doing calisthenics.
Having a routine that you can do anytime anywhere is very important. And so is pressing past the 60 day point, which is when more complex habits like exercise begin to take hold in our physiology.
I also recommend making an Accountability report every week and posting it online. I did that for a year and a lot of people here helped motivate me through the times when my energies waned.
Good luck to you!
Great advice! Thank you. :)
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I think you will really like @actifit, @lukestokes! It gamifies the fitness experience (: great app for Android or iPhone
Thanks! I'll check it out. I remember seeing similar things a while back and even got a similar fitness token on BitShares a while ago.
No problem man! Honestly I see this being a top Dapp, I absolutely love it! I think it will help us all live a little longer (:
I've been tracking my workouts in a Google doc spreadsheet for a few years. After a day goes by where I don't exercise I turn the date red. Avoiding those glaring failures in my routine is a surprising motivation for me. But it also dovetails with my New Year resolution to drop 25 pounds.
As for avoiding a rut, I swap back and forth doing weights for upper body and lower body, with jogging outside if the weather is nice (rare so far this year) and playing hockey (I'm on four teams) for cardio.
I've only had five days this year without a workout!
Wow, that's some serious commitment to gamify it in a spreadsheet like that. Nicely done.
Four teams ?!?! Dang, son. That'll keep you young.
Good luck on the losing weight. Start with the inputs and keep 'em green and healthy. The brewing probably doesn't help much, I imagine. Lots of calories there. :)
The thing that helps me stick to a 'pattern' or 'routine' is some plain old goal-setting. I've found that signing up for a couple fun sounding 10k (or further, if I'm feeling spicy) races throughout the year keeps me motivated. I'm also a big fan of rock climbing, so I do a fair amount of day-dreaming about specific routes that I'd like to climb in the coming season.
Without something fairly tangible to pin all the effort onto, it starts just feeling like a chore. After a while, it starts feeling a bit more like your day to day life -- similar to working towards professional or personal goals.
Excellent advice! I found that doing the weekly exchange transfer report here on the Steem blockchain serves a similar purpose for me. Reminds me of the importance of posting regularly and engaging with people around the world.
I've recently discovered (through my little Steem-based project I'm working on) that there are "ParkRuns" hosted pretty much all over the world. Free, all-abilities, 5k race events held each Saturday. @harryp3 (UK I believe) and @run.vince.run (New Zealand) tuned me in to the fact that these are going on -- check out https://www.parkrun.com/countries/ and see if there's any near you.
I am able to stick with it as I go through cycles of low and high intensity workouts. In fact, I have found Interval training to be great to mix up the experiences to not get bored. The other important but challenging piece is ensuring that dieting is aligned with the activity. Nothing worst to think any progress is offset by the food we eat!
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Diet is hugely important. For me, with my high metabolism, I've never really had a problem there. Now that I'm working out, I think my challenge will actually be getting enough food in me (with lots of protein). I like the idea of changing it up with high and low intensity.
Smiling to see someone re-committing to their health & vitality. Small goals, steady improvement, make sure it feels like fun & not just hard work. You are worth the investment.
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Fun is excellent advice. That's what keeps anything going over the long term. Maybe I'll learn how to play tennis with @corinnestokes as the community center here in our neighborhood has some nice tennis courts.
Wow Luke this looks amazingly peaceful!!!!
Yes I meditate, but actually not every day and just in my bed before I sleep.
It's really fantastic. This is only my second time with mindfulness out at that spot (and another like it on the other side of the road where there's also a pond). It's fantastic.
Wow, that looks like some awesome weather to be exercising in! We are finally in the 60's today. It is a welcome change to the sub zero temps we had a month ago. We have a park down the road from where my wife and I live that we like to take our dog for a walk in. It's maybe a mile or two drive then we walk for a couple of miles and come home. I do my meditating when I am camping.
Nice. Yeah, the weather here is fantastic year round, though in the summer months it gets quite hot. That will be interesting. :)
Good for you! And I kind of hate your life right now >:( as I sit in freezing New York. What am I doing with my liiiiiiiiiife?!
Come visit. We'll convert you to a Puerto Rican soon enough. :)
Ice shirt 🤟😎👍