How long did it take you to settle in to regular exercise?

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_L_A_
_L_A_ Posts: 170 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
When going from doing little or sporadic exercise to doing regular exercise or a fitness regime, how long was it before it felt second nature or just felt like your life style rather than something you forced yourself to do?

I've just started a new fitness regime after being very sporadic with exercise and it becoming less and less frequent over time, currently I'm still super excited and motivated about it, maybe at some point it'll start feeling like a chore I don't know, but I'm looking forwards to it being "just what I do", part of normal life, not giving a thought about doing and just doing it, not begrudging it (most of the time) etc etc
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Replies

  • delboy604
    delboy604 Posts: 116 Member
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    In my late teens and early 20's I used to run approx 5 mile four or five days a week. It just kind of progressed. I enjoyed coming home from work and going for a run. Now in my mid 30's , unfit and overweight. I'm gradually trying to begin walking again.! Hope your training goes well for you.
  • delboy604
    delboy604 Posts: 116 Member
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    I agree kathrynjean. I never really go by my weight. I tend to go by my clothes. Trousers to tight or not fit. Im just like saying to myself. Get a grip del this can't go on. Lol
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
    edited September 2016
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    I started out liking exercise so I didn't really have to settle in as far as that aspect goes. However, I did still have to make it a habit and reprioritize in order to fit it in. That did not take too long. Maybe a month or two to get into the swing of it. It's still a balancing act but is part of normal life rather than a new thing.
  • piperdown44
    piperdown44 Posts: 958 Member
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    Probably a few months for me.
    Now I get irritated if something bumps my workout schedule even a couple hours. I'm itching to get to the gym for my planned workout days.
  • jdhcm2006
    jdhcm2006 Posts: 2,254 Member
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    I decided to follow a program which helped me stay accountable. I started with T25 and that helped me to ease into working out regularly. It also helped ease me into being able to do Insanity, P90X3, Insanity Max 30, and spin. I no longer stick with those dvds regularly, but I will throw one in when I need a quick workout. I go in and out of bouts spin. Right now, I'm back into it.

    Then I found a workout that I really loved, which is pole. Even when I fell out of logging, I still stuck with pole. Pole led me to doing other aerial classes like silks and trapeze and I make sure that I'm able to do those workouts at least once a week.

    I would say it became a habit after a few weeks. I've finally have a good weekly routine that I find sustainable and enjoyable.
  • Shana67
    Shana67 Posts: 680 Member
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    I've been doing Jazzercise for 20 years now. It took a total of one class for me to be completely, totally, absolutely hooked.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
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    I had never exercised, I don't like to, so didn't give myself a time to settle in- I just committed to 3 evenings a week.

    That was in 2008 and I still do at least my 3x a week (with time off during the summer for heavy duty gardening/outdoor building projects).

    I don't think it will ever become something that is second nature to me, or excites me. I do however really love the real life benefits exercise gives me- so I will keep on doing it.

    Cheers, h.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,878 Member
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    I've pretty much always been active, active feels good ... I get cranky and restless doing little or sporadic exercise. :)
  • _L_A_
    _L_A_ Posts: 170 Member
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    Machka9 wrote: »
    I've pretty much always been active, active feels good ... I get cranky and restless doing little or sporadic exercise. :)

    This is my aim :) I have been feeling really miserable and down the last few weeks and the main change is since mid July I've stopped regular exercise... So if exercise improves my mood maybe it'll finally click!
  • ShibaEars
    ShibaEars Posts: 3,928 Member
    edited September 2016
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    Honestly? 5-6 years. I joined a gym when I was 20, would go regularly for a few months then quit for a few months. I did the on/off thing for several years until I found a trainer & training style I liked about 5 years ago. Now I workout at least 3x a week (with the occasional week off).

