This is it, you finally told yourself enough is enough. You are going to do something about your health, your fitness and that body staring back at you in the mirror. Tomorrow is the day big changes will happen in your life. You going to eat right and workout really really hard to be rid of those annoying fat cells. (If you are anything like me, you would probably be thinking this while having your favourite sinful delight – charsiew rice, McD ice cream…)
Only problem is that, this is what you have told yourself before at many points in life. I have gone through that all too familiar yo-yo routine of falling in and out of exercise, and each time beating myself up for failing, for not being strong enough, not determined enough, not wanting it enough. And at this point, if you are nodding in agreement, read on!
But how to break this cycle? I can’t say I have gotten it down to a tee but here are a few nuggets that I picked up along the way by working through my own challenges (you can read that in My Story) and through observing others, whether it is subscribing to celebrity fitness gurus or asking other fitness enthusiast. Yes, I love to find out what keeps them pumped and motivated 24/7. I would strongly suggest that you read “Know yourself really really well” before heading off to try any of these suggestions. Knowing what makes you, YOU is the absolute pre-step if you are going to make this stick.
It is in no particular order of importance. The sequencing is more of an ala-carte where you can pick one at a time and try it out. Let me know how it worked out.
- Change your language, change your life
- Set a realistic beginner goal. Do not create an excuse for failure
- Work within your time zone and be consistent
- Keep your first week simple, uncomfortable but pleasant
- Measure, measure, measure
- Build a support network
- Have a game plan
- Invest enough that it hurts
- Prep T minus 1
- Vary your training routine
1. Change your language, change your life
Catch yourself when you next hear yourself saying “I need to..”, “I must..” and instead say “I want to..”, “I love to..”, “I aspire to..”. Avoid terms like “diet” and “exercise” but instead say “nutrition” and “workout/training”. Diet focuses on depriving oneself from food you love while nutrition focuses on nourishing your body with what is wholesome. Exercise is just working up a sweat with no clear purpose while workout/training is intentional and working towards a specific goal. Small differences but huge impact in the way you approach changes in your life. It is all about perspective.
The formula to have in the back of your mind is: Say -> Believe -> Act -> Become.
[Origins] It was a fellow runner enthusiast who told me this several years ago when he noticed a pattern difference in the speech of a champion athlete and us struggling mortals. Since then my friend has moved on from Full marathons (this is 42km distances on tarmac in case you are wondering) to Ultra-marathons and trails (50, 100 and beyond). Such are the power of words we tell ourselves.
2. Set a realistic beginner goal. Do not create an excuse for failure
It is nice to set goals that are at a grandeur scale but doing that at this stage really isn’t going to help you. In fact, you are not setting yourself up for success and you may use this to justify failure i.e. I am injured, I am just not genetically built to do this, and the lists goes on and on. Set what is an achievable first step. If it is showing up at the gym and doing some half-as**ed cycling, start with that. But build up and progress from there.
That said, you need to know WHY these goals are important for you. The topic is so important that is deserves a post dedicated just for it. See Find your Big WHY to know more.
[Origins] Back in 2015, I hit a wall with my running. I had set a Half Marathon goal by year end but was nowhere near close. It seems like the faster and further I tried to get, the more injuries I experienced until I was convinced I was just not built to be a runner. It was those awkward bowed legs, those big thighs.
It was then that a good friend of mine sat me down, explained that there was more than just trying harder. There were finer points about running such as form, cadence, heart rate. He helped me break it down into workable steps and I am forever in his debt.
3. Work within your time zone and be consistent
Find a consistent time that works best for you. If you are a morning person, then focus morning time and effort into things that will bring return on investment to your life. Fitness is but just one of many options that enriches life. Do not spend excessive amounts of time mindlessly surfing FB or WhatsApp if it does not give you much returns. If you are a night person, dedicate some focus time after you have had a light snack. Start with 1 minute and work up to 20 or 30 minutes. The key is consistency – the more you can stick with it, the easier it gets. It then becomes second nature to you.
You can expect to struggle initially when you are trying to find the best time. Things seem to get in the way but press on, be willing to adapt your plans when called for and keep your inner motivation nourished.
[Origins] I was inspired by one colleague who made a commitment to start his mornings with reading at least 4 pages of self-enrichment books. Problem was he was seriously addicted to FB. His solution? He installed an app that restricted internet time to only during lunch time. Asked his girlfriend to set the password and to never let him know. Not implying we should go to that extreme but in his case, his rather drastic restraint helped him move forward.
