Staying Active

Growing up, I was an athlete. I played soccer since I was in the second grade and also picked up golf in my high school years. I never had to think about working out since it was built into my routine, but once college started a lot of that went away. After 4 years of little activity and then joining the corporate world, I noticed my body feeling weaker and sluggish by the end of the day. Over the last couple of years, I’ve been learning to live a more active lifestyle, so I wanted to share some tips that have helped me!

The 2 Day Rule
I remember seeing a video by Matt D’Avella pop up on my Youtube, where he talks about implementing the 2-Day rule to build habits. When thinking about staying active, the 2 day rule states that you should not got 2 days without working out. It’s okay to skip a day, but once you skip more, it’s easy to tell yourself “just one more day”. I really like this rule because it’s easy to make excuses (“I’m too busy, I have work, etc.”) to not workout and push it to the next day, but thinking about the 2-day rule helps keep you accountable when you’re starting out and building a new habit.

Mixup Your Workouts
To keep things fun and engaging, mixup your workouts and try different things to see what types of workouts you like! If you were like me, I didn’t know what workouts to do except for running or follow a few youtube videos since the gym felt too intimidating. Once I tried out different classes, I began to learn what I enjoyed and also learned movements I could take to the gym with me. A great way to explore classes in your area, would be to use ClassPass! My friend, Laura Claypool writes a great review about her experience using ClassPass here.

Find a Workout Buddy!
The hardest part about going to the gym, is getting there! Having an accountability partner is one of my biggest motivators and it really helps to have someone encourage you to go when you’re feeling sluggish and you’re less likely to skip the workout since you’ve made plans to meet up with your accountability partner.

Set Small Goals
Goals can look very different for each individual and it’s helpful to reflect on what you want your fitness goals to be. Are you looking to get stronger, are you hoping to increase consistency, etc.? From there, you can start setting small goals for yourself whether it’s starting out with the 2 day rule to begin building that workout habit or you may have a specific fitness goal in mind like running x miles by x date. It’s helpful to set these goals, so you can keep yourself accountable and it will help motivate you to work towards these milestones.

I hope you found these tips helpful, and remember that any movement is good movement!

xo Kerstin