A simple exercise routine, whether it’s regular gentle movement or vigorous activity is essential to good health. Our bodies need to expend energy and it’s good for our mind and emotional wellbeing too.
Unfortunately, many of us don’t get enough. And this lack of exercise contributes to rising rates of chronic diseases like type two diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Many people don’t stick with exercise because it’s just too hard. Not necessarily the exercise itself but the whole process. The new activity they are trying out, the new gadgets they might need for said activity, and the metrics they ‘should’ be using to measure their progress.
Ugh. Sounds exhausting before you’ve even started.
But it doesn’t have to be this way. You don’t have to have a complicated exercise routine to give you the benefits that you want.
How I approach exercise
I was a ‘late bloomer’. I hated cross-country at school and reluctantly played netball for a couple of years. I just didn’t enjoy any of it.
When I started running in my early twenties it was, admittedly, to help lose a few pounds, and while it did help with that I quickly and very unexpectedly fell in love with running.
I had found the exercise that best suited my personality. I was I introverted and completely non-competitive. I was happy plodding along every week, slowly working on my own goals. It was revolutionary to me that I didn’t have to play a team sport or go hang out in a stinky gym where I felt completely inadequate.
I enjoyed running – it was that simple.
My current routine
I run 4-5 times per week for anywhere between 30-80 minutes. I cycle twice a week, one short ride and one long ride. I aim for 3 yoga session with Adrienne a week. And I go to a local boot camp twice a week.
While that sounds like a lot it absolutely doesn’t feel like it to me. Why? Because I love every single thing in my routine.
A word about routine – I don’t actually have all of these workouts in a weekly schedule. I used to do that when I trained for triathlon events but not anymore. My husband works shift work so every day looks different. I work my exercise in when I can and my road biking is weather dependent. If anything, I guess I have a rhythm rather than a rigid routine.
Here are four tips to help you create a simple exercise routine that you will love and that will help transform you into the happier, healthier person you want to be.
Do what you love
It’s logical. And supported over and over again by science. Enjoyment is the best predictor of sticking with exercise.
So no, you don’t have to do the new ‘on-trend’ exercise (I believe it’s currently F45), and you don’t need to do what your family or friends do. The only way you’ll stick to any exercise routine is to find something you truly love doing.
I bet you have a list of exercises that you don’t like doing, so that’s a great start. But take a moment to brainstorm a list of exercises that you have enjoyed in the past or ones that you think you’d like.
Experiment with a couple of new things and give each option more than one go. I didn’t enjoy the first few times I ran when I picked it up in my twenties. But by about the 4th or 5th short run, I was head over heels.
Aim for small but frequent
To get real, lasting benefits from exercise you need to have something you can do frequently. Running or walking are great examples of this. It’s fairly easy to fit in a 20-minute jog or walk every day, but more difficult to commit to a daily game of hockey or an hour-long gym session.
These small but frequent spurts will also help cultivate a habit around your chosen exercise. Although I believe you need to love (or at the very least, like) your exercise of choice, you will inevitably have ‘off’ days where a habit will come in handy to push you through.
Make it part of your daily routine
A really simple approach to fitting exercise in is to incorporate it in something you are already doing. You could run errands on foot or bike instead of using the car. Or you could commute to work that way. Research has found that one of the most common enablers for sticking to exercise is the ability to perform it as part of their daily chores.
This means you don’t have to try and fit your exercise time into your schedule, it’s already there as commute time. It might take a bit to set up initially (remembering to take all the bits to change into at work!) but it’s worth it in the long run.
Be practical
You want to choose something that you can ideally do every day, or at least a few times a week. So be practical. Sure you might love abseiling, but is this something you can do for 30-40 minutes every day? Unlikely. Think about access to equipment and be realistic about it.
Be practical in terms of the money you invest too. Don’t sign up for a $500 gym membership on a whim, without experimenting. Don’t buy a road bike and all the bells and whistles if you have to put it on your credit card, only to find out you don’t have any place to store the items when they aren’t in use.
Keep it simple.
Start today
If you don’t already have a regular exercise routine there is something you can do about that today!
A walk in the fresh air is the simplest thing you can do. It won’t cost you anything (perhaps a decent pair of walking shoes) and combines the healing powers of both movement and nature. Win-win.
Try 15 minutes every second day, working up to 30-40 minutes 5-6 times per week.
This daily walk can be a wonderful base that can be really transformative if you have been sedentary. And it can be a base to add on later.
What next?
Sometimes we just need some friendly encouragement to start! Leave a comment below or email me with your personal roadblocks to exercising regularly and we can figure it out together!
You also might want to check out my post on running here, and my post on my yoga journey here.
NB: Please note, I am not a trained or certified personal trainer. You should consult your doctor before starting any new exercise. What are my qualifications? I have a masters degree in Psychology and expertise in research and evaluation. I also have 15 years of experience cultivating my own simple exercise routine.
