As someone who spent most of her life clocking her weight and varying her exercise and eating habits to affect her weight, I spent most of my early years utterly perplexed. But the secret of how to get in shape is much simpler than they tell you.
We learn that energy expenditure has to outweigh intake to lose weight, but it always seemed like no matter how much a new program would start out beautifully, making me feel great and helping me hit my goals, eventually the magic would wear off. Eventually, I’d gain back the weight and the inches, this time even more depressed and confused as to why I could do it then and not now. So, I’d exercise more and eat even less. Sometimes this worked; usually it didn’t, and I’d end up feeling bloated, sad, hungry and irritable.
New diets come out. New exercise programs come out. They ALL claim to be the ONE solution to the age-old problem of how to get the body you want.
And often, they work, at least for a while.
But I noticed something over years and years of seeing this pattern: my engagement with a program had a direct correlation to how effective it was for me. Once a program turned from “I’m excited to work out!” to “Let’s get this over with,” results plateaued, or even reversed.
You have to be excited about getting fit, learning how to get in shape and/or your fitness program.
The above is anecdotal, I know. I don’t have a study to show you. But think about it—it makes perfect sense. When you’re coming home late from work and you’re exhausted, and you go to cook dinner and you drop something on the floor, how do you react?
You go, “Uuuugggghhh…” and flop down to pick it up, completely pissed off at yourself and the world. You exert as little energy as possible.
What about when you are in a good mood and see a stranger’s baby drop a mitten on the ground? Most likely, you’ll happily bend down, with purpose and haste, and hand it to the person with a smile, happy to make their day just a little bit easier.
Think about the difference in how you use your body in the two instances. In the first, there’s probably a lot of flopping going on. A lot of flopping and flailing and using as little muscle exertion as possible. In the second situation, you’ll engage more muscles but it’s not a chore—it feels good and you’re happy to do it. You’re probably using proper form by bending at the knees, not at the hips.
You’re engaged. This is the number one, primo, supreme ingredient you need in your workout regimen if you want to get fit, and especially if you want the process to be fast and…well, by definition it can’t be “painless,” but you get the idea.
Engagement means you’re doing more than the bare minimum.
When you make your exercise a “should” and not a “want to” all the time, then you are flopping your way through it. You hopefully won’t be so floppy that you hurt your back, but you won’t give it your all. You’re going through the motions.
Is this reluctant approach effective? Sure. It’s still moving your body and it still is expending energy. But it’s not fun. It’s definitely not as effective as it could be. And it’s not purposeful.
Purpose helps boost engagement.
Having a general goal of being “fitter” or “lose some weight” isn’t that actionable unless you define specifically how you’ll measure that goal. Maybe you want to be able to run a half marathon, or do a pull-up. Maybe your goal is something pertaining to how you look (that’s okay!), like wanting more prominent shoulders or a slimmer waist.
If you have specific goals, you’ll have more gusto when performing workouts to get to that goal. And it will be more fun.
“Fun” is an odd word when used in conjunction with working out, I know. By definition, working out is work. It’s not the same kind of fun as hand gliding or having a laugh with friends. It’s not relaxing. But it’s the kind of fun you get from playing a sport or working on a fundraiser. It comes with accomplishment. It’s the kind of fun we ideally want in our work lives, as we set goals and meet them, or fail and set new goals and meet those instead.
Variety helps, too.
There’s a trainer I love named Tanja Djelevic. She’s Swedish and utterly delightful. I somehow found her Gaiam balance ball DVD (back when we did those) and followed along and absolutely fell in love with her and the workout.
I was excited to work out.
I learned a lot.
I lost weight!
I was stronger!
And then very quickly, I got bored.
It was one DVD, with only one full-length workout. It was a great workout, and I made the repetition work for me by really perfecting my form (which actually makes it more effective) and adding weights and advanced variations. But I was still doing the same workout. Every. Single. Day. None of her encouragements were encouraging because I could foresee them all. “Whoop, this is where she incorrectly counts the reps!” “Ugh, next is those roll-out things.” It’s frustrating when we find something we love and is effective, only to then realize that it doesn’t work forever.
Eventually, I stumbled upon Zuzka Light at what was then Bodyrock.tv (it’s now run by her ex-husband and (maybe?) girlfriend, and though I haven’t followed it closely for years, I would recommend ZuzkaLight.com). She had dozens of workouts and added new ones weekly, sometimes daily. When Bodyrock lost Zuzka and she went away for a bit, I found Tatianna at LovingFit.com, whose workouts I still count among the most effective, fun, interesting and balanced on the web. Seriously, she rocks. When she stopped posting regular workouts, I learned how to make my own.
Variety is the spice of…workouts.
The ingredient here? Variety.
Having a new workout every day means your body and your mind is constantly present and surprised.
