Be Consistent Even When It’s Tough Women Over 50

 In this Video...
A quick moment of wisdom from Coach Sheree, who reminds us all to be consistent even when it's tough, and that it matters more than perfection. Whether you're at home or out on a walk, just keep going. Especially as women over 50, it's not about all-or-nothing. It's about doing what you can, when you can - and trusting it all adds up.

Motivation |  Mindset  |  2 Minutes

Be Consistent Even When It's Tough: Readable Version

The Common Struggle to Maintain a Fitness Routine

Are you somebody that struggles to just maintain a fitness routine? Well, talking to my clients this morning, I am a trainer, train older adults, kind of from fifties on, every day. Mostly it's women, but sometimes it's men. And we're having a talk today about how many things there were to be done at home.

They had vacuum clean, things to tick off their list, to-do list is sometimes oh so long. And they were all just saying how hard it was to come along this morning, particularly. I think the sun was shining, and they would have liked to have been out in the sunshine, but also ticking off things on their bucket list.

And then we all talked about how important it was to stick to a routine. I mean, say for example, our diet. If we just stuck to say chocolate and sugar every day, how long would that take before we felt really crappy, probably gonna get diabetes, there's a number of things that would go on.

Our body wouldn't be functioning well on that. And we look at strength training the same way. So we're all just having a chat about, it's hard to get there, but when you get started, probably those first 10 minutes is probably the most important, because by that time the endorphins are released, and you're feeling so good, you're feeling amazing.

And so they're just saying too, at the very end, how good you feel, and how they wouldn't not do it now that they know how wonderful it feels to do strength training. So they have locked it in, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, every week in between, they do other things like walking their dogs and things like that. But they're just talking about how wonderful it is, because they get to come, get their body strong, and then they feel amazing at the end.

The Power of the First 10 Minutes

I remember a little while back, my husband was saying to me, I was feeling really down because as a strength trainer, we can spend so much time training clients that we lose out on ourselves. We actually start to get unfit, our bodies don't function as well as what they used to, and so it can be hard sometimes. And he was saying to me that day, he said, just go, start doing something for 10 minutes, just tell yourself 10 minutes, and that's it.

Because I was just feeling low, and I just didn't really feel like I wanted to train like for a whole three quarters of an hour or an hour. So he said just do 10 minutes, and it's amazing. If you just tell your brain 10 minutes, then by that time you've got the endorphins released, and you're feeling amazing, you just feel so good that you wanna keep going, and you do.

So you generally do, you're not gonna stop at 10 minutes if you're feeling fantastic.

Accountability and Planning for Success

So I just want to encourage those of you who are at home, and you think, oh, I'm one of those, I just can't lock things in. Lock it in, put it in your diary, it's a non-negotiable then.

You do it, hey, if you know that you're slacking out, then make time with a friend, get a friend and go, we too will do this together. So every week on this day, I'll meet you at this time, and we'll do a workout together, we'll go walking together, or we'll do a strength training together. Whatever it is, lock it in time, no coughing out, particularly if you know someone's relying on you, it just makes it so much better.

Making Strength Training Non-Negotiable

One of my clients, we were going to work out that she's gonna start walking her dog a couple of times a week in between strength training, she's gonna do some walking of her dog, it will do her the world of good. And I asked her today how she was going, she said, oh, no, I've been really slack, she's planning to go in the evening after dinner, she's gonna take her dogs for a walk. I said, well, go down with her, and I said, okay, what would make it work? She said, if I went walking in the morning, perfect, and I'll do it on this day and this day.

So we locked it in, I'm gonna hold her accountable to that. So even if you can't train with a friend, you get your friend to hold you accountable, get your partner, someone to hold you accountable, and lock it in, not non-negotiable, that should be your non-negotiable. Could be diet, it could be the fact you buy chocolate every day, and you don't wanna be doing chocolate every day, so you know what? Get somebody that can work alongside you and check in on you and go, how'd you go today? And don't just rely on willpower, but have something really nice in the fridge that's a real treat that's not chocolate.

Locking in Your Goals

So it's not so hard, we just have to be organised, and we have to make being strong, being fit and healthy, a non-negotiable. It's just something that we do, we do it on those days, every week, at this time, that's just what you do. I'll tell you, your body will adapt to it, it will give you the best body you can imagine on the face of this earth, if you can commit yourself to working on your body, because your body, you deserve a good body, we all do, we only get one body in this lifetime.

So let's work on it, make it work for us, and I'll tell you, it'll pay us back in such rewards when we feel great, our blood work is good, and we're ageing well. So I would challenge you today, see what you can do for this week, at strength training at least two times a week, if not three, and go on a couple of long, hard walks, make those walks harder where you hold something or put a backpack on. Enjoy, and let me know how you're going, I'd love to hear.