Making that habit long-term..

So you’ve decided to get fit, maybe you want some support and have employed a Personal Trainer to help you make that leap onto the fitness ladder. It's always great to have the help and support of someone who knows what they are talking about. They can give you that extra little push, and the motivation to challenge yourself even more than you would at the gym or at home on your own. Its very easy to get to the gym or start a workout at home with all the best intentions, and then fall at the first hurdle, because it was uncomfortable as your form wasn’t quite right or, that you were getting to the burn and decided to make it a little gentler for yourself - we’ve all been there! The problem with this is that if you don’t challenge your body then it won’t start making the adaptations needed to improve your fitness/strength. To have that person who will be spending the whole session willing you on, helping you with your technique whether that’s using weights or on a cardio machine is, I think, invaluable especially if you want to make that habit last. The only negative of having a personal trainer is the average price you pay for them. I think the majority of personal trainers make fitness seem out of reach for the average person, the sessions are expensive and even blocks of 10 seem like a fortune when all tallied together. I could never have afforded a Personal Trainer, but I was one of the luckier ones that became motivated overnight and I have been able to keep that motivation going through sheer hard work and the love and interest I have for all things fitness, especially my most favourite sport of Indoor Rowing. For me it's not about weight loss now, originally it was, but now it's sort of ingrained in my DNA that I will be forever working out, I love the feeling it gives me, I love the way I can feel really stressed and uptight but as soon as I sit on my rowing machine or pick up my barbell all the stress seems to vanish and I feel rejuvenated!! I know I may sound rather over-dramatic but that’s really how I feel, it really does improve my mental health alongside my physical well-being!

When I decided to become a personal trainer I really wanted my services to be affordable and not seen as a luxury. Some people especially other PTs may think my prices are too cheap and my services are worth more and they maybe right but I whole heartedly feel that 1-1 fitness is a great way to help kick-start that person’s fitness journey. If they can only afford a certain amount of sessions I can help them get that habit formed, make sure their technique is going to benefit them on the rowing machine and ultimately give them the confidence and motivation to carry on and fulfil their goals. Obvious I would like more time with some and feel that less than 2 sessions a week with me is not enough, but to counteract that I do offer to write my clients sessions for them to complete at home. These sessions are free and normally pretty simple ones just to get them moving but I think-and hope- its shows that I care about them and want them to succeed. Also I make sure they know that I am always on-hand for guidance and advice even when they have left, I don’t want them to feel they have to struggle on their own especially if life struggles get in the way and they are finding it tough to hold onto that golden ticket of motivation.

I love everything fitness and realise that I am a little obsessive about my training but I also hope I can inspire people to work hard for their fitness goals, whether it's toning up, changing their body shape or improving their general fitness and well-being. The advice I would give anyone thinking about taking that first step is to just go for it, plough all your energy into those first 3 months, these are the months where that all important habit is formed. I’ve read about people writing times they want to beat on a post-it note and stick it near the rower and look at it for a year whilst training to achieve that ultimate goal of beating that time and they have succeeded! I too have a list of times I want to beat on the rower and my other toy the Skierg some I have achieved others are still a work in progress, but it's that hunger that the list gives me which is important. Having goals, targets whatever you want to call them will make you focus more and help towards achieving/fulfilling them.

So to conclude, get your goals clear in your head, employ a PT if you fear completing or starting the journey on your own, make sure they can motivate and inspire you to want to succeed. If your planning to form the habit on your own, make a list of what you want and look at it daily, make the goals achievable and once you’ve got them under your belt think of more, this will carry on motivating you to carry-on and help you to stay fit and healthy for longer giving you a much better, longer quality of life!