Maybe you’ve been on a workout train for some time, diligently going to the gym and happily taking your dose of cardio and weight training, maybe even a few classes too just to challenge yourself. Perhaps you’ve been on this train, per se, for years, then all of a sudden, you’re okay with missing a workout, then two. The idea of going to the gym or out the door for a jog becomes a chore, when it was once something you enjoyed. Have you been there? Are you there now? If so, read on… I think I can help.
True, I am a trainer, but at heart, I’m really a fitness buff and have been since college. My reasons for working out have not always been the same, however. They change every 3-5 years. For example, in college I worked out to equalize the pizza and beer I consumed on the weekends. After college it was to lose the weight I’d gained when workouts weren’t enough to equalize pizza and beer, which I had to give up as well. That’s okay – good riddance. In my early twenties, the goal was to maintain weight loss, then to prepare for my wedding and honeymoon. After that, to deal with the stresses of a high pressure job. Moving into my thirties, my goals changed more frequently: I worked out to stay healthy and strong during pregnancies, and to lose weight post-pregnancy, and to keep up with my active brood. At forty, workouts have become a way to slow the aging process, maintain muscle mass and bone health, and keep arthritis at bay for as long as I can. As you can see, goals and reasons or working out evolve as you do. If those goals don’t evolve, or you don’t take the time to assess WHY you are working out, workouts can become meaningless. Dull. Passe. A chore.
Your body likes change. So does your mind.
When (if) you find yourself losing interest in exercise, it may be time for an overhaul. I don’t necessarily mean harder workouts, but maybe different workouts. Challenge means many things – just trying something new may help you discover a new love for exercise, and a new reason to keep at it.
Last year, I began to notice that I didn’t recover quite as quickly from hard workouts as I used to. I felt tight and unbalanced. I found myself less interested in hitting the gym, more interested in my “rest and recovery” days, which sometimes spanned two or more days. That wasn’t like me, and I knew it. Based on experience, I also knew it was time to reassess why I was working out.
Why do you want to be fit?
Ask yourself this important question from time to time: Why do you want to be fit? Your answer will likely change every few years, so if you haven’t thought about it in awhile, now might be a good time. For me, my reason quickly went from “training for an endurance event,” to “staying fit and flexible for the long haul.” The daily pounding and brutal workouts served their purpose, now I wanted to learn something new, something gentler. Enter, yoga! For me, this served the purpose of both challenging me, and correcting some of the tightness and imbalances that weren’t resolving on their own (most don’t, by the way.) Yoga improved my mental focus, and helped me realize that fitness is about a balance between strength, cardio, and flexibility. And mental muscle. Once I acknowledged the benefits, my attitude toward the gym took a turn too and I found myself looking forward to working out again, but in a gentler way than before.
So before you throw in the towel and quit working out together, first see if you can come up with some new reasons for staying fit. I bet you’ll find a renewed enthusiasm for sweat. 
Because I love yoga, and Pilates, but am by no means a guru of either practice, I felt compelled to pass along some helpful resources so that you can learn more. Yoga is one of those activities that evolves as you evolve. The yoga you do today will not be the same yoga you do a year from now, and your body won’t likely be the same body either (note: this is a good thing – Yoga evens ‘things’ out, balances muscles, massages the joints, just all-around good stuff ;0). I’ve learned through my own yoga/Pilates journey that there is always something new to learn. That said, here are some fabulous resources you can tap for “current” information.
Enjoy!
MAGAZINES
Yoga Journal
Learn the poses and live the lifestyle, online or subscribe to the print version.
www.yogajournal.com
Pilates Style
So far, the only magazine dedicated to the practice of Pilates: workouts, tips, nutrition and products. www.pilatesstyle.com
Whole Living – Your connection to body & soul
A Martha Stewart publication that focuses on green living, organic food and mind-body fitness. www.wholeliving.com
WEBSITES
Inner Idea
Explore all facets of mind-body practices: physical movement, nutrition, mediation, stress management and spiritual renewal. The Inner IDEA website is a great place to find mind-body research, books, DVDs and fitness conferences listings.
Pilates Insight
An all-encompassing online resource for Pilates information, products, and training.
Pilates Digest
Want to further your knowledge of Pilates and expand your repertoire of exercises? On this user-friendly site you can easily find product reviews, training articles, video exercises. You can even purchase mind-body apparel and gear
Pilates Method Alliance
An international, non-profit organization that establishes certification and continuing education standards for Pilates professionals. Use this valuable resource to locate a qualified instructor, or to learn how you can become one yourself.
The Pilates Method
The Physicalmind Institute has been developing teacher-training programs and continuing education resources for instructors since 1991. You can also locate PMI-certified instructors near you using their search tools.
Stott Pilates
Stott Pilates rovides cutting-edge Pilates education, equipment, DVDs, and articles. This site is a reliable resource for both instructors and students.
Yoga Alliance
Individual yoga teachers and training programs that comply with the minimum educational standards established by Yoga Alliance can register with this prestigious organization. Use their registry to locate YA instructors and training programs near you.
Yoga Download
“Take Yoga Anywhere!” is their motto. Use this site to download yoga and Pilates videos right to your computer and work out whenever and wherever it is convenient for you.
Yoga Movement
Find out about yoga events, improve your personal practice, or find a yoga studio when you’re on the road – they list studios in every state and over sixty countries.
Yoga Research and Education Foundation
The Yoga Research and Education Foundation is a non-profit organization whose primary objective it so conduct and promote research on anything related to Yoga.
Yoga Skills
Stress management products and expertise for yoga students and teachers.
Whether you are a die-hard gym-junkie or a “start and stopper” (you start a fitness program, follow it diligently for several weeks or months, then stop), or somewhere in between, no doubt you’ve hit a point when you were either:
- Tired of exercise
- Tired of the gym
- Tired of your routine
- Tired of not making steady progress…
I could add more, but I think you get the point: at some point, your exercise routine, no matter how regimented (or not) it is, might get stale. Psst…I have a secret: An often over-looked, but very important, component of that plan is “recovery” time!
Recovery time is built into fitness plans to allow the body time to rest. During this built-in rest time, lots of good stuff happens. Muscles rebuild themselves and metabolic changes take place at a cellular level. There is a lot going on when we exercise that we may not feel or see. Without recovery days, the body can’t properly rebuild and repair. Miss these important rest days enough times, and several things may occur:
- Burn out
- Injury
- Lack of progress (you won’t see further adaptations – you’ll “plateau”)
Follow this “Rule of Thumb”: 1-2 days of rest per week, not necessarily in a row. For weight training, switching to a cardiovascular activity the following day, or training different muscle groups, will allow the muscles previously trained time to adapt and recover. The same goes for cardiovascular activity: after several days in a row of cardio, a day of rest or cross-training is a good idea. This will give you a chance to work different muscles and allow the muscles typically used a chance to rest. So if you are a runner, cross-training with cycling or swimming gives the “running” muscles a chance to rest. This is why Triathlon training is often called the perfect “triad” — cross-training is built in!
