Exercise: The Ultimate 'Me Time'

Top personal trainer Genefer Archer explains why training should be a treat, not a chore.

I love the idea of seeing your training or sport as a ‘treat’; something you are giving yourself with none of the bad side effects of a chocolate bar or a pint.

If we reset our attitude to exercise to see it as your ‘time-out’ time in the day, it takes on a whole new level of satisfaction.

I struggle with this myself sometimes – getting up in the morning and thinking ‘Christ, I’ve got to do a run/bike/swim or weights session today, when am I going to fit it in?’. However, if I can see my hour bike in Richmond park as a moment of pure selfishness where I only have to be concerned about myself, my thought pattern becomes more like ‘when am I going to fit real life around my training?’

Exercise shouldn’t be a chore, it should be a pleasure (albeit a slightly painful one when a hard session kicks in) and it’s as addictive as the all the other pleasures we love. It simply takes a change in the way you think about it.

So here are my top five suggestions to reset your thinking and make your training the ultimate in ‘me’ time:

Radio Silence
Leave your phone behind. Make your workout the (probably only) time in the day when you aren’t contactable by email, text, calls or tweets. Indulge in being offline!

Mix It
Keep things interesting by regularly doing at least three different types of training. Doesn’t matter what; boxing, yoga, a dance class, weight lifting, running, cycling, or whatever floats your boat. Get a friend involved to make is social too. You’ll also reap the benefits of less injuries and better results.

Eyes on the Prize
Write down your reasons why you want to workout. Then have these to hand to read before you set off for the sweat session. This will help you remember that you're doing something for yourself and investing in making your goals happen.

Mental Downtime
For people with stressful lives exercising can offer a welcome opportunity to turn off the brain for a while. So grab a magazine or your iPod and enjoy letting your mind rest while your body gets busy.

Always Enjoy
Don’t force yourself to spend hours doing things you don’t like, because they are ‘good for you’. You’ll only end up resenting them. Choose activities you enjoy, buy kit you feel good wearing, joining a gym you enjoy being at, or stump up for a fun (hot!) trainer to make the hour go from awful too awesome!

By Genefer Archer

Gen is an MSc exercise scientist and personal trainer with The Body Professionals, based in SW London.  She tries to mix what the top geeks in sports science think with her own experience. www.geneferarcher.co.uk

Share your thoughts or leave a question for Genefer via the comments box below.