by C. S. Gallagher

Created on: March 10, 2010

Some people are born with an uncanny ability to enjoy working out. The rest of us, however, are not so lucky (or cursed, depending on your view). We know how to begin a routine, start off strong with an outlined agenda, only to fizzle out a few weeks later. Sticking with it, actually exercising rather than just planning to exercise, is sometimes the hardest part. Here forthwith follows a loose guide to help we non-natural exercisers to stick with our planned-out routines.

First and foremost, you have to find something you like. If you can’t stand doing it, chances are you’re not going to continue for long. It’s just common sense. However, finding exercise that you like and can do consistently can still be quite challenging, especially for those of us who hate to exercise.

I dislike organized aerobics. Running is boring, and I loathe stationary anything (treadmill, bike, elliptical, etc). While I might enjoy outdoor activities such as biking, it is often that unbearable heat and humidity or rain will keep me indoors. Therefore, my search continued until, one day, I stumbled upon a martial arts class being held at my gym. Now, there was something I had always been interested in, but never had the adequate time-schedule or money to devote myself to a class. The class fit my time constraints and cost nothing extra from gym membership. Match made. It’s been three months, and I haven’t missed a class yet.

The second part of sticking to a routine is commitment. Sounds a bit like what I just said, but there is some difference. Commitment, when it comes to exercise, is not giving up when it gets hard, not giving in when you get injured, and not abandoning when things go wrong.

I’m terrible at sports, all sports, and it seems I more dreadful at the sports I actually enjoy. It is, however, that I do not care that I am unskilled at other sports, but when I cannot excel at something I like, I get down. Anyone would, but it doesn’t mean I have to stop. It doesn’t mean I can’t get better. It just means I have to work for it. Commitment, there’s that word again.

Train, don’t ‘work out.’ A simple change in vocabulary can make a world of difference. Working out implies some boring, daily exercise in which the only goal is the exercise itself. But training, on the other hand, goes beyond the singular ‘work out’ of a said day. Sometimes we fall, sometimes we struggle through. Sometimes

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