Running in my pyjamas

​Recently, I've been feeling more resistant to exericise. I concluded that the change in the season and the darker days were to blame for my lack of motivation but I've realised its not really that at all! (ok, well maybe its a little bit of that!).

During the weekends with my family, I make sure we do something active each day. A walk in the woods, a bike ride, a walk into town for a coffee, and in the pre-covid world a whole lot more! During the week we scoot, walk or cycle to school most days too and the boys have football training/matches.

When we do these activites we pop on our shoes and coats and are out the door. However when I look at when I exercise just for myself, its a whole other affair! I need to get changed into sports clothes, specific trainers, water bottle filled, hair tied up and playlist selected, plan out the session (weights? cardio?)  It can take me 15 minutes just to be READY to exercise!! 

I've realised the the thought of getting ready to exercise is more off putting than the exercsie itself !

Its made me wonder why my habits are so different from my family activities?  

Children dont do this, they run and jump and play outside in their school shoes, run around the park in whatever they're wearing, kick a ball around in their jeans (and even play badminton in the garden in ther pants!!) 

I appreciate your sport may use equipment or have a uniform so you cant just rock up in your jeans, and its always good to put on the right footwear for your activity...but is all the other stuff necesssary? Particularly if its stoping us from being active? 

Is there really a difference betweeen being active and exercising? Are they mutually exclusive? Is it awful if I'm only 'active' one week and dont 'exercise' ? I think not! 

Given that sendentary lifeyles are more prevalent than ever, ANY activity we can squeeze in is a good thing!

I actually think that if we focus on being more active over specific exercising (which for most people is no more than 3 hours a week, if that) it opens up a whole world of things that we might be more willing to do...gardening and sweeping leaves, decorating, meeting a friend for a walk, hand washing the car etc

I'm not suggesting that you give up your zumba class or pump session if you enjoy it...but if, like me, you're feeling a lack of motivation for it, then trying to focus on adding more activity in your day can be really beneficial.  

So recently I've been challenging my ideas about all this and if the mood takes me to exercise, I go straight to it. This has resulted in some quite comical visions of me on the treadmill in my pyjama's or doing squats in a skirt while watching tv! I've also raked up leaves for an hour and washed out the kitchen cupboards!



tx

 
 

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