Hey... that worked...

[johnpalmer]

In the beginning of this year, I decided I would work out in the morning. I had to at least *try*.

And it failed. Miserably. Because I hated it.

But then I learned two things.

1) you don't have to do each exercise to the point of failure. You can exercise to, say, half your maximum, and do sets. Maybe going to failure strengthens you more, but the 18 pushups you do four or five (or even six!) times over the course of your workout are better than the 36 you don't do because you hate how you feel once you hit pushup number 30.

2) you don't have to do a full workout. Today, I did ten minutes. I normally try to exercise for a minimum of 20 minutes (I stop my stopwatch each time I take a break), and I felt good afterward. (And it's not like I can't do a full 20 minute workout tonight.)

I might keep trying to stick to this, with only gentle nudges to increase the time.

Comments

[mama-hogswatch.livejournal.com]

Well, there's a reason bodybuilders lift weights in sets rather than a superset most of the time!

Also, doing a little bit goes a long way, especially towards habit establishment. At least for awhile. If you're anything like me, you go hard and quit several times over the course of a decade.

I do notice though, that what I can do still gradually increases, even with the fits and starts.