How often have you been doing a workout and find yourself saying something like, “Okay, here’s the eighth rep, where I usually struggle, and now I have four more…” Or, “Ugh, I’m only halfway through, but luckily this next part is easy.” Constant repetition means you pre-pave your workouts with expectations, and usually not good ones. Why? Because it’s work. Because it’s hard. If you know how hard it is going into it, your brain will try to stop you from doing it, or at least coast you through to when it’s over. Variety means you stay present and focused. It also keeps you—what’s the word, boys and girls?—engaged.
You get to decide.
How to keep things varied and interesting is really a personal preference, however. In the example above with my DVD, this was a full-body workout with strength and cardio elements, without being particularly intense on one body part. It was something I could do on consecutive days. If you’re following a more strength-based program, you definitely should not train the same body part on consecutive days, let alone every day. But even if you have one or two upper body workouts a week, along with one or two lower body, and maybe a day of something else, like a nice run or a kickboxing class, vary it up. There are many exercises that target the same body part or muscle group, and many variations on those exercises. Vary the exercises, their order, the sets, the reps, even the weight.
If your main exercise is running, vary the route you do. If you like the elliptical machine, vary the program you use. Or split your workout up and do 15 minutes of elliptical and 15 minutes on the stairclimber.
Variety can be worked into any exercise program, but if you look at the workouts I post here, it’s a built-in aspect. You can read how I work out here, and you’ll find many articles and workouts posted, now and moving forward, but I like to plan out a whole routine for my workout. This means I may do a simple circuit, with a set number of rounds and exercises and reps, or I might do something more complicated with different parts with different structures. I always check in with how I’m feeling that day and create accordingly.
Repetition is okay, just not all the time.
I’ll admit, sometimes it gets tiring creating a new workout every day. This is where I’ll repeat workouts I’ve done or made up before, though I rarely repeat a workout more than two or three times, and very rarely more than five. Sometimes I’ll get completely fed up and join a program someone else created. I did this recently with Hannah Eden’s FYR 30-day program on Bodybuilding.com. Not only was it fantastic, but I learned new skills and exercises, I found new inspiration in a new role model, and I didn’t have to work so hard to create a worthwhile program. I love creating it myself, but we all fall into habits even in the process of including variety. Get that? Have variety in your variety!
This is the part where you get really annoyed because I’m going to (possibly) throw out everything I’ve said previously in this post. Ready?
Find out what motivates you to work out and have that be your primary building block.
What keeps you engaged is not what keeps me engaged. Or your boyfriend. Or your trainer. Or that cute Instagram chick with a juicy booty.
It’s a hackneyed expression, but it’s correct, so here goes:
Exercise should be part of a lifestyle, not a one-time or a short-term fix.
You want to keep exercise and activity in your life long-term. If this seems daunting or overwhelming to you now, remember that your attitude can and will change. Our brains make us feel like our feelings are permanent, but they’re not. Big change can happen, but it helps if it’s in bite-size pieces. See my post on building and forming healthy habits here.
And while the overarching objective is long-term, you just have to deal with right now. A long-term strategy is just a bunch of short-term strategies with a strong purpose connecting them. Eventually you’ll make a connection between how great you feel and how successfully you keep up with exercise and that overarching objective will come naturally. You’ll want to work out because you just feel better, and the long-term goal of feeling, looking or performing better will outweigh any short-term anxiety or laziness.
Consistency is key.
How you like to work out will likely point to why you want to work out in the first place. But listen to yourself and follow the exercise style that seems the most exciting to you. At the end of the day, consistency matters more than perfection. If you work out one time only, it doesn’t do anything worthwhile for you. You have to keep doing it. So find the thing that you want to keep doing. And remember that it might change. Hopefully, it will.
Many people love classes, and for good reason. There’s a social component, which makes it fun, and you can share your struggles and triumphs. Plus, having community helps keep you accountable for reaching your goals.
Some people love running outside. It can serve an almost meditative purpose, clearing out the day’s troubles or getting us ready for the day to come.
And some, like me, love the challenge of lifting heavy things or maybe working towards pull-ups or another skill-specific goal, while zoning out in solitary bliss.
If you’re really having trouble, find an activity where exercise isn’t the main goal. Perhaps try a dance class, or martial arts. Join a hiking club. Join a soccer team. I took aerial arts for about a year and a half and adored it. I still miss it and use the skills I learned every day.
You know what’s best for you as far as motivation goes.
The best advice in the world from the world’s foremost trainer won’t help you if you hate everything about doing what they recommend. If you’re looking at a choice of doing the perfect workout you hate, going on a hike which you love, or not doing anything at all, go on the hike. Whatever you do, don’t let motivation be the reason you’re not exercising.
Yes, there are lots of experts out there, and many, many contradicting opinions on top of it all. I give my ideas and opinions a lot on this website, but I suggest it all with the hope that it excites you, or at least sparks curiosity.
So, to recap.
- Be engaged in your workout.
That’s it.
How to be engaged?
- Listen to yourself.
- Have specific purpose with your workout.
- Vary it up.