Turning a workout habit into a lifestyle

Starting a healthy workout habit

First let me share with you my experience of turning a healthy workout habit into a lifestyle. I had to go through this with a lot of trial and error. Second, I wrote this to hopefully take some of that out of the equation for you. Most importantly, what I did to eventually turn it into a lifestyle.

Turning a healthy workout habit into a lifestyle is 90% mental

I found it all too easy to listen to that little voice in my head. I told myself this all the time: “I just don’t have time to workout” or “I’m just too tired to workout today”.

In this paragraph, I’m going to explain why exercise and creating a new healthy habit is 90% mental. Firstly, when I hear that voice creep into my thoughts and my subconscious I stop it right away. It’s trying to talking me out of my goals of living a healthier life. This is the time to shut that voice up and just start doing. By that I mean just start an exercise or a small workout. It will instantly start fading those thoughts out of my head and get those endorphins going. To me it is very important to keep my mental game strong. For that I did a lot of research and reading to strengthen my mind by gaining some knowledge. I recommend giving some or all these books a read. Click here to check out my other blog on top books building yourself up mentally.

Starting a workout habit

In this paragraph I will discuss my healthy workout habit and how I knew that it was time to make a change in my life. Secondly, what I’ve learned from past experience so you don’t have to. I recommend not making too big of a change or you’ll just get burnt out. The key is to start with small steps. This is very important because if you work out too hard and too frequently you are prone to injury. I know that if I injure myself that can set me back for a very long time. I had to remind myself “slow and steady wins the race”. Thirdly, I did not start with an intense diet and exercise program. In conclusion, I found that this can lead to crash dieting and ultimately gaining back weight and losing all progress I created.

Turning a healthy habit into a lifestyle has to start out slow. This is how I got my mind and body used to the repetition of exercise. I found that if I need to form a healthy habit I need to trick my mind into thinking this is something I need to do to feel good. The more I would think about quick solutions and seeing fast results the more easily I would give up. I would think of this as a lifelong road that starts out bumpy but gets smoother as I went. I want this journey to be attainable and gratifying so I make sure to stack every one of those small wins.

Beginning the journey of a turning a workout habit into a lifestyle

In this paragraph I I’ll discuss how I got started on my journey of a healthy workout habit. Firstly, I started by doing some light calisthenics. I started this healthy workout habit by just doing 15-30 minutes every other day. My goal was to do as many knee pushups as I could, 30 seconds of jumping jacks and 10 squats. I would then take a 30 second brake and repeat this for a total of 4 sets.

At the beginning I couldn’t even do 1 pushup so I did what I could from my knees. I did 8 squats and about 20 seconds of jumping jacks. I would then take a 1 minute break. That first week I did not get to my goal but the following week I started to see progress and this is what kept me going. I had a goal and I ended out reaching that goal by the third week of working out. I then created another goal but I had to remind myself about baby steps and how important they were.

Choosing and keeping goals for yourself

I find it very important to make goals for myself when I workout especially at the beginning. Do not make the goals too crazy and at first do not make them about trying to loose a bunch of weight. It is very important when turning a workout habit into a lifestyle that we make it something we can maintain. The goals I made for myself are usually pretty fluid. Meaning I will change up what exercises I’m doing and even change up what time I workout. The key is to remain consistent. I have been able to workout consistently and injury free for over two years by keeping small goals and not over doing it. I also recommend keeping a workout journal so that you can track your progress because it is easy to get lost on your journey.

Keeping your workouts fresh

It has always been extremely important to me to keep my workouts changing and rotating. every month i will change up my exercises so they don’t become stale. I might do push-ups, squats the first month then the following month try pull-ups lunges and sit-ups. Also try to work in some weight training with some small dumb bells like dumb bell curls or flies. I am telling you this because it is very important in turning a workout habit into a lifestyle. The key is to keep it up and just keep moving.

Turning that workout habit into a lifestyle

My first year of workouts were done from home with nothing more than a pull-up bar. I did not focus on making sure I worked out at exactly the same time every day or even the same way. This workout habit was done for me and my personal growth. I kept my mind open to different workout techniques and ways to strengthen my mind. The mind and body work together to create your desired results. This ultimately helped turn this workout habit into a lifestyle.

Don’t worry about taking a few days off if life gets in the way. Don’t be hard on yourself. Some days are going to suck but I guarantee you will feel so much better when you get back at it. I noticed once I started working out and getting that endorphin rush again I forgot all about the days I missed or the excuse I had. There are plenty of free home workout apps out there from beginners to intermediate and advanced. Try one of them out as they can help keep you on track. I would say to start off slower than what you think you can handle. We all have egos and don’t let that get in the way when working out or you will be quickly humbled.

Remember to work out less to avoid injury. Injuries can set you back for a long time. Slow and steady. Remember life’s good, make it great.

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