    ETA: Something that helped was when I stopped looking at exercise as a way to lose weight & also to "punish" myself for eating poorly. If you can find something that is fun to do, it makes it much easier to keep up with.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    I've always loved riding a bike.
  • JustaJoe00
    JustaJoe00 Posts: 777 Member
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    i think if you decide that its a permanent part of your life it helps a lot. If you think its just a thing for a while it will be hard to keep it going. 1.5 yrs ago i decided it needed to be permanent. I"ve only missed working out 1 week or 2 out of 18 mos...you do need breaks at times....but if you go 2weeks or more its really hard to get back to it.
  • janettles
    janettles Posts: 69 Member
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    I did a series of videos that came with a 12-week calendar of what to do when. By the end of the 12 weeks, exercising 6 days a week came naturally to me. Also, to prevent forgetting on busy days, I put a daily recurring exercise note into my calendar app -- it is a floating note so that if I don't exercise and check it as done, it floats to the next day and there will be 2 exercise notes for the same day.
  • canadianlbs
    canadianlbs Posts: 5,199 Member
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    i've never been able to normalize cardio when i was adding it on top of my regular life. those people who work a full day, come home and set their keys down while they change out of office clothes, and then go out and run . . . just thinking about having to live in their skins fills me up with despair.

    but bike commuting settles in and becomes just-what-i-do because i'm just doing something i already do: go to work and come home. all i did was modify how. i've stopped and re-started several times because i keep changing work locations, so from my experience around that: i set myself four weeks. that's about the work-in phase, where i may need to consciously make it non-optional. after that, it is usually just-the-way-that-i-roll, and i'm good.

    lifting is my form of 'come home, set the keys down, change shoes, head out.' i'll do that and be happy with it. when i started to lift 2+ years ago, the trainer was beaking at me the entire time about how you 'have to stick with it' and 'have to do it every few days' and 'you won't progress if you quit' and so forth. clearly didn't think i'd ever do any such thing.

    but lifting just works, for whatever reason. i LIKE it. so really no credit to me on that one.
  • peaceout_aly
    peaceout_aly Posts: 2,018 Member
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    I was on-and-off the fitness wagon for quite a while, always watching what I ate but only consistently working out for 4-6 months when an event was coming up. This time around something was different. After a month of staying extremely dedicated (5-6 sessions x week versus a previous 2-3 sessions consisting mainly of cardio) I could see extreme progress and improvement within my body and strength gained. That was the motivation I needed. It became a constant competition with myself to beat previous lifting records, to do a little more, to go a little harder. Gotta be in that mindset though.
  • BeckyD1105
    BeckyD1105 Posts: 444 Member
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    I struggled with this for years and years. I couldn't stick it to because I was too tired, it was too late, it was too early, etc., etc. Once I found something that I really loved to do (that for me was group classes), I was going regularly. Once I started going regularly I built up a group of friends in those classes. Now I don't care how tired I am, if it's x time that's gym time.
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
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    I would think a month or two. I started with a trainer and saw him once a week, but he knew if I was there other times. After about 3-4 months, I would start getting restless if I missed more than one day in a row. I am 7 years into a very consistent workout routine, generally I still look forward to it, but occasionally I have periods of time where I don't want to go, but I do it anyway because I know I will feel better and it is a habit.
  • Lesley2603
    Lesley2603 Posts: 119 Member
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    Funnily enough I was talking with my trainer about this today, I started training in October last year at 57 years old. Had never in my life been to a gym prior to then, and was absolutely terrified, I started off training twice a week, I signed up for a course of 10 sessions. When the 10 sessions were over I reluctantly signed up for another 10 sessions, I wasn't really enjoying training but the results were good, about halfway through the second set of sessions I started to enjoy them, by the end of 20 sessions I was hooked
  • norie92
    norie92 Posts: 115 Member
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    As a child I was put onto soccer teams at the local park. That stopped the beginning of high school and I took a break from physical activity. Then I did Insanity, which was awesome. Now I do videos, or I go to the gym and do a routine I randomly came up with and one I enjoy. No boring treadmill or stair stepper, if I'm having fun then it's easy for me to stay on a routine.

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