Sometimes I'll get home from school and I just feel so drained. Most of my energy comes way too late. I always feel like excercising late at night, but that's not ideal. How do I motivate myself at the right time? I don't know exactly why I feel like doing it when I do. Any tips to push myself?
Haha, other than a personal trainer <--now that would be nice.
Last edited by wvcountrygirl; 01-26-2011 at 11:33 PM.
im like you im a night person . i always have loads of energy at night but its not exactly safe walking anywhere at 12 midnight.The key is just to get off your butt and do it. Sometimes i have to pep myself up to even walk out the door but after i get in the grove (20 min ) i find myself being excited and motivated to actually go another lap. Also its a good idea to have some fast music to listen to..
Im also an evening exerciser. i have a breastfeeding baby and demanding toddler to look after all day. ive tried exercising during the day but i only get about 5mins in before someone is wanting something.
Im just at stage where my 10week old little one is going to bed at 7pm, so i have an evening back! While id LOVE, nothing better than to sit down with a film and glass of wine at that point, i haul my *** of the sofa and start lifting some weights. I start off doing something really small, maybe a set of squats. Then i do another set. Then i say, well while ive got weights out i may aswell do some bicep curls etc. And i basically just keep going with, i can manage just one more exercise untill before i know it, ive gotten right into it, im enjoying it, and ive 30mins of weights! By this point im usually revved up enough to jump on elliptical and do 30mins cardio.
If youd asked me at 7pm, are you going to do an hours exercise? NOOOOOO WAY! im shattered! But i commited myself to 2 sets of squats and it just carried on from there.
Just DO IT! make a start! it gets easier from ther
The biggest single mistake people make about exercise is trying to make it "ideal"--they develop all these theories about time of day, type of exercise, eating before/after etc, etc. You say you want to start exercising and people plaster you with all this absolute advice: You must weight lift at 42.5 hour intervals! You must do cardio at X heart rate for Y minutes between these times! You must eat this before, drink this during, and do this after! All that stuff may make a difference, but it's a small difference. What makes a huge difference is not exercising at all.
The best way and time to exercise is the way you'll actually do. If that's a five hour long slow walk on Saturdays, do that. If it's 5 intense minutes 5 times a day, do that. Once you form habits and build endurance, you can tweak, but don't obsess about the "ideal" now. Just create any plan at all--however small, however weird--and stick to it.
Don't let yourself get ON the couch until you've exercised.
That's the only way I've been able to stick with regular exercise - I get home after a day at work all cranky and force myself to exercise, telling myself "if I work out I can just relax and veg the rest of the evening."
The biggest single mistake people make about exercise is trying to make it "ideal"--they develop all these theories about time of day, type of exercise, eating before/after etc, etc. You say you want to start exercising and people plaster you with all this absolute advice: You must weight lift at 42.5 hour intervals! You must do cardio at X heart rate for Y minutes between these times! You must eat this before, drink this during, and do this after! All that stuff may make a difference, but it's a small difference. What makes a huge difference is not exercising at all.
The best way and time to exercise is the way you'll actually do. If that's a five hour long slow walk on Saturdays, do that. If it's 5 intense minutes 5 times a day, do that. Once you form habits and build endurance, you can tweak, but don't obsess about the "ideal" now. Just create any plan at all--however small, however weird--and stick to it.
What I find is that I NEVER want to start exercise. So I have given myself permission to whine, moan, ***** and complain as I start my walk or pop in my tape. I move at the pace I want for the first 5 mins. But miraculously after moving for about 5 mins I start to feel better and get into it. The hard part of getting off the couch is standing up.
Think of the reward, the difference it will do. Do your exercise when it is convenient for you because it is a long term commitment and you are more likely to continue if you feel at your best when you do it. I prefer morning it works with my schedule, I get it done then I can concentrate on other tasks but I am self employed and it is easier for me to fix my schedule.
Don't let yourself get ON the couch until you've exercised.
That's the only way I've been able to stick with regular exercise - I get home after a day at work all cranky and force myself to exercise, telling myself "if I work out I can just relax and veg the rest of the evening."
Right! I have to exercise first thing in the morning before I have much chance to talk myself out of it. Whatever time you decide works for your schedule, just get it out of the way right then instead of sitting down for a bit and talking yourself right out of it!
Exercise when you WANT to. For real. I just started working out mornings in the last couple weeks only because Im too busy in my preferred times - the afternoon. 2ish pm. I just cant do it! Lol. To get myself pumped if I need it, I will put my ipod on while sitting on the couch and get my sports bra (Hah!) and shoes on then in like 3 minutes Im like BAM HERE I GO.
I mean you dont have to be as dorked out about it as I am but dang it sure helps.
Are you talking about just exercise? I ask because I am excellent at getting my exercise in every morning at 5:00 AM. Not a problem! But I still find myself sitting on the couch in the afternoon/evenings because it's my flipping routine. Since everyone else has spoken to the exercise portion, I'll speak to the lazy butt portion.
I need to take my own advice here, so I'll just lay that out there. I'm really bad about coming home and "relaxing for just a few minutes" with a favorite show. The problem is, one show turns to four and by then any energy I had is zapped. So I agree with Krampus and say, don't sit on that couch in the first place.
As soon as you get home, have a plan. Part of that plan may be slipping into workout clothes. You don't have to actually work out, but you're more likely to do so if you're already dressed for it. Tonight, I plan to go straight home and get into paint clothes and spend some time painting my dining room.
I need to plan active things, including cleaning, packing lunches, doing homework, etc. or I will just plop down on that blasted couch and not move. And nothing zaps my energy quicker.
It takes a lot for me to get motivated on the weekends, so I have to tell myself "this is only going to take 30 minutes out of my 24-hour day" and that helps to get me off the couch. Plus, I always feel better after I do it. When I sit there mindlessly watching a 30 minute show, I think "hmmm, I could have finished a workout in that amount of time that I just spent watching this..."
Find a variety of things you are capable of doing and do them. When and where you can.
I have dvds a good collection 7 plus 2 little cheapy ones(McDonalds cardio that came with salad long long ago and a stretch dvd that came with my fitness ball) and I have a variety so I don't get tired of the same old one. They go much fast when you don't do the same thing day in day out.
I liked what Shmead and Krampus said.
Start small feel free to quit when you feel like it. In no time you will work up to doing more and more. But tell yourself its just 10-15 minutes. 10-15 minutes is better than none. And you can do commercial breaks of push ups jumping jacks and other stuff like this. I'm getting an exercise bike from my friend. My brother and I plan to use it while we watch a 30-45 minute show. Just keep heart rate up and go at it. You may be able to find one cheap on Craigslist or post a wanted add on freecycle. That is something you can do WHILE you watch tv and just build up endurance to keep the heartrate up while you watch.
I have found Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred dvd to be quite motivational. She can be crazy and asks crazy things of you but its a great motivation to see my fitness improving. It makes me WANT to exercise(most days) and see how much better I am. It's a quick 20 minutes and very intense but works. Just alternating days and trying for cardio on weekdays in between I lost 2 lbs first week and 2.4 lbs second. I've worked up to being able to do many jumping jacks where when i started I couldn't make it through 30 seconds of them without feeling winded and ready to fall on the floor. And push ups was a joke before I started doing this dvd. Now I can do 10 girly ones. I was so out of shape I couldn't do more than 2 before.
How do you get off the couch?
I ask because I am excellent at getting my exercise in every morning at 5:00 AM. Not a problem! But I still find myself sitting on the couch in the afternoon/evenings because it's my flipping routine. Since everyone else has spoken to the exercise portion, I'll speak to the lazy butt portion. 
