Exercise: 7 Life Hacks to Keep Moving When Life Gets in the Way

I’m 100% a lazy person. I’m a couch potato who can spend an entire day on my sofa, watching Netflix while snacking. I never thought morning exercise would be my new favorite activity because I hated physical activities when I was a kid.

I believed sport wasn’t my forte because I always finished last in a marathon at school. Physical activities were my weakest link back then.

However, things have changed. Sometimes, we find joy unexpectedly from the activities once we hated. Now, I look forward to exercising every day.

I try to learn the benefits a simple exercise can give to my body. Most of the time when I choose to procrastinate and neglect exercising, I feel anxious and insecure.

I understand finding the “right time” to start is difficult, but guess what? You do not have to find it because the right time is NOW!

You have to do it now at your own pace. Most of the time, we stop exercising because we’re being hard on ourselves. We don’t understand our body’s capacity and which exercises suit us. I believe, those two points are the main reasons we can keep moving and being committed to our exercise.

We always think about how to “lose weight” or how to “get fit” when exercising. But, most of the time, starting is easy and the hardest part is to keep doing it regularly. Don’t you agree?

Let’s take an example from our so-called New Year resolution. We list our ambitious goals so eagerly and one of them is to “get in shape”.

To reach that goal, we exercise vigorously in the first week. We exercise twice a day with an hour of nonstop, high-intensity exercise in each session. We also suddenly change our diet by reducing our meal portions and prohibiting ourselves from drinking soda or boba tea.

So, what do we get from them? We are completely overwhelmed by these sudden changes because our body needs time to adapt.

So to keep motivated, I want to share my 7 tips to help you keep moving even life gets in the way:

1. Find Your Purpose

Do you ever ask why do you want to exercise? Why are you exercising?

Many people start working out just to get fit or to lose weight. Don’t get me wrong, it’s completely fine. However, once you get fit or when you hit your ideal weight, will you keep exercising?

I think exercising is more than just getting fit or losing weight. I exercise to nurture my body and to reap its benefits daily. Exercising regularly helps me reduce stress, boost my confidence, and improve my night sleep.

2. Be Kind to Yourself

Knowing your capacity and comfort is important to maintain exercise.

We are often getting carried away to reach our ambitious goals and we tend to push ourselves beyond the limits, expecting instant results. Maybe, in one or two weeks, we are still doing okay. But in months, especially if we don’t get the expected results, we will be demotivated and eventually quit.

We have to listen to our bodies and stop following our desire. Maintaining exercise can be a step to mentally and physically understanding ourselves. So, be gentle and be patient. Embrace them in your journey. Aim for the long-term results instead of instant results that we will lose immediately.

3. Make It Fun

For some of us, exercising is hard. If we wanted to start to do it but the movement is too difficult to follow, we won’t be happy with and we will stop.

Long before we set the target, we should decide what kind of exercises that we enjoy and fit us perfectly.

To maintain and to develop exercising as our habit, the journey must be enjoyable. By making it fun, our mindset will be more positive.

A study has shown exercising can stimulate endorphins, the chemicals that trigger positive feelings in our body.

Imagine doing a fun exercise and our body release endorphins at the same time, the fun will be doubled. I believe it benefits us beyond fitness.

4. Plan and Prioritize

I always stress them to my friends when they want to start exercising, to ask yourself how important exercise is to you? If you can consider something to be important to you, you will prioritize and make time for it.

For example, once I’m committed to exercise daily, I will plan it and spare my time to do it even only for 10-15 minutes because I know it will benefit me in a long run.

Planning and scheduling are two routines I always try to do every day since they help me to organize my activities, including exercising.

I always plan and prepare beforehand. For example, if I’m going to practice 10 minutes of yoga and 10 minutes HIIT workout in the morning, I will set my alarm at 5 a.m. I will also prepare my workout clothes and yoga mat the night before. By doing this, I don’t have any excuse to skip morning exercise.

5. Do It at Home

I’m a huge fan of at-home workouts. It’s low cost because I don’t need to pay a gym fee. Also, it’s easy to manage because I can do it when I feel comfortable and I can also choose the type of exercise.

I always suggest my friends do it at least 5-10 minutes a day because you only need three things to prepare: your mobile phone, yoga mat, and a little time.

6. If It doesn’t Work Out, Change It

I know a lot of people who quit exercising because they are not comfortable with the workout menu. The good news is, we can always adjust it to suit us.

If you don’t like certain exercises, it doesn’t mean you have to stop. It’s like problem-solving, if a method doesn’t work out, try another until you find a solution.

Adjusting the workout type is something you can control. If you feel a movement/menu is not working for you, it means your body isn’t accustomed to it yet. So, it would be best to find an exercise type that suits you perfectly.

If you’re not a fan of cardio, you can always try a simple dance workout, 10 minutes of yoga for beginners, or 5 minutes HIIT workout.

You should try to make your body comfortable with your new workout routine. You don’t need to worry about endurance because yours will improve gradually as you train it. Just take it slow but sure, you’re progressing.

7. Reward Yourself

Stick with your exercise is a rocky journey. You will find many temptations to make you quit. In this case, it’s a good idea to reward yourself every time an exercise session is completed. By doing this, you will hack yourself to keep committed to your workout routine.

Self-reward is a form of self-appreciation to overcome your inner difficulties. The rewards don’t have to be big. It can be as simple as giving yourself a nourishing meal, a drink after exercising, or listening to your favorite jam while exercising.

Based on my experience, having a nourishing meal or drink right after exercising increases your mental and physical health twice.

Rewarding yourself can encourage you to do the next exercise session by keeping us motivated.

FeelGood First & Good Vibes Will Follow