FEELING GREAT: Your reason for staying active has to be one that motivates

I imagine that a lot of you reading this will be thinking of a New Year resolution or two.

Well, how about this for starters? This is a question from one of my patients (aged 59) in the Paul Gough Physio Rooms.

L ast week he said: “Paul, I often find myself starting, and then stopping, just about every exercise kick I’ve ever been on.

“The worst thing is that I don’t even realise I’ve stopped exercising (usually just going out for a nightly walk with my other half) until weeks later and then I find it difficult to get it going again. How do I find the motivation to keep active on a daily basis?”

Well why not make it your 2024 resolution to actually stick with exercise?

Firstly you’ve got to know the reason why you’re exercising in the first place. Ask what is it that you’re actually hoping to avoid by doing the exercise?

Is it to avoid always feeling stiff each day?

To avoid infection, or lower the risk of heart and lung disease that are both more likely to happen to you if you don’t keep active or do some form of exercise?

Either way, you need to find something that really will motivate you enough to keep you from spending too much time on the couch, in bed, or inside your home.

I understand that your reasons for wanting to exercise daily may be non-health-related, such as maintaining independence or self-determination, meaning you can still do things and go places for years.

And the important thing to remember is that whatever your reason for wanting to keep active, it has to motivate you.

Think what life would be like if you didn’t exercise by choice, as opposed to not exercising because you can’t – for example a knee problem or chronic lower back pain.

Whatever it is, paint a bleak enough picture of a life without exercise so that you don’t succumb to the temptation of spending day after day sitting on a couch. It has to motivate you enough to take action, however bad the weather is.