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Studies have shown
that seven out of 10 people who start an exercise
program drop out within a few months. One
problem is that most people jump into exercise
without doing any planning up front. They’re
just not prepared for the commitment involved.
Are you ready to make exercise part of |
your lifestyle? Find out using the questionnaire
below, which was developed by Sherri McMillan, MSc,
co-owner of Northwest Personal Training & Fitness
Education in Vancouver, Washington, and 1998 IDEA
Personal Trainer of the Year. She has discovered
that people who stick with exercise buy into the
following four “Laws of Success.”
1. The Law of Possession: “If
it is going to be, it is up to me.” Understand
that you need to take ultimate responsibility
for the success or failure of your exercise program.
It may be tempting to blame your husband or kids
or shift responsibility to your group exercise
instructor or personal trainer, but you will be
the one who actually exercises! Loved ones can
support you and fitness professionals can help
educate and guide you, but you must be willing
to give up a sedentary lifestyle.
2. The Law of Effort: “Anything
worth achieving is worth working for.” Exercise
takes discipline, willpower, character, persistence
and a commitment to delayed gratification. Starting
and staying with an exercise program requires
hard work, but you can do it!
3. The Law of Consistency: “I
have to stick to the game plan.” Researchers
have found one characteristic common to those
who adhere to exercise: They move toward their
goals one step at a time and are committed to
constant, never-ending improvement. Consistency
and persistence are key to achieving results.
If you get off track for a week or so, it’s
no big deal. However, if you are regularly tempted
away from your program, you will not succeed.
Regardless of busy work schedules or lack of energy,
you must keep exercising. For example, if you
want to be 10 pounds lighter 10 years from now,
it is not what you do over the next eight weeks
that matters; it is what you do over the next
10 years.
4. The Law of Self-Efficacy: “If
I think I can or I think I can’t, I’m
probably right.” If you immediately start
questioning whether you can make the changes required
to live an active lifestyle, you are going to
have a difficult time. You must believe you can
do it. But don’t think you have to make
the changes alone. Get support from a personal
trainer, an exercise instructor, friends and family,
and/or online exercise budies.
Reprinted with permission
of IDEA Health & Fitness Assoaciation,www.IDEAfit.com |
