You’ve now got your compelling reason for fitness. Mine is the desire to get through gardening season without becoming injured and to get stronger each year.
You’ve decided where you’ll workout and if it’ll be DIY or a commute, and if at home, you’ve prepared your space. I’ve chosen to work from home and prepared a corner in my garage room.
You’ve chosen a few different programs that interest you. Mine are, one that is an overall body workout put together by a physcial therapist who specializes in patients with arthritis, one that focuses on physical therapy exercises for my problem areas, and one that is full-body stretching.
You’ve established your baseline fitness so you can see your progress.
You’ve come up with your responses to whiny toddler brain.
Step 5 – How to Continue
How are you going to find the desire to keep going so you can be fit for the garden season year after year?
Keep a journal. This doesn’t have to be pages of writing after every workout. Every few days take a minute to jot down any of your thoughts about your new program. How is it making you feel? Are you seeing any benefits? Are there any negative things? Do you need to make a change? How can you improve? How can you keep yourself interested? How can you get closer to your goal?
Focus on the tiniest of muscle movements. Remind yourself that your goal is not winning a race or weight loss, your goal is strengthening those muscles that will support a compromised joint. That focus gets you thinking about how you’re moving throughout the day.
My exercise journal helps me tweak my plan so I can get to my goal faster. And reminds me why I’m doing those boring pt exercises anyway. Focus on the muscle that each exercise is designed to strengthen rather than mindlessly performing a task. Think about what the movement is designed to do. Take a minute to google it if you don’t know why you’re doing it. Make some notes and when you’ve mastered that task, find the next level of that exercise.
Focusing on repetitive, correct movement, even the tiniest of movements, will ensure that you move correctly in the garden and prevent injury.
Keeping a brief journal will give you a lot of insight into what’s working for you and how far you’ve come from the beginning.
Now we’re on to the sixth and final step towards that goal!
