In many of my moms groups I have seen someone post up “I am having a hard time getting rid of the baby weight, any suggestions?” and then 100 people comment with tips, suggestions, challenge groups, etc. Most of them try to sway the person to come join their group, or gym, or boot camp, whatever their preferred method of fitness is, and this isn’t a bad thing! The majority of fitness industry professionals are operating their solopreneur, small businesses and I can’t tell you how many times people say “Oh! I didn’t know this was here!” or “I didn’t even think to look up xyz fitness.”
The reason is that most people do not seek fitness out. In fact, statistics shows less than 10% of the population are actively fit, meaning that day in and day out, fitness is part of their regiment. That 10% seek out what they are looking for, the rest of the population doesn’t seek out anything until they are ready (fed up with weight gain, their back hurts, become motivated to get fit, etc.) and so the advertisements you might see or flyers that come in the mail are passed over by people because it simply isn’t on their radar… things that are on their radar? Pizza, dry cleaning, nail salon offers etc.
Here is what I know for sure, your fitness MUST fit you and your personality, your lifestyle, and meet you where you are at in your life. It can, and should, change throughout your journey. You may start something at the beginning of your fitness journey then you might change in the middle to try something new or to get better gains from the workout.
My suggestion is to consider the following 4 points:
1) Location: if you are just getting into fitness (especially if you are not particularly motivated) you want the fitness studio or boot camp you pick to be very closely located to your home or office. The more you eliminate opportunities to make excuses, the more successful you will be. No matter how “cool” it is, or how outstanding the instruction, when you are tired and unmotivated and it’s even 15 minutes out of your way, all of the sudden that 15 minutes gets turned into an hour, and then you think about how long it will be until you can go home and put your feet up, and it is so easy to just head home. If, however, your fitness studio or boot camp is literally on your way home, you have eliminated that as an excuse. In Orange County there are SOO many fitness options around that it won’t be hard to find one near you.
2) Personality: It doesn’t matter if your friend loves it, it doesn’t matter if your neighbor lost 20lbs doing it, your workout must fit you – your style and your personality. Do you love loud music? Do you love jumping and high impact workouts? Do you love things that are more dance oriented? Do you prefer yoga over sprinting? Answering all of these and finding something that resounds with you is another check mark in the staying motivated category.
3) Qualifications: There are literally dozens of challenge groups, free workout groups, and boot camps led by unqualified individuals who are selling a product… and there really is nothing wrong with this, until you get an injury or unless you have an injury. Go into these groups eyes wide open. Understand that nothing is free in life, and they most likely hold the group in order to also get you to purchase their product. If you are someone who already is interested in the group to begin with, then the free workout or challenge group is an awesome bonus! Just understand what it is you are getting, and gaining.
4) Change and challenge: It isn’t the be all, end all. Yes, workout xyz changed your life, yes Trainer “Joe” is the best and completely changed your life, but you need to try different things in order to continue to grow and change on your journey with fitness. You can love, honor, respect, and still participate in the workout or the training that you initially lost 40 lbs in (or whatever great change you made) while still continuing to participate in new things that might be your next challenge. For example, you might have started with studio xyz 5 times a week for the last two years, but maybe now you train there 3 times a week and somewhere else 2 times a week to keep that spark alive.
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