Do you have bad memories of your high school years where you struggled through pushups every time there was a fitness test? Or where you always came last every time there was a short race? Or where you were picked last for your high-school football team?
A recent study found that embarrassing or cringe-worthy childhood memories about your not-so-good physique can get you in a mindset that you can never train. It was found true since those who had good childhood gym memories tend to stay fit years later. Moreover, the pandemic also forced everyone to stay at home, keeping all the gyms closed for several months last year.
But even when everything is getting back to normal, some people just never get into that training mindset. We are not here asking you to rewrite history, we are here to help you transform your future. Here’s how to change your training mindset and think like a fitness freak.
Wrong Definition of Exercise
You may think that exercise is something like running on a treadmill for a certain time with certain pre and post-workout supplements. Let’s just abolish these assumptions here. Exercise is nothing but just moving your body. Anything that can get your entire body moving is an exercise like dancing, running, even the fake fight you used to do with your siblings was a type of workout for your body.
Adapt Growth Mindset
A fixed mindset only focuses on something you are naturally good at and works on that only. However, a growth mindset always wants to improve irrespective of how many times it has failed in the past. Never get disheartened from the failed attempts of the past. Instead, recommit to a healthy lifestyle and congratulate yourself on progress every day. Negative thoughts may disturb you initially but fight them by focusing on how good you feel physically after working out and the long-term benefits of training.
It’s About Movement and Not ‘Exercise”
Those who lack the training mindset actually lack an active life. Always find something that gets you moving. You will see options for an active lifestyle opening up. Like taking stairs instead of the lift, parking your car a little away from your office or grocery store, and several other options will promote movement and help shift your mindset towards an active life.
Small Fitness Goals
If you don’t even like working out, how can you set a goal that even your mind disagrees with? Since you haven’t been working out at all, it’s okay to aim for 10 to 15 minutes of training sessions initially. Manageable goals make it more likely to stick with exercising, and small wins with time will get you addicted to workouts. Your mind will slowly and steadily override the initial negative thoughts about exercising, builds confidence, and gets you into a training mindset.
Final Word- Make It a Habit
You can be a weekend warrior initially, exercising for 2-3 hours every week in the end. Still, this whole process is to get you into a permanent training mindset that only comes when you workout regularly. Building new habits requires consistency, and if you wait for the following weekend again, it may never happen. Find new ways to make activities more fun. Either ask your gym friends to train with you or keep it personal, just make exercising a habit.
