One of the biggest mistakes I see people make when beginning an exercise plan is to base their plans against a backdrop of a perfect-world-scenario.
Yes, in a perfect world we would all exercise 60 to 90 minutes a day, eat home-cooked meals from the purest of organic ingredients, and keep our stress levels perfectly in balance.
But that’s not the world I live in, and I know it’s certainly not yours. The trouble with setting goals that don’t allow for flexibility is that we tend to rely on past successes to fuel future success; so if you’re constantly feeling like you didn’t quite hit the mark every time life gets in the way, pretty soon you’ll get discouraged and abandon the whole notion of getting fit.
One of the best ways to safeguard against this kind of self-disappointment is to always be thinking through back-up plans when scheduling your workout. Planning on a forty-five minute early morning run? What if it’s raining—then what will you do? Knowing that you can hit the gym treadmill in that case—even though it may reduce your workout time by fifteen minutes because of the drive time—will keep you safeguarded against circumstances that are beyond your control while still banking a mini-success to propel you forward.
Lunchtime and evening exercisers are probably the most prone to detours in their workout plans. You may have every intention of making it to that new barre class after work, but if your last meeting runs 15 minutes late you’re going to need to re-route.
Many fitness experts advise you to schedule in your workout like appointments. I think this is good advice, but I also think you have to revisit your schedule often because so much can change in a moment’s notice.
Have a “Best-Case/Worst-Case” exercise plan for the week, and at the very minimum, decide the day before what your workout will be for the next day.
Staying adaptable will ultimately make you more consistent through life’s detours, and consistency breeds results like nothing else. Especially when just starting out on an exercise program, place less emphasis on exactly what workout you’re doing, and more emphasis on the simple fact that you’re doing something. There’s always time to improve and tweak and refine later. Having access to mobile fitness options like the Elevate Mobile Fitness 14 Days to Fit Lifestyle Jumpstart can also help jog your creativity and help you feel good about every win–even if your “Plan A” turns into “Plan Z!”
Keep this principle in mind this week as you find creative ways to squeeze in activity: Any exercise is better than no exercise!
