Scroll down, this is a long one. I hope what I'm about to say will motive anyone who has a hard time exercising. If I can do this, anyone can.
For a long time I've wanted to build muscle, get fitter, stronger and lose some belly fat. There were a couple of times when I bought weights and then proceeded to do what I imagine a lot of people do, which is to use them for a while and then quit. A few years ago bought a cross trainer and I used it every day for a few weeks, but then I stopped. I bought a bike but I hardly used it.
It's not that I was weak or didn't have any willpower. My problem was consistency. I heard somewhere that many people join a gym and then don't go, except for a few times soon after they join. But then the enthusiasm fades away. I'm sure the gyms know this all too well.
Until recently I didn't think of myself as someone who could consistently exercise. I remember telling this to a couple of people in a mastermind group. They were into fitness but I wasn't. One of them said I should start off by just doing a couple of push ups every day. I said no way, because I knew that I wouldn't keep it up so what was the point of getting my hopes up.
But then one day I had a brainwave, based on two principles : starting small, and consistency, which was my main problem. At the beginning of August 2017 I started working out every day. And I started small. I decided to start so small that each day, by the time I would have thought about whether or not I felt like doing it, I would have finished it already. 2 minutes. That's it. 1 minute on the cross trainer, then 1 minute of moving around. But just as importantly, I decided to do this for 3 months without any thought of doing more, or any guilt about how little I was doing, in order to build the habit. I didn't even bother researching exercises, I just got on with it.
I had it all more or less planned from the start. After 3 months of this, I would add 1 second each day. So by the end of 6 months, I was doing 3.30 mins per day. Not much, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was building the habit.
After 6 months, I had a rethink about how to progress the whole thing (i.e. adding more exercises), and I added 1 second per day for 3 months. So by the end of month 9 I was on 5 mins per day.
After that, I added 2 seconds per day for 3 months. So by the end of 1 year I was on 8 mins per day.
And then again, I added 2 seconds per day for 3 months, so by the end of 15 months I was doing 11 mins per day.
And so on.
My workout changes every day, but based on what I did today, here's where I'm at :
- Cross trainer : 2 mins
- Aerobics (or whatever you call it...general moving around) : 2.30 mins
- Stretches : 2.30 mins
- 50 push ups (however long it takes)
- 50 sit ups
- 50 lying down, lift legs up, then down to a couple of inches above the ground
- 50 lying down, lift hips up and down
- 50 reps of weight exercise 1
- 50 reps of weight exercise 2
- 34 reps of weight exercise 3 (eventually 50)
- 14 reps of weight exercise 4 (eventually 50)
- 14 reps of weight exercise 5 (eventually 50)
I do 5 different weight exercises one day, then 5 different ones the day after.
When I'm on 50 of each of the weight exercises, I'll add a couple of minutes of Qi Gong, as I've heard that it's very beneficial.
For a few months I was also doing face yoga but I stopped. Not sure why. I should start that again.
By the time my workout if fully developed, which will be by the end of July, it will be 2 years. Then I'll focus on making everything harder (i.e. doing situps in a more challenging way, using heavier weights, etc), and faster. I might also add more exercises.
The idea was to do a thorough workout in about 30 mins. Right now everything I'm doing should take about 16 minutes, however it's so tough that I'm already taking 35 or so minutes, so by the time I'm doing everything it will be longer. But I hope to get better and shorten that time to 30 mins. Listening to podcasts helps. I recommend Bold & Determined, but there are plenty more than can help you get through it, because when you're mind is engaged, the time goes quicker.
As you can see, I don't know the terminology, but it doesn't matter. And I didn't spend very much time researching what kinds of exercises to do, I mostly just made it up as I went on. Also, I only have 1 dumbbell and no bench, so whatever I would need a bench for, I use my sofa and do one arm at a time. And if one day I no longer have my cross trainer, I'll replace those 2 minutes with something else.