4. Keep your first week simple, uncomfortable but pleasant
The idea here is simple – the more pleasant the experience, the more likely we will repeat it. Your chances of keeping to a certain fitness regime or nutrition plan is virtually zilch if you start the Day 1 guns blazing but end up feeling sick and nauseated. Start small, keep it simple, and pleasantly bearable. I came across this method called Kaizen 1-minute 2 years back that explains the psychology behind this and how to implement it. The blog post by Unified Soul Theory is very well written and comprehensively covers it. It is such a simple method but definitely a game changer.
[Origins] It has helped me on numerous occasions make the mindset switch when I am putting off something because I do not like or want to do it.
With regards to fitness, if you are on the heavier side of the weighing scale and have not done any physical activity for the past 1 to 2 years, you may want to start with mobility exercises instead of attempting High Intensity Interval Trainings (HIIT). Don’t kill yourself in your first attempt – please!
[Origins] As counter-intuitive as this sounds, many beginners dive down the HIIT road. I wonder if it has may have to do with the word weight-loss and after burn effect. While it is indeed effective as I can attest to it, not everyone can successfully pull it off on the first try.
5. Measure, measure, measure
Set performance metrics! Pick a health indicator and consistently measure.
Tim Ferris (author of the 4-hour body) goes a little overboard by taking insane number of before-after body tests to validate how certain food and drugs impact his body. So much so, his kitchen was described as the hospital ER! You do not have to go to that extreme but choose an effective indicator. That said, body weight is a very poor indicator though one very popular with anyone looking to lose weight. Indicators such as body fat % is relatively better since it focuses on measuring body fat percentages rather than just total weight (muscle, fat and water). If you are into gadgets, fitness wearable (Fitbit, Garmin and Apple – just to name a few) help measure other key metrics such as Heart rate, Heart rate zones, cadence and so on. All these helps you track whether you are indeed getting fitter, but it is easy to over-analyse. Do not go overboard.
As much as it is important to pick the right indicator, it is also important to be consistent. Choose a specific day and time to take measurements so you eliminate variability and track true progress. For example, measure your body fat% every morning after you have had 350ml of still water to avoid unnecessary spikes caused by food and dehydration. It has to be a time that minimizes variability. It is not helpful to compare measurements taken in the morning with those taken just after lunch since your food and water intake varies significantly.
More in-depth post on each metric coming soon.
[Origins] Nowadays, I find myself measuring on Thursdays weekly and just before I head to the gym. The weighing scale may not be accurate but if it is consistently wrong, I can effectively measure the trend – upward (uh, oh, gotta watch those sweets) or downward (maybe bump up the protein intake?)
6. Build a support network
Nothing makes it more fun than to find others who are just as committed to embark on this new life endeavour. Skipping kickboxing day is just that much harder when you have promised your friend to be there. Joining a social club like a running or cycling club helps make it fun and something to look forward to. Some passion from these fanatic die-hards (I say it with all the respect and reverence due) tend to rub off. Also, you get insightful tips and tricks of the trade for free!
[Origin] For a long time, I was a solo runner. Training and joining events by myself or with a few close friends. It was not until recently that I joined a running club by accident. A friend of mine who had signed up for 8 sessions of a 21K running clinic could not make the last 4 sessions and asked if I would like to join since it was fully paid for already. I have since gained so much from that, not to mention the priceless relationships gained. I am constantly encouraged by these folks daily likes on my Strava activities.
7. Have a game plan
Work out a training plan that gets you there. Always head to your next session with a game plan. You know you are heading for disaster if you start asking “So what shall I do today” when you are at your training destination (a gym, track, field, whatever). The chances of doing too much or too little or worse still, getting injured increases many fold.
Big Rule here – EVERY person starts at a different level and have different needs. Just because a plan works for your friend or someone you know does not mean it will work for you. This is not a cake recipe where if you follow it just right, you will get the same cake. Even then, no two cheese cake tastes the same.
Research is key. Nowadays, there are tons of step-by-step online training plans on youtube, fitness apps like workout trainer, freeletics and the likes. Apply some common-sense and choose a plan that is most suited to your goals. The post Building a Plan 101 provides some guidelines on how to get started. Hopefully through this blog, the time you spend scouring for something suitable can be significantly shortened.
Having said that, do not hesitate to get a Personal Trainer if you feel overwhelmed at the beginning. They can help you establish a plan that works for you and most suited for your current level. You can build on that plan when you are more confident in your abilities and proficient in the exercises.
8. Invest enough that it hurts
Financial commitment is one way to motivate you. It could be signing up for that cross-fit or muay-thai class that you were always thinking of. It may be registering for a 10km run event in 6-8 months’ time. Getting a new pair of running shoes or a training top and pants gives you that much more oomph to start working out.
