How do you get yourself out of the door?

[flowerpippin]

I'm not sure what's happened but I seem to have lost my fitness get up and go in the last few years.

I've just started C25K but as usual I am struggling to get myself out of the door. I feel brilliant when I do so I know I am just being a lazy ar5e!

For those who were in a similar situation, how did you overcome it? What did you say to yourself? I know it's a mental thing!

I used to spur myself on by downloading new music! Something to look forward to

And imagining how good id feel afterwards

by thinking about how I'd be too fat to get out of the door if I didn't go

If I'm not really in the mood I usually tell myself that if I cant get into it I only have to do a quick workout..usually I do get into it after the first 20 mins or so.
Having a good selection of enjoyable to listen to podcasts ready also helps

I used to try and think of exercise sessions just as something routine I did in the same way as I would brush my teeth. Not a big deal or effort as such. I would have a rough plan for the week but if on the day i had, say, a swim planned, I struggled to get going then i would gave myself a choice of swim, run, gym session, class...something would be the least horrible option . Its good to mix up what you do anyway, both from a fitness and enjoyment/motivational point of view. Eventually it did become a habit to do something almost every day, even if its just half an hour, it is now a completely routine thing for me to do, it is rare that it feels like a big effort to train.

You know that you always, always feel better after exercise, the only exception to this is if you are ill. Think of that, then stop contemplating how hard the prospect seems, switch your brain off and get on with it, pull your trainers on even once in gym kit it is harder to not do it!

Mercury's approach of starting a session, giving yourself permission to stop after 20 mins is also a good one that I have used. It's very rare that you will actually want to stop then.

Finally, a big thing for me is a year or two ago I found a sport (kickboxing) that I love and I am relishing getting better at. I still lift weights and train at the gym 2-3 times a week, sometimes run or swim if I feel like it or am away from home, but that general fitness is in my mind helping to improve my kickboxing.

This time of year I try to get up early and go for a run before anyone else is up - that way you can feel good about yourself for the rest of the day.

I've started going to parkrun, so I'm guaranteed a 5k run once a week.

Horses for courses, but I find it can be too hard to go out in the evening once I've been at work all day.

I'm the opposite - I prefer to run late afternoon. I don't feel I've got enough fuel for first thing in the morning, plus I like my bed too much! So my long run is Friday afternoon, between the end of work and picking the kids up. Music for any run over 5k.

Routine is definitely key.

I prefer to run in the afternoon...I need several hours of loading up on coffee before I can do much:o

I used to run more to music but I've been using a heart rate monitor and running more slowly to stay in a certain 'zone' I find music makes me want to run faster and seems to put my heart rate up a bit.

I'm not great at getting out but I find if I go to classes and promise myself I can leave after 20 minutes I never have the nerve to actually walk out!

I've also got another current motivator which is that I've signed up for a half marathon and I want to get a 'good' time, although I've never run that distance before but just extrapolating from what I can in shorter distances

Thanks everyone.

I restarted C25K yesterday first thing and felt good all day. Walked to the shops (bit of a distance) too earlier.

Yeah, I think if I can just get into a habit/think of it as something I do then I'll be fine. I think that is how I used to view it. That neural pathways seems to have broken at some point!

C25K week 1 day 2 tomorrow then!

It's tricky! I often stand on my gym gear like a child back in their school uniform, scuffing my toes with my head down. DH has to say, 'come on pal, you like it really, you'll have fun, think how good you'll feel'

Then I come bounding home full of energy and feeling great!

tbh I just go out as a matter of course, the only time I miss a session is if I'm too ill to train.
I sometimes umm & ahh about whether to run outdoors or in the gym, and I juggle about to find the best ratio of strength training to endurance training but I generally I find it much harder not to train.

It's especially hard to go a day without running!

The other thing I just thought of, which is probably especially applicable to parents of young children, is that the time spent exercising is your little bit of peace and time to yourself in the day, without anyone else demanding things of you , you'd be mad not to take the opportunity! Exercise is time for your health, your sanity but the bonus is that everyone else benefits from it too.

Thanks everyone

Did C25K day 2 week 1 this morning.

No more excuses!

well done!

to be honest most days I am so tragically excited about Doing Exercise, especially if it is spin, running or any shiny new class, that I'm sort of prowling round the house at Yikes It's Early o'clock quivering with anticipation - maybe because I kept hurting bits of myself which restricted what I could do and now am overflowing with happiness that my body works again!

You could try that?

This week I've been going out on my bike to do a quick 5k while DH bathes the kids. My incentive is not being around for the madness that him bathing them entails!

And my holiday in August that I need to wear actual swim wear for. The thought of that with my current body is definitely spurring me on

just go topless, v little swimwear to worry about then :)

I change straight into my gym clothes as soon as I wake up.

Oh, and keep popping back to tell us how well you're doing!

Find a Park Run once you get close to 5k (you will if you keep at it)!

Routine. I go to the gym during lunchtimes at work and run there. If I go I get to leave the office and my desk behind. If I didn't, I probably wouldn't leave my desk at all. I'm also a lot calmer and better able to deal with work stress in the afternoon if I've taken it out in the gym at lunch.

Thanks everyone. I actually feel quite excited now. It's amazing what a few comments can do!

Good idea about the park run. There's a Running Sisters group quite close by so my plan is to go and join them when I get up to 5k.

Thank you for starting this thread. I used it to motivate myself to go for a run this evening, despite my comments upthread about it being too hard to go out in the evening .

It's made me realise how feeble my excuses were!

Someone once told me that endorphins don't start being released til 15 minutes into exercise, I use that to drag myself through the first 10 minutes when I'm really not in the mood, telling myself I will feel great in 15 minutes!

I suspect it depends on the intensity and type of exercise but I find it can take 20 - 40 minutes for me to hit my stride

Another reason - I'd rather exercise than diet!