W14’S Work-Out Plan, Sorry Kanye

I recently read a blog post on Britton Loves, ‘Easy Ways to Work-out’, being the type of person who find motivation to work out hard to come by I was instantly drawn to it. I felt relieved that other people felt the same way as me, that not everyone find excise as easy as all the beautiful fitness models you can’t escape from on Instagram. One of the most poignant messages of the post is that it is essential to ” Find a workout style to suit you”, just because half the people in your office “can’t get enough of Spin class” and the other half run a marathon every weekend.

I have never been described as a natural-born runner, I never really understood why anyone would run when the could just walk, or even better.. get the bus. But when i decided enough was enough, i needed to get fitter i sought the help of several apps that had been recommended to me. The first being an app designed by the NHS called Couch to 5K. It offers week on week audio support. Week one involves a five-minute warm up walk followed Sixty Seconds of running and 90 seconds of walking, ending with a 5 minute cool down. Each week the running to walking ratio gradually increases until you can run solidly for 5k. So this really is for starting from scratch, which suited me perfectly. As stupid as it may sound, having the comforting voice of the app offering encouragement over your iPod is really helpful, and knowing that you only have to keep running for short burst motivates you to keep going. For me, it’s all about achievable goals, taking smalls steps. Overtime you complete a week you can notice how much easier it is each time. When i started, there was no way i could imagine myself running as far and for as long as i am now. Another helpful app has been RunKeeper. it records your run, presenting you with your route mapped out at the end. It often gives you distance and time updates which can help give you an extra push to complete your target for the week.

Another revelation for me has been Yoga, again never a discipline i imagined myself enjoying, it has proven a real success. It was first recommended to me by my Osteopath for my back. I found classes really helpful to start off with. as the instructor can make you push yourself so you can really feel the benefits.There are however hundred of really useful YouTube videos that can coach you, and if you do attend classes provide extra practice in between. One of my favourite is 30 Days of Yoga which gradually builds up day on day. Its so easy to do as you don’t need to leave the house. As well as the physical benefits of toning and stretching you body, the breathing techniques that Yoga teaches you come in handy for all other forms of exercise. Its a common mistake that when we are in pain we stop breathing, by doing this we are actually making things a lot harder for ourselves by depriving our muscles of the oxygen they need to work. Other YouTube workout videos that i have found really useful include the Victoria’s Secret Angels work-out tutorials by XHIT. These are perfect for when you’re tight on time as the videos start from 3 minute workouts, perfect for before work or when you’re in a rush.

Another mechanism for keeping motivated is rewarding yourself, buying a new pair of trainers or leggings after you have reached a certain target. This ensures you keep interested and the pride you feel in completed a goal you have set yourself is reflected in your new gym kit, it motives you every time you wear it to keep going. You know you’ve got this far so you know you can keep going! Here are a few pieces on my hit list :

Sports Bra : Victoria’s Secret

Vest: Brian Lichtenberg

Trainers: Nike

Leggings: Adidas

The most important this is to try to do some form of exercise everyday, the longer you go between workouts the higher the chances of you stopping all together and the harder it becomes to go again. Half the problem with maintaining a good fitness is time commitment, finding the energy and motivation to go for an hour-long work-out (no matter how beneficial we know it might be) isn’t  easy, and we’re more likely to skip exercise out of our day completely. Even if it’s just a three-minute workout video in the evening, its enough to keep you in the right frame of mind!