Do you ever wonder what other people do to be successful? How do others set themselves up to get their workouts and make smart meal choices?
I wonder too, for a second… then I usually just go ask. I’m nosy, I mean, curious like that.
In the past two posts, I discussed how you can take control of your life and how to do that even in crazy situations. (Parts 1 and 2 here, in case you missed it.) More recently, I went straight to my sources and asked people who get it done how they do it.
When I’m in a time crunch, my go-to solution is to do a full-body circuit: squats, pushups, kettlebell swings, pull ups, military presses, and deadlifts are my best bets when I can only do 15 minutes!
Genevieve Malone, construction management engineer and founder of The Inertia Project
All I think is, “just put my tennis shoes on” and nothing else. Once you take the first step, the rest just follows. I think about how much better I’ll feel after even just 10 minutes of doing something. Exercise is the best investment you can make in your future self. No one ever regretted a workout.
John Edmiston, firefighter
Meal planning is key. And rotisserie chickens are life.
Becca Ewing, business owner, videographer/photographer
I make an appointment with my trainer that I know I will keep. I try to keep things simple… I won’t drive further than 5 minutes (from home or work) to get to the gym and I actually prefer to jog or bike there too. Every minute counts.
Tammy Young, Owner/Broker, Realtor®, GRI, Seed Property Group
I prioritize meal prepping, and simplify it. I try to find half an hour to make a batch of chicken and buy a ton of steam fresh veggies. 1 piece of chicken + 1 bag of veggies = a healthier alternative to fast food (if I’m really strapped for time, precooked chicken sausage and a bag of steamfresh veg = yum, plus they come frozen so easy to keep cold if you’re on the go)
Go for lots of walks throughout the day. 5 minutes here, 10 minutes there. Sometimes a walk is also exactly what you need stress wise to just get away. I set a timer to go off every hour for me to get up and walk around for 10 minutes and force myself to do it. So I may not have time to go and “get a workout in” – but I’ve at least been moving and keeping my stress low throughout the day.
Staci Ardison, Rebel Operations, Master of Deadlifts at Nerd Fitness
Prepare! Take advantage of your “safe spots” around town, where you can count on a healthy meal.
David Archer, contest prep specialist, owner Precision Fitness
I do workouts even if I can’t make it to the gym. My wife and I do home workout videos and we mapped out our neighborhood for walks.
Claude McCan, musician, producer
That’s 405 pounds ONE MONTH after he got his prosthesis… that’s why I listen to what this guy says…
The battle is in your mind. It all starts with your attitude. That’s the number one thing. The physical stuff comes easier once you put your mind to whatever you want.
Stephen Moore, powerlifting coach, personal trainer
I prefer training as opposed to working out. Pick an event, commit to it, and train for it. I love this because there is skin in the game and it motivates me even when I’m busy.
Missy Calkins, Founder of lift[HER] and VP of Business Development at 401k Marketing
I go on Instagram and look at people who motivate me to go workout.
Alex Hooper, Army Special Forces, Green Beret
Kathryn: Sarah sums this up perfectly, in words I have searched for for years.
That realization that no one can do it for you, no matter what the “it” may be (fitness or another life goal), is both incredibly frightening and, if we allow it to be, completely liberating.
Sarah Buttrill, wife, mother, professional educator, Zumba instructor, musician
About the author
Kathryn Alexander is a strength coach and personal trainer in Austin, Texas. She loves hiking, college football, and the feel of a perfectly knurled barbell. Read more about Kathryn here.
Though it looks like here all the statements are by people who like the gym, the yoga pose (looks like yoga) of Genevieve Malone, along with all the varied motivational strategies, made me think that it is important that you do something you like. Simply, physical activity/exercise is essential, but there are so many ways. There is the gym, there is running, biking, hiking (take four days to hike into a 1200 foot lake in the Rockies, and you will know what that is all about), dance (look at the good shape that serious ballroom dancers are in, not to mention ballet), sports, yoga, martial arts, boxing training, and on and on. The important thing is find something you like and make it part of your life. Now let me promote the gym. Before I discovered the gym, I was all yoga and kung fu, and you would not have caught me dead in a gym (had bad connotations for me). I still do the other things, but I have, over the years, learned that the gym is the most efficient way to exercise, with the most benefits for the (dare I say this) least amount of effort. How do I quantify that last part? Let me say that I just find doing five or six sets on the bench press more fun and less grueling than a round of 200 pushups. It has been known for a while that, as you age, keeping your muscle mass is very important, or you bones start becoming brittle. You can’t beat the gym for that. Aerobic exercise is the other important thing. If you don’t want to run, you can get this with circuit training in the gym or calisthenics or stationary bikes, etc. You find that different people do all kinds of different things in the gym (especially in Hyde Park). Many lifters will do a run or walk to warm up or tack one on right outside the door at the end of the weight training to get those aerobic juices flowing.