Now I am not judging here. You may have perfectly sound reasons for not starting what you want to now. But if getting stuck in the contemplation mode of “I wonder” has gone on for quite a while, then why not give this a try. Sometimes a calculated plunge is in order. Of course, always ensure it is within reasonable bounds – setting a realistic target as we have covered above and not to go crazy overboard with fitness gadgets and apparels.
[Origins] When my wife and I had our second kid, many friends including myself were sceptical I could keep up my running routine. What with the night feeds and sleepless nights. I was determined not to fall back into the 1 year work out hiatus that happened when we had our first child. This time, I figured that it was critical to be consistent in the first month. What did I do? I signed up for a series of 21km runs every month from the second month onwards. That really motivated me to get creative and flexible with what I can do. I started finding pockets of time to practice running in the park and near our residential area. I started finding training plans that I could do at home and picked up bodyweights and HIIT. Looking back, I think that period of anxiety, uncomfortable disorganized routine and sleep deprivation was my biggest growth moment yet.
9. Prep T minus 1
Nothing gets you out of the house better than preparing the day before. In some extreme cases, I have read that some athletes even sleep in their workout clothes AND SHOES! In some way, I can see the sense of it – the shorter the workflow in the morning, the more likely you are to get out of bed. You actually are more likely to look forward to workout.
Get creative with how much upfront preparation you can do. Make it a contest to see if you can get ready that little faster each day than the day before. Here are some suggestions that works really well for me:
- Prepare two slices of bread and a slice of cheese in a plastic resealable bag. All you have to do I eat it on the way to the gym or to a running event (yes, events sometimes starts at 6am and I need to be up by 3 or 4am)
- Wash and pack fruits like apples, oranges or berries into a plastic resealable bag for a post workout or tea time munch
- Pack your gym bag with all the necessary attire, towels and equipment. Put it somewhere you can easily pick up on your way out of the house
- Pre-pack protein powder and an empty bottle for your pre and post workout shake.
However, what I find not helpful for most beginners is the “lets-just-prepare-a-bag-in-the-trunk” method. This just in case method is more, in my opinion, a way of appeasing the guilty feelings of not actually working out. We tend to justify by telling ourselves we did try but the conditions were just not right to do anything.
[Origins] I found that having some upfront preparation as a morning person makes the experience less stressful. I typically prepare oats with Greek yoghurt and milk, a portion of fresh salads, my gym bag, shoes and socks the night before. As I am a very absent minded person, I find that having systems in place (a way of doing things) makes it less likely for me to forget something. Yes – I am that guy who would get to the shower at the end of a workout and realise I forgotten to bring a fresh pair of undies or did not bring a shower towel 😊
10. Vary your training routine
As you start getting more proficient in the training plan you are following, you start to feel “hey, I can do this”, “I am actually getting pretty good at this”. Give yourself a pat on the back and savour the moment as you start to see results from your hard work but do not revel too long in that. What you start to realise is complacency and boredom sets in rather quickly after. This is the critical point in which you need to jazz up your training routine. Mentally, this helps to keep it exciting and fresh. Physically, our body needs new stimulus to continue to grow stronger. It is adept at finding efficient ways to complete the challenges thrown at it. What once used to be difficult seems less intense now. Problem is, it also means you burn less calories.
Here are some ways you can jazz up your routine:
- Change the sequence of your exercises – if you are used to working Exercise 1 then 2 then 3, try the reverse order or other random combination.
- Switch up the tempo of your exercises – instead of steady state, try slow eccentrics. For example, instead of doing the usual bicep curls at a 2s-2s pace of lifting and letting go, try lifting 2 seconds and slowly letting within 5-10 seconds. You will definitely start to feel the difference.
- Perform a different exercise variation that focuses on the same muscle. For example, instead of the usual barbell bench press, try to switch it up with push ups or dumb bell shoulder presses. They all target the front chest muscles (your pectorals) but in slightly different ways.
These are but some of the possible options. There are infinite ways to vary your routine.
Word of caution though, as a beginner, it is always fun to try many different things you see online and not really mastering proficiency. It is important to stick to a plan and make minor adjustments when you start to get comfortable with it.
[Origins] At any one time, I have at least 2 to 3 variations in my repertoire. I found that mixing bodyweight (Calisthenics), weight training and cross training keeps me constantly challenged and motivated. Sometimes it is pure bodyweights, sometimes it is a mixture and at other times, I just do running drills. Fun!
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