Get in shape, safely and sustainably

If your fitness routine has been less than consistent over the past few months, know you’re not alone. Go easy on yourself.

Between work obligations, family commitments and (with any luck) a few social events, it may seem downright impossible to add anything else to your plate. As a result, some people find themselves on a slippery slope to sacrificing exercise!

We all know we should be doing more, but how do we keep moving when our motivation slips or life gets in the way? Here are a few of our favourite hacks from the RedAvo HQ to get your mind back in the game, and your body moving again.

Start out slow

When recommitting to fitness, we often hit the ground running with guns blazing. But, if you haven’t been in shape for a while, remember that it’s going to take a bit of time. The “all or nothing” approach tends to leave us feeling exhausted and lacking motivation within just a few weeks. Instead, start small. We’re talking 10-minute-walk small if you’re starting from a low base. Figure out what works for you, and do that. The more overly ambitious your goal, the more likely you are to fail, feel bad about it, and give up.

Know your ‘why’

Our reasons behind getting back into exercise are crucial to whether we’ll be able to keep the momentum going. Too often, today’s fitness culture promotes fitness by hooking people into short-term motivations, guilt and shame.

Appearance-based goals may have been good enough to fuel trips to the gym in our early 20s, but as we get older, understanding our realistic, practical motivations will get us much further. Rather shift your focus to the immediate positive feelings you get after a workout, like reduced stress and increased energy. These effects are far more valuable to daily life.

Adopt a holistic approach to your workouts

Unless you’re a professional athlete whose rent depends on how fast and powerful you are, you want to be functional and pain-free after your workouts. So, free fitness from performance and allow the magic to unfold. You’ll soon learn that the joy of the game will always outlast a win.

Here, a recovery routine is vital. Cool down, stretching and recovery is just as, if not more, important than the act of working out itself. Taking a holistic approach to your fitness will help prevent injury, so you won’t need to take weeks off from your workout routine to recover and risk slipping back into a slump.

Make skipping a workout a conscious decision

We’ve all had those pre-dawn mornings where your bed is simply too warm and cosy, or those hazy afternoons after a long day at the office, where it’s tempting to skip your run, in favour of a few moments of rest, an episode of your favourite series or an ice-cold beer! Instead of sitting back and allowing time to run away from you, turn this chain of events into an active choice that you have control over.

When you make choosing to skip a workout a conscious decision, you begin to hold yourself accountable. Avoid the “out of sight, out of mind” mentality, and leave your activewear or workout equipment in the places you’re most likely to succumb to the slump. For example, you can sleep with your gym clothes on the end of your bed so or leave your workout gear on the couch you usually slouch into after work, so you have to move it to sit down. When you have to exert extra effort to avoid exercising, you’ll be more likely to follow through with your original plan.

Be kind to yourself

When we feel our motivation slipping and exercise begins to feel more like a chore than something we look forward to we’re quick to judge ourselves, but it often points to a bigger problem. Rather than shaming yourself, just try something else. It’s likely that you haven’t found a form of exercise that works well for you yet.

When it comes to movement, tune into your body to ask what it needs from you or what it feels like doing. Some days this could mean a kickboxing class, while other days might look like some light stretching or yoga. This type of intuitive exercise is flexible, not rigid, and gives you space to explore what feels good for you at any given moment.

Here at RedAvo, we believe that there’s no ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to exercise. The pursuit of fitness is all about switching things up, trying something new, and challenging your mind and your body to become stronger.

Reconnecting to fitness or starting a new exercise routine can be challenging, we know. However, there are so many different forms of physical activity to choose from. The goal is to find a few that work for you, start slowly, and let your fitness level build up slowly.

So, here’s to becoming the best version of yourself through mindfulness, meditation and movement.