YOUR EXPECTATIONS FOR EXERCISE ARE STRESSING YOU OUT The secret component of an effective workout plan through the eyes of a personal trainer.
Richard had been a high school sporting hero, but as time passed, he found a job, got married and had a family and suddenly eight years had passed in which he had not once visited a gym. I’ve been a personal trainer for a number of years. Over that period each of my clients has approached me with the same problem. Their experiences may all sound very different. But after careful consideration it becomes clear that all are pretty similar despite the fact that their fitness training has followed very different paths.
Here are the stories of some of my clients.
Sue had managed to lose a couple of stone. She ran regularly and went to
aerobics classes three times a week. As time progressed, she was finding that she had to do a lot more exercise just to maintain her weight. To make matters worse, she didn’t feel well, battling daily with fatigue.
Ken had managed his own daily workout routine. He would take a long run every day. Do an hour of High Intensity Interval Training after work each evening and maintained a strict diet. Despite this, he didn’t feel well and suffered with fatigue and a general disinterest in life. Sharon had never done much exercise. She realised that she needed
to get into shape but hesitated for months before contacting me. This is because she felt a little embarrassed to contact a professional trainer in her poor shape. She feared that she wouldn’t be in any condition to manage the exercise plan that I would put her on. Exercise, she felt, must wait until she was fitter.
It may not sound as though these stories have anything in common. But, in fact, there is one common theme. Not one of these people is enjoying their exercise. Two of them chose not to exercise at all and two just drove themselves harder and harder. All of them felt that the exercise was out of their control. It was not making them feel good and was tiring them out rather than improving their health. If you want exercise to inspire and revitalise you, relieving stress and making you feel good, you have to use your exercise sessions to make a connection with yourself.
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