To ask for advice on how to make exercise part of my daily routine?

[neweraunlocked]

I don't exercise at all to be honest aside from 20-30 minutes of walking each day. I work from home most of the time so I'm sitting for most of the day. I've gone through phases where I've tried to do Youtube workout videos but it tends to only last a week or so as I just struggle to make it a habit/part of my routine. I think my biggest barrier is I like to shower in the evenings rather than the mornings so I tried to work out in the evening before my shower, but by then I'm exhausted.

If you regularly exercise, how have you made it part of your daily routine?

By making it part of my daily routine.

I have picked an activity I enjoy, not one that fits into my schedule easily or one I feel I "need" to do. It's difficult to make something a part of your routine when it's not something you genuinely want to do.

Since I enjoy the activity, family life gets planned around it, not the other way around. The time I take is set in stone, doesn't change from week to week (though occasionally I add more, it's never less than what I actually plan out) and I have DH's support.

Even though I like to shower in the evenings and exercise in the mornings, it's rarely possible with my schedule. But since I enjoy the activity I've picked, I don't find that having enough energy to do it is a problem, particularly since I've managed to clear the time in my routine well in advance.

I don't force myself to activities I hate like intense cardio. I enjoy pilates, yoga and this is what I do. I'm back from work, put workout clothes on, do my workout (30-40 minutes) and then dinner. If I have to do some dinner preparations like chopping vegetables and baking them, I do it, and while dinner's in the oven, I workout.

Honestly, even when it is an activity you enjoy, you have to force it in to your routine for a while. So it will feel like you are planning your day around it. And that's ok.

Particularly so for lot of women who are happy to/feel they have to sacrifice their time for a job to be done. There are always more jobs to do, so you have to prioritise exercise consistently and without exception.

My only excercise is walking. Very briskly and up hills. It's done wonders for me.
I started a 'fake commute' morning walk in lockdown and as I'm still WFH 3 days, I've carried on. I treat it like having a shower or cooking tea, just something I have to do. The trick for me is to never allow myself to get out of it. Not for rain, a headache, a lie in. It HAS to happen. Just like travelling to work would have to happen.

Don't try to make it part of your daily routine straight away. Start off by making it a once-weekly thing.

Section off - both practically and mentally - an hour one weekday evening and have that as a standing appointment for exercise. Approach it as if you'd paid in advance for a course of exercise classes at that time every week. You'll be knackered that evening for the first few weeks but you'll build up your stamina.

For this hour, I'd try and do exercise somewhere different. Obviously joining a class or going swimming etc. would be the best option but if you can only manage a home workout, do it somewhere new. The garage, the back garden, the local park, the not-so-local park. Just don't do it in one of your 'everyday' rooms in the house because it'll feel too 'optional'. Take yourself somewhere new and use that space for the exercise.

If you're doing a home workout, try a HIIT approach. This will work your body in all kinds of different ways and varying things up a bit. You might need a bit of equipment (some weights, for example) but this shouldn't be too expensive.

When you're comfortable in the weekly routine of this one evening of exercise, have a go at sectioning off another evening for another exercise (giving yourself a day or two in between). Build up from there and you'll soon get into the routine of several workouts a week.

I exercise after work, then shower. It gives me that work/gone separation too as I WFH

I should've said and agree with PPs - find an activity that you enjoy.

It might be easier to do this by sampling different classes on offer at a gym, rather than trying to workout at home.

I went to a weight-lifting class last year on a freebie trial offer and absolutely fell in love with it. I wasn't expecting to, I just went along because it was free. So you never know what you might find.

I exercise daily

G finding something I really enjoy

And by doing it in a group ;if I bail out at the last moment they are stuck, as we need 4 players

So fun and accountability did it for me

I have to do it first thing in the morning or it doesn't get done. I am a MN shower twice a day person now! Quick wash in the morning, then have one in the evenings to wash my hair. I have curly hair so there is no quick washing/styling my hair. I tend to only wash it very few days though. So it's not too much of an issue.

I dont exercise daily but 3/4 times a week. Mid week I allocate days/times at start of the week which will fit in with week. Weekend dh and I tend to 1 day go on a longish walk. So I just stick it on weekly planner and stick to it. Also picking an activity you enjoy and is easily accessible helps.

I have a few things that keep me on track

Firstly, I schedule it into my diary like an appointment. So tonight, my husband knows he has to be home from work early because my gym session is booked in for 5pm.

I also focus heavily on how I feel afterwards. So for example, I know that I will always feel better mentally after a workout. I know I'll be knackered, but I never ever regret going to the gym, whereas sometimes if I don't go, I'll feel like "oh I probably should have gone..." When I'm struggling mentally, I make an extra effort to work out because for me, it gives me an hour where I'm literally only focusing on my exercise. If I'm lifting weights, I'm only focused on my reps. If I'm doing pilates, I'm focused on breathing in or out...

I also have various reminders on my phone/alexa. I'll have a reminder every few hours to stand up and stretch. Often I ignore them, but it does help more often than not.

But the most important thing is thinking about what you enjoy doing. When you find something you like, its much easier to incorporate into your routine.

Remember, it takes just 3 weeks to create a routine/turn something into a regular habit. Thats not long at all.

Just get up and go straight out and do it as soon as you wake up before you have to think about it. Get everything ready the morning before so you just need to chuck on your gear and get out the door. It will mean moving your shower to the mornings (or showering twice a day) but you can look forward to the nice hot shower as a reward once you are done.

In terms of what you do, if you're happy with running, try starting with couch to 5k. It's super easy in the beginning (so will be easier to get out the door) and builds up gradually, so by the time it's a proper run hopefully you will be used to it being part of your routine.

