Planning your fall/winter exercise routine

As the temperature slowly begins to drop and the leaves start to change colour, it is important to lay out a proper exercise plan for the fall and winter months ahead. Flex Fitness personal trainer, Alistair Hopper, has written a detailed list of things to help ensure your plan will succeed. Keep in mind even the best thought out plans only succeed through consistency and commitment to the long term goals. Here is a list that you may be doing some of it already but are needing a few more ideas to help push you over the line.

1- Be SMART and use this acronym to help lay out your primary long term and short term goals. Your goals must be Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic and have a Time frame. This will make the process of choosing your goals a lot more clear and reduce time spent on unrealistic goals. When choosing a time frame, think of your goals as long term (6 to 12 months) and then derive short term goals of 2-3 months and 2-3 weeks from the start of your program.

2- Remember that you will have days that you feel tired or miss a workout, meal prep etc but don’t fall off your program. Have a short term memory when these bumps arise and then ensure the next day is a good one. The small goals take care of the big ones, so don’t get discouraged. Be sure to not allow that one bad day roll into a bad week, month, year and so on.

3- Tell a few friends or family members of your goals so that they can be someone to either hold you accountable or perhaps join you to motivate each other. Exercise is great for the body but the social aspect of it can sometimes be lost in the conversation. Plan outings and social engagements around your exercise of choice.

4- Prepare your exercise clothing, shoes, water bottle, ear phones etc ahead of time or the day before. This will help motivate you and not allow you to use the excuse of “I didn’t have time to get ready”. Feeling comfortable and happy in the exercise outfit, shoes and having music you enjoy will push you to achieve a great workout.

For more great tips like this contact us today to book a consultation.