Why you need to stop dreading your workouts.

So everyone seems to be promoting my workout is only 28 minutes or here's my quick 20 minute workout (like that's a good thing? and really why 28? such a random number, add an extra 2 and make them 30). And yes I get where they are coming from. Everyone is time poor and sometimes 20 or 28 minutes is all you have and yes you can do very quick and effective workouts in that time. BUT if the only reason you are doing a certain workout is because it is 28 minutes and go into it thinking yes the shorter the workout the better, then is that really the right reason to do it?

Let me elaborate.

As I said, I understand that everyone is busy and time poor so want to do quick and efficient workouts, and it is better to be doing a 28 minute workout than nothing at all! It definitely is.

BUT

The problem is when you start counting down until it's done from the second that you start working out and not in a good way. In a i'm dreading this but doing it begrudgingly kind of way.

To put it bluntly (because i'm not known for sugar coating things - I would never coat anything in sugar, metaphorically or literally haha) you hate the workout but just don't want to admit it and don't know what else to do otherwise.

A workout should be something that you would be prepared to do for hours on end (if you had the time and energy). Ok look maybe not hours on end and I get that not everyone is like me and wishes their whole day was one big workout, but you should at least moderately like the type of workouts you're doing. It should not be something that you dread doing and do just because you think "oh I should workout, it's good for me so i'll just go with the shortest program and at least i'm doing something." If you hate something though and dread it, are you going to want to get up at 5 or 6am in winter to workout? (or even in summer for that matter), are you going to want to go to the gym on the way home at 6pm after a long day at work? to do something you don't like and just want it to end from the moment you start. My guess is probably not, so already you're setting yourself up for failure in the long run when that motivation to go has long worn off. Not even in the long run, motivation doesn't last that long.

You are also probably setting yourself up for injuries. If you don't like something, are you going to give it 110%. Nope!! That means that your form probably won't be that good and hello injury waiting to happen. To make a shorter workout effective you need to give it 110% which is also going to lead to you wanting to do more reps and again your form not being as good as it should/ could be if you took your time, leading to injury and right back to where you started - not working out.

Continuing on from needing to give it 110%, as I said those short workouts only work as they are HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and therefore designed for you to go at it as hard as you can for the work periods and then get short rests. If you are not liking the workout, will you want to give it your all, nah, you'll just cruise through. Which, ok fine, not every workout you need to give 100% as some days you just need to go a bit slower and give your body a bit of rest, but that should be the exception not the rule with these type of workouts. Most people (I'd say around 80% - 90% - I don't know the actual stats that's just a number I pulled from thin air but i'm guessing around that from what I've seen with my clients and in the fitness world) start working out/ exercising generally for the same reason. To get healthier and for weight loss. So they start an exercise program. Which they don't like but are doing it just because they're at a loose end and need to lose weight and don't know what else to do. They are a month in and then give up because they aren't seeing any progress because they aren't giving every workout 110% because they don't love it and don't have correct form. Can you see where i'm going with this?

Time for a change!!

If you are not loving the way you are working out it is definitely time to switch it up!! It's time to stop dreading workouts and make them fun again!! Which is honestly what working out should be in the first place. Think back to when you were in school and in P.E class what would you do. Run around and play fun games, chase each other and throw balls. You were working out but didn't know it because you enjoyed it, it was fun and not a chore!

Go out and try a new exercise class you really love, or join new gym, you'll meet new friends along the way who are probably on the same fitness journey as you (or have already been on it cause let's be honest 99% of the population has tried to lose or has lost weight at some point in time) and THAT is what will keep you motivated to want to keep going and do more for your motivation and drive than any physical results ever will. Ok so a story. Way back when I first got serious about working out and joined a gym in 2012, every Saturday morning there would be a run group and walking group. Now the walk group, to put it politely, were the older women. Anyone could do it but it's just how it turned out that they all started to do it. When I say older not even old but like 50's - 60's and they loved this walk group. It was as much about the social aspect of it as it was the exercise aspect (as they would inevitably stop and get coffees every saturday along the way or end up at a coffee shop at the end). Even if it was raining they would still go walking, the would literally walk to the shopping centre (which was 200m from the gym) and literally do laps walking up and down around the shopping centre for an hour (lucky it was before the shops were open and literally all that was open were the supermarkets otherwise i'm sure it would have been shopping group instead of walking group). But as you can see they didn't make an excuse. They got up and did it rain, hail or shine. So um literally anyone can workout . . . you like to go shopping, you can work out.

In saying that, you cannot expect to see long lasting results overnight - you need to stick with it for more than 10 seconds and not give up when you don't lose 5kg in the first week. I'm sorry and hate to break it to you, but it's physiologically impossible (especially for women) to achieve any sort of results in a short amount of time. Honestly you'll probably barely see any results even in a month. Look you will, but not the type that you see on Instagram with people that promote look I did this program for a month and I got abs. Sorry sunshine no you didn't, you got a fake tan, changed the lighting, changed your pose and sucked your stomach in and flexed your abs then took an after photo, that's what you did.

Lasting results take time!!!!

and i'm going to leave you with this "It's not the destination, it's the journey." It's what you learn about yourself along the way and the good habits that you form and love of exercise and improving your overall health that is going to be a million times more valuable to you than a 6 pack ever will.