There's no way that I'd be able to do what I do now if I hadn't developed the habit. Sometimes, when I'm in pain, I think back to the times when I was doing far less and the pain that I felt then, and how much I've progressed.
I'm telling you now that consistency is the key. You have to build the habit. Don't be preoccupied about what you'll do or how much you want to do. None of that matters. First focus on building the habit. Without the habit, you will quit sooner or later. Just do something, anything, and develop it as time goes on.
I started with 2 minutes, which obviously isn't enough to get results, but it doesn't matter because the point is to get used to doing some exercise each day. I just did it then got on with my day without thinking about it. You'll be amazed at what you'll be able, or should I say willing to do, once you've overcome the inertia of going from nothing to something.
Another thing you'll find is that pain is largely psychological. I dread doing 50 push ups each day, but I'm so used to it that it's not an issue, and I just endure it because I'm used to enduring it. I suffer, then it's over and forgotten about. I could never have done that before because I didn't develop the habit. But the point is that I'm now capable of putting myself through it, more willing to do so. Whenever I don't particularly look forward to push ups, I remind myself of the time when I was on 33 and how bad I thought that was, and how far I've progressed.
Like I said, I planned this from the start, and one of the things I considered was that there would be 3 levels of progress, psychologically speaking :
Level 1 : (if I was to skip a day) : "Hmmm...it's weird not working out"
Level 2 : (if I was to skip a day) : "Hmmm...it's weird not working out, and I feel bad"
Level 3 : (if I was to skip a day) : "No workout today? Unthinkable! This is what I do now"
I'm now somewhere between Level 2 and 3. I haven't skipped a single day. I haven't allowed anything to stop me, and I've managed that because I've worked on creating the habit. I've been doing this from the start of August 2017. I've never been as consistent with anything in my life as I am with this, and I never ever thought I'd be able to say that. And all because I first worked on developing the habit. For a long time it's the only thing that has kept me going, but now there are 2 other factors that keep me going even more.
The first is that on the 11th of October last year I bought some scales and weighed myself. About 10 years ago I weighed 62 kg. When I weighed myself again it was 71 kg. In other words, after 14 1/2 months of exercising every day, I was 71 kg, which means that I would have weighed more if I never started exercising. How much, I guess I'll never quite know.
But what I do know is that after weighing myself every day I've noticed that for quite some time I have been losing 1 kg per 18 days, which is roughly the weight of a can of coke per week, which is roughly the weight of a tennis ball per day. I say that to remind myself that I'm always making progress. But lately the weight loss has considerably slowed down, and the only explanation is that I must also be gaining muscle weight.
For the last 39 days the scales have been saying 64 kg. I should have been on 63 kg by now but I think I'm gaining muscle, which is slowing down the overall weight loss. Muscle weighs a bit more than fat, so it wouldn't take as much muscle gain to slow down any fat weight. And this is related to the second additional factor that now keeps me going.
I'm convinced that I'm gaining muscle also because my abs feel firmer. I've had a bit of a belly for years but it's starting to look unmistakably smaller and I can even see the top part of my abs at times, especially when I'm sitting down and tense slightly. I've noticed that my pecs are firmer and I can even move them. And today I flexed my biceps and there's definitely something happening there. They feel firmer, and flick into tension more. When I walk past a window, no longer do I see a bump. By the way it's not that I've ever been fat, it's just that I've had somewhat of a belly for years. And people have noticed the belly going down, so I'm not imagining it.
So now I have 3 things keeping me going : the habit, the number on the scales going down, and actually seeing and feeling the results. There's no way I can stop now. I'd be mad if I did.
Another thing that's happened is that I used to feel tired (just my eyes, not physically) and need a nap every day for quite a long time, but one day a few months ago that suddenly stopped. Also, I feel like I have more energy in general. Not that I didn't feel energetic before, but now it's more.
The lightest that I can be for my height without being underweight is 57 kg. On paper that's my goal, but I know it will take longer than I have calculated because of the muscle weight gain, and that's fine by me.
