Tricking Myself to The Gym |
4 Comments |
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I woke up yesterday with no intention of going to the gym. Yet, three hours later, I found myself at the gym. I didn’t set out to purposely trick myself, but that’s how it feels in retrospect.
For the full story, we have to go back two days ago. In the place that we rent, we have this small plot of land. I hesitate to call it a yard because it’s probably only 12 feet by 12 feet. I don’t spend a lot of time out there largely because of my phobia of bees. I looked out the other day and it been overgrown with plant/weed growth. So Sunday night I went out with come clippers and I clipped for close to an hour. I made a lot of headway, but I only got half the work I wanted to do done.
Flash forward to yesterday. I wake up with full intentions of going out and finishing the job in the morning. So I got up, got ready, but as I stepped to go outside, I saw four of the largest bees/hornets/wasps that I had ever seen. These things looked nuclear or something. I decided that I wouldn’t be able to do the job during the day.
This is when the trick came in… I somehow rationalized the clipping as exercise that I was going to get that day. When I canceled that exercise, I felt I needed to make it up. So I grabbed my running shoes and went to the gym and ran on the treadmill. It wasn’t one of my best workouts ever, but I was surprised at myself.
I’m thinking about ways that I can turn this into a more permanent trick. Perhaps in a day or two, I’ll have something a little functional in the motivation.
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This post deals with:Exercise, gym, Psychology
... and focuses on:Psychology
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PropellerNext: Fight Depression with Talk Therapy
May 20th, 2008 at 10:30 am
As for tricks… my favorite is the just do 5 minutes trick.
I try to use it when I don’t feel like doing a full workout…
It nigh impossible to stop exercising after just 5 minutes once you get started.
May 21st, 2008 at 1:45 am
so key for ME is the “realizing this wasnt my best workout ever…”piece
I tend to think I ONLY HAVE 20 MINUTES TO WORK OUT SO I WONT EVEN START.
Im now choosing to think I ONLY HAVE 20 MINUTES TO WORKOUT SO I BETTER GET STARTED!!
loved your trick
May 21st, 2008 at 3:37 pm
You’re right, the trick is to get into the gym in the first place. For me, having the blog and the accountability is a big part of my trick. Hard to write a post and then not follow up on it. It is working. I now feel guilty when I skip a workout.
June 21st, 2008 at 11:47 am
Exactly, for most people getting to the gym is the most important thing.
Even for the people who hate to exercise the most, the energy of the gym can cause them to work out.
It is not 1 workout which helps but the habit of working out which can create a healthy life fitness program.