Personal Habits: Exercising

Everyone from India has heard the phrase, “ If you get up by 6 in the morning, everything will set in order.” It is a common phrase made for Millennials and Gen-Z. We hear it so often and tried a few times but it didn’t suit your routine. Did you ever wonder why you weren’t able to adopt it? After reading this, do let me know about your thoughts on this.

Exercising in the Morning

Of course, the most common habit among people. Exercising a few hours after you get up is beneficial to your health. It increases blood flow in you as well as trains your muscles. It increases alertness and also energizes you for the day. It’s common to do cardio in the morning with lifting weights before your first breakfast. This helps in burning fat as well as developing your muscle endurance. But why can’t you do it?

The most common reasons are:

• Sleeping Late: You may have slept late. Even if you have slept around 11PM, if you need 8 hours of sleep then you will get up at 7AM. Your body needs sufficient sleep to get up or it will keep you tired the entire day. You have to plan your sleep schedule in a way you don’t compromise your sleep.

• Exhausted: If you had a backbreaking day and you are completely exhausted of your energy, then you may not get up the next day at your set time. If this is your regular routine, you may want to change the time you want to get up.

• Jam-packed daily routine: If your schedule is full on an everyday basis, you need to start prioritizing your work. It may be tough to change your routine but by doing this, you can improve the amount of time you can give to yourself and your new habits.

• Feeling awkward where you exercise: Am I doing it well? Is my form right? Is my shirt torn? Am I sweating too much? Am I disturbing someone? Are they looking at how bad I am? Are they judging me? It is okay to feel these when you workout. Everyone goes through this and it’s okay. At the beginning it does feel weird to do a workout but we all started as beginners and we also have made mistakes. The only thing that you can do is ask a friend, family or trainer to help you. They may also point out other mistakes that you may have made which you can correct.

• You don’t want to: Most of the time when you try to build a habit, there is a feeling that says, “This isn’t worth the trouble we are going through” but sometimes, you just don’t want to. You might want to do it to show others or of the stereotypical “healthy person”. If you think clearly by separating your external ideas/thoughts, you will understand why you want to do it.

How can you tackle these problems?

At first, these hurdles feel the hardest to jump over but unless you jump over them, you cannot reach your goal. There will be hurdles along the way and you are the solution to them. You will become better when you start crossing hurdles. Every hurdle you face is a step that you need to conquer and move forward.

1. Set a Convenient time: 5 AM may be easy for others but it may be difficult for you. It may not agree with your sleep routine, or with your work routine so you quit. Rather, just change the time. If you get up around 7 AM and have to go to work by 10 AM. Make a slot of 1 hour for your workout and complete your morning routine! If you can’t make a slot of 1 hour, carry it to the evening when you come home. 1 hour before dinner, exercise to your heart’s content! 

2. Change your workout: If you are the ‘No pain, No Gain’ person, sometimes, you may get too sore from your workout which leads to quitting. Rather than quitting, change your workout a bit. You don’t need to change weight, just change what you do. It is very helpful to have a 10-minute cardio session at the end. Not high intensity but something like walking on a treadmill or yoga, will help you recover efficiently.

3. Get a workout partner: “Sometimes, the fruit tastes better when it’s shared” Get a partner! A friend who wants to workout or a family member who is bored of being alone in the gym, work together at the gym! When you have someone to look out for you, you get more confident and work better. It will also help in improving your form! If you workout with a partner you are comfortable with, you will be able to focus more on your workout than others.

4. Take Pictures of yourself: When you take pictures of yourself after you workout, you can see the amount of progress that you are accomplishing over time. This way you get to see how far you have come. Every day that you work is a step forward. You and your partner could record each other’s workout and see where you could improve.

5. 20% of the work gets you 80% of the way: Some days, you don’t feel like working out, you don’t feel like going to the gym but by showing up and doing 10% of your workout makes you feel happy that you came. Just by showing up and starting your workout sets the wheels in motion. By the time you take off your headset, you are halfway through.

6. Take cheat days/rest days: When you exercise, it’s important to rest so your muscles recover and become stronger. By not taking rest, you are prone to burning out. If the gym is tiring you out way beyond it should, then you need a rest day. Hitting the gym after your rest day feels better because you will feel stronger and work more.

This article is my personal opinion that I have used when I workout and it has worked well for me. Experiment with your workout routines and I am sure you can find something that works well for you. To become better tomorrow, you have to work today. This way, you will become a better version of yourself. All the Best!