I still have some way to go but it's such a good feeling knowing that tomorrow I absolutely will exercise. No debate, no hesitation. It will happen. And I want to do this for the rest of my life. Right now it's every single day, but once I'm in really good shape I'll gradually start reducing it to 3 days per week, although I'll just do a quick warm up on the off days.
The reason for reducing it to 3 days per week is because, based on some very rough calculations, I believe that what I'm doing is causing me to lose fat weight 30 to 50 times faster than the time that it would take to put the weight on, therefore 3 days a week is still way more than enough to keep that fat off, and maintain a good physique. Plus I don't really think it's necessary to do it every single day forever. But I'll do it every day for now.
You don't need to join a gym, you don't need fancy equipment, you don't need to know the terminology, and you don't need to overthink or over research this. All you need is yourself, 2 minutes a day to start with, a bit of space, and at least one dumbbell. If you don't have a dumbbell, pick up a fucking rock. If you don't have a rock, just stick to bodyweight exercises.
If you have trouble getting into exercise, it's extremely unlikely to be due to laziness, or lack of energy, or even lack of time. I think it's a lack of consistency. It's very easy to quit when what you're trying to do is not something that is a part of you or at least a strong habit. But when it is a habit, verily I say unto you, you will be so surprised at what you can do.
If I can do this, so can you. I never thought I'd be posting this, but here I am.
It's all about consistency, and starting very small. That's the key that will get you through this without having to suffer. Build the habit first, and you'll be amazed at what you'll eventually be able to happily endure. And when you start seeing results, and when those scales start to show and confirm to you what's happening, it will motivate you even more. Working out is hard, but if you start very small and easy and increase it very slowly, so slowly that you barely notice it, you won't suffer. You'll love it. You won't mind the physical pain. You'll feel pain, sure, but it won't be horrible or even unpleasant. You'll feel quite neutral about it. You'll have more important things to dwell on, as the scales and mirror will confirm.
Go, do it. 120 seconds per day for 3 months, then add 1 second per day and take it from there. Or make up your own version what I've described.
For a long time I've wanted to build muscle, get fitter, stronger and lose some belly fat. There were a couple of times when I bought weights and then proceeded to do what I imagine a lot of people do, which is to use them for a while and then quit. A few years ago bought a cross trainer and I used it every day for a few weeks, but then I stopped. I bought a bike but I hardly used it.
It's not that I was weak or didn't have any willpower. My problem was consistency. I heard somewhere that many people join a gym and then don't go, except for a few times soon after they join. But then the enthusiasm fades away. I'm sure the gyms know this all too well.
Until recently I didn't think of myself as someone who could consistently exercise. I remember telling this to a couple of people in a mastermind group. They were into fitness but I wasn't. One of them said I should start off by just doing a couple of push ups every day. I said no way, because I knew that I wouldn't keep it up so what was the point of getting my hopes up.
But then one day I had a brainwave, based on two principles : starting small, and consistency, which was my main problem. At the beginning of August 2017 I started working out every day. And I started small. I decided to start so small that each day, by the time I would have thought about whether or not I felt like doing it, I would have finished it already. 2 minutes. That's it. 1 minute on the cross trainer, then 1 minute of moving around. But just as importantly, I decided to do this for 3 months without any thought of doing more, or any guilt about how little I was doing, in order to build the habit. I didn't even bother researching exercises, I just got on with it.
I had it all more or less planned from the start. After 3 months of this, I would add 1 second each day. So by the end of 6 months, I was doing 3.30 mins per day. Not much, but it didn't matter. All that mattered was building the habit.
After 6 months, I had a rethink about how to progress the whole thing (i.e. adding more exercises), and I added 1 second per day for 3 months. So by the end of month 9 I was on 5 mins per day.
After that, I added 2 seconds per day for 3 months. So by the end of 1 year I was on 8 mins per day.
And then again, I added 2 seconds per day for 3 months, so by the end of 15 months I was doing 11 mins per day.
And so on.
