Making The Most Of The Summer Reset
August is definitely a month of ups and downs for most of us when it comes to exercise. You may have children on school holidays, commitments that get in the way of training or you may just struggle to keep a rhythm through the summer.
Whilst it may seem like you are falling off track with your exercise at this time of year, it’s actually a really great opportunity to get ready for September when things get back to normal!
Here’s a few things we suggest doing over the next month…
Review how happy you are training at the moment
It’s one thing to be consistent with training, it’s another to be enjoying it. Write down on a piece of paper how much you have enjoyed your training over the last two months - we recommend using a scale:
1 -3 = not at all
4-7 = haven’t loved it but it wasn’t awful
7-10 = I’ve been really enjoying it!
Once you have worked it out, try to think about why you have come up with that number, is it because you’re in the wrong class? Are you struggling with motivation? Is it feeling too hard?
It’s much easier to adapt once you are honest about what you want!
2. Think about what you might like to focus on over the next 3 months
Without setting a specific goal, now write down what is most important to you in terms of your fitness. Is it commiting to a certain number of sessions a week? Is it to lose weight or build muscle? Is it just to make sure you are keeping as active as you can be around work?
There is no right or wrong answer here so don’t feel like you need to be working towards a specific goal just because someone else is. Try to be open and honest with yourself about what you want in order to make a solid plan.
3. Take steps to improve and manage your routine
You’ve done the hard bit and reviewed what you feel needs changing, so now we need to take action! What is it that needs changing?
Example:
You are struggling with finding the motivation to exercise and you feel bored in the gym. You don’t really know what you should be doing when you are in there so it feels pointless.
The simple solution here is to book in with a personal trainer to get some guidance. You don’t have to have sessions every week but it will certainly help you create more structure.
Another Example:
You are finding it hard to make time to workout. This is slightly trickier because we all lead busy lives. However, we find the best way to manage this is to look through your diary and see when you could commit to 1 hour a week exercise. Start with one hour so you are not overwhelmed an then gradually build in more. Keep that hour blocked out of your diary so that you are not tempted to overrule it.
Ready to reset this summer?!