I find that if you get up and go straight away it's over before you have a chance to dread it and you'll have a pep in your step for the rest of the day.

Go for a walk at lunchtime as much as possible (office and WFH days) - usually 20-30min
Go to the gym on the way home from the office or drag myself out of the day if i WFH.
Go to running club sessions once or twice a week and parkrun on Saturday mornings.
Sign up to challenges e.g. strava mileage challenges, gym and swim challenges etc.
Whilst I'm generally a morning person I'm not when it comes to exercising first thing! During lockdown I struggled because I'd already turned my home into an office, I didn't want it to be a gym as well, I need a differentiation between them or i don't do any of them well.

I do yoga every morning, because if I don't it then, I probably won't do it. I do yoga and aquafit classes in the evenings, and because I'll still be charged if I cancel on the day, that gets me there.

But it depends partly on what things you like doing, what other commitments you have in the day, things like that. And then, when you've found a time, you just have to slog through it to start with, and then a few weeks in, you'll find you miss it the days you don't do it, but it takes time to get there.

Last year, I did yoga every single day for a year - but I didn't start by doing that. I started by committing to doing 30 days, and then another 30 days, and it was probably only when I got to 9 months that I knew I could aim for a whole year. That run came to an end a month after the year, because I got covid. I still do something almost every day, but I don't beat myself up if I miss the odd day here and there. 5 or 6 days in a week is better than none. 1 bad day is not a failure, especially if it's one of those days where you don't have time to think because there's so much else going on.

Shower twice. It’s fine, you’re allowed to do that.

• Find something you actually enjoy. If you dread it, it will always be an uphill battle.
• Find a time that works for you for the same reason. There’s no point constantly fighting against your own body clock.
• Prioritise the time you’ve allocated to it rigidly, above everything else, no matter how much anybody tries to make you feel unreasonable or guilty or silly.
• Once you’ve made the time, always use it. Even if you feel awful, just make yourself do a tiny bit, even if it’s a quarter of what you had planned. You’ll be helping to embed the habit, and the times it feels hardest are the ones you get the most benefit from.
• Remember while you’re doing it that however awful it feels at the time, you never regret it later on. If you do the session, you’re buying yourself a warm glow for the rest of the day. If you swerve it, all you’re buying is guilt.

Also, my last run of the week is always designated “prizes for turning up day”. I take as many walk breaks as I want, because I’ve earned them, and I want to finish looking forward to next week, not wanting to die.

I get changed into my gym kit first thing and go to the gym on my lunch break. It makes me very likely to go because otherwise I feel silly for having been working in my gym kit all morning and not exercising!
Obviously only works if you have a job where it's ok to wear gym stuff (I work from home so noone sees my leggings). It sounds a little silly but it works for me, I go much more often than when I had to get changed just before going.

If you can't do that then just get as much as you can ready in advance so that exercising is an easy choice. I used to go before work and made sure everything was laid out ready the night before otherwise I just wouldn't end up going.

I'm a big believer in the strategies set out in Atomic Habits. jamesclear.com/atomic-habits. Basically, make it fun, make it easy, start small, attach it to something else that's already a habit. Examples: if you want to make running in the morning a habit, start by putting out your running kit every night for a week. Then put it on. Then go for a walk round the block... etc. Or if you want to do some exercises, do 5 squats while you're waiting for the kettle to boil. Then do 5 squats and 5 wall pressups... etc.

Also, never miss twice - so if you really can't manage one day, then the following day you have to show up even if it's just putting your kit on.

Start with 2 minutes and see how it goes. Don't be tempted to think 'it's only 2 minutes, it doesn't matter if I miss it'. That 2 minutes where you show up and get started is absolutely critical. if you don't show up, you're dead in the water. If you do, you might want to do more, but even if you don't you've still cast a vote for your new personality as someone who exercises regularly.

I accidentally signed myself up for a daily exercise challenge for a month. The accountability worked. I’m now over that month and not only exercise doing the thing I signed up for every day, but I’ve added a second bout of exercise daily too. The first is not negotiable. I have to show up and do it. If I am struggling that’s okay. The second is my feel-good extra. I’ve not kissed one yet though.

Don’t wait to be motivated, it won’t happen. You make yourself do it and the motivation comes later.

*missed

I’m not the best person to advise here because I’m crap at making myself exercise. However, what helps me:

1. I agree with finding something you enjoy. Keep trying different things till you do. I’ve just discovered a local barre class (quite a hardcore one, we really sweat!) and I love it - for the first time ever, I feel sad if I can’t go.

2. Is there a time you are already out of the house? I’ve started doing couch 2 5K on the way back from the school run. The walk there is my warm up and I’d have a 15 min walk back anyway so changing it to a 25 min run isn’t much extra time. Do you have a regular journey you could convert to a run or maybe a cycle?

3. Schedule it in as others have said. If I tell myself I’ll do X at some point today, it never happens. It has to be in the diary.

4. Get into gym kit first thing. It removes the extra barrier of having to change. Plus I feel embarrassed for myself if I’ve worn gym kit all day and not done any exercise.

5. I like pre set programmes working towards a goal, like couch 2 5k, it’s less boring and you feel like you need to do the next one so as not to “fail”. @Wimblepeep what was your daily exercise challenge, sounds good?

I go to the gym at 6pm every evening in the week. I book onto classes so I'm obliged to attend. It's just a routine and I don't think about it, just go and do it otherwise I'd talk myself out of it. Like a previous poster said, you need to just make it part of your routine and stick to it. Before long it just becomes habit