My workout changes every day, but based on what I did today, here's where I'm at :
- Cross trainer : 2 mins
- Aerobics (or whatever you call it...general moving around) : 2.30 mins
- Stretches : 2.30 mins
- 50 push ups (however long it takes)
- 50 sit ups
- 50 lying down, lift legs up, then down to a couple of inches above the ground
- 50 lying down, lift hips up and down
- 50 reps of weight exercise 1
- 50 reps of weight exercise 2
- 34 reps of weight exercise 3 (eventually 50)
- 14 reps of weight exercise 4 (eventually 50)
- 14 reps of weight exercise 5 (eventually 50)
I do 5 different weight exercises one day, then 5 different ones the day after.
When I'm on 50 of each of the weight exercises, I'll add a couple of minutes of Qi Gong, as I've heard that it's very beneficial.
For a few months I was also doing face yoga but I stopped. Not sure why. I should start that again.
By the time my workout if fully developed, which will be by the end of July, it will be 2 years. Then I'll focus on making everything harder (i.e. doing situps in a more challenging way, using heavier weights, etc), and faster. I might also add more exercises.
The idea was to do a thorough workout in about 30 mins. Right now everything I'm doing should take about 16 minutes, however it's so tough that I'm already taking 35 or so minutes, so by the time I'm doing everything it will be longer. But I hope to get better and shorten that time to 30 mins. Listening to podcasts helps. I recommend Bold & Determined, but there are plenty more than can help you get through it, because when you're mind is engaged, the time goes quicker.
As you can see, I don't know the terminology, but it doesn't matter. And I didn't spend very much time researching what kinds of exercises to do, I mostly just made it up as I went on. Also, I only have 1 dumbbell and no bench, so whatever I would need a bench for, I use my sofa and do one arm at a time. And if one day I no longer have my cross trainer, I'll replace those 2 minutes with something else.
There's no way that I'd be able to do what I do now if I hadn't developed the habit. Sometimes, when I'm in pain, I think back to the times when I was doing far less and the pain that I felt then, and how much I've progressed.
I'm telling you now that consistency is the key. You have to build the habit. Don't be preoccupied about what you'll do or how much you want to do. None of that matters. First focus on building the habit. Without the habit, you will quit sooner or later. Just do something, anything, and develop it as time goes on.
I started with 2 minutes, which obviously isn't enough to get results, but it doesn't matter because the point is to get used to doing some exercise each day. I just did it then got on with my day without thinking about it. You'll be amazed at what you'll be able, or should I say willing to do, once you've overcome the inertia of going from nothing to something.
Another thing you'll find is that pain is largely psychological. I dread doing 50 push ups each day, but I'm so used to it that it's not an issue, and I just endure it because I'm used to enduring it. I suffer, then it's over and forgotten about. I could never have done that before because I didn't develop the habit. But the point is that I'm now capable of putting myself through it, more willing to do so. Whenever I don't particularly look forward to push ups, I remind myself of the time when I was on 33 and how bad I thought that was, and how far I've progressed.
Like I said, I planned this from the start, and one of the things I considered was that there would be 3 levels of progress, psychologically speaking :
Level 1 : (if I was to skip a day) : "Hmmm...it's weird not working out"
Level 2 : (if I was to skip a day) : "Hmmm...it's weird not working out, and I feel bad"
Level 3 : (if I was to skip a day) : "No workout today? Unthinkable! This is what I do now"
I'm now somewhere between Level 2 and 3. I haven't skipped a single day. I haven't allowed anything to stop me, and I've managed that because I've worked on creating the habit. I've been doing this from the start of August 2017. I've never been as consistent with anything in my life as I am with this, and I never ever thought I'd be able to say that. And all because I first worked on developing the habit. For a long time it's the only thing that has kept me going, but now there are 2 other factors that keep me going even more.
The first is that on the 11th of October last year I bought some scales and weighed myself. About 10 years ago I weighed 62 kg. When I weighed myself again it was 71 kg. In other words, after 14 1/2 months of exercising every day, I was 71 kg, which means that I would have weighed more if I never started exercising. How much, I guess I'll never quite know.
But what I do know is that after weighing myself every day I've noticed that for quite some time I have been losing 1 kg per 18 days, which is roughly the weight of a can of coke per week, which is roughly the weight of a tennis ball per day. I say that to remind myself that I'm always making progress. But lately the weight loss has considerably slowed down, and the only explanation is that I must also be gaining muscle weight.
For the last 39 days the scales have been saying 64 kg. I should have been on 63 kg by now but I think I'm gaining muscle, which is slowing down the overall weight loss. Muscle weighs a bit more than fat, so it wouldn't take as much muscle gain to slow down any fat weight. And this is related to the second additional factor that now keeps me going.
I'm convinced that I'm gaining muscle also because my abs feel firmer. I've had a bit of a belly for years but it's starting to look unmistakably smaller and I can even see the top part of my abs at times, especially when I'm sitting down and tense slightly. I've noticed that my pecs are firmer and I can even move them. And today I flexed my biceps and there's definitely something happening there. They feel firmer, and flick into tension more. When I walk past a window, no longer do I see a bump. By the way it's not that I've ever been fat, it's just that I've had somewhat of a belly for years. And people have noticed the belly going down, so I'm not imagining it.
So now I have 3 things keeping me going : the habit, the number on the scales going down, and actually seeing and feeling the results. There's no way I can stop now. I'd be mad if I did.
Another thing that's happened is that I used to feel tired (just my eyes, not physically) and need a nap every day for quite a long time, but one day a few months ago that suddenly stopped. Also, I feel like I have more energy in general. Not that I didn't feel energetic before, but now it's more.
The lightest that I can be for my height without being underweight is 57 kg. On paper that's my goal, but I know it will take longer than I have calculated because of the muscle weight gain, and that's fine by me.
I still have some way to go but it's such a good feeling knowing that tomorrow I absolutely will exercise. No debate, no hesitation. It will happen. And I want to do this for the rest of my life. Right now it's every single day, but once I'm in really good shape I'll gradually start reducing it to 3 days per week, although I'll just do a quick warm up on the off days.
The reason for reducing it to 3 days per week is because, based on some very rough calculations, I believe that what I'm doing is causing me to lose fat weight 30 to 50 times faster than the time that it would take to put the weight on, therefore 3 days a week is still way more than enough to keep that fat off, and maintain a good physique. Plus I don't really think it's necessary to do it every single day forever. But I'll do it every day for now.
You don't need to join a gym, you don't need fancy equipment, you don't need to know the terminology, and you don't need to overthink or over research this. All you need is yourself, 2 minutes a day to start with, a bit of space, and at least one dumbbell. If you don't have a dumbbell, pick up a fucking rock. If you don't have a rock, just stick to bodyweight exercises.
If you have trouble getting into exercise, it's extremely unlikely to be due to laziness, or lack of energy, or even lack of time. I think it's a lack of consistency. It's very easy to quit when what you're trying to do is not something that is a part of you or at least a strong habit. But when it is a habit, verily I say unto you, you will be so surprised at what you can do.
If I can do this, so can you. I never thought I'd be posting this, but here I am.
It's all about consistency, and starting very small. That's the key that will get you through this without having to suffer. Build the habit first, and you'll be amazed at what you'll eventually be able to happily endure. And when you start seeing results, and when those scales start to show and confirm to you what's happening, it will motivate you even more. Working out is hard, but if you start very small and easy and increase it very slowly, so slowly that you barely notice it, you won't suffer. You'll love it. You won't mind the physical pain. You'll feel pain, sure, but it won't be horrible or even unpleasant. You'll feel quite neutral about it. You'll have more important things to dwell on, as the scales and mirror will confirm.
Go, do it. 120 seconds per day for 3 months, then add 1 second per day and take it from there. Or make up your own version what I've described.
