Women, Weights, and Wellbeing

Ok ladies, this one’s for you.  As women, I know you are busy with laundry, kids, your professional career, schedules, dinners, meal planning, shopping, getting kids ready, driving and carpooling, tidying the house (should I continue?), etc.  

I offer personal training in Schaumburg, IL at a private studio called Muscle Activation Schaumburg.  I see this “lady dilemma” all the time. I am hoping this quick read helps you out!

I have put together 3 quick tips to help you get on top of your exercise.  Yep, I said it, EXERCISE.  It’s the thing we all know we must do, but it always comes last on the long list of to-do’s.  Well, let’s break it down.

There are 3 important pieces to the process of exercise when you are a woman:

1. Define your time
2. Stick with it
3. Reevaluate

Let’s go deeper:

1. First things first: Define your time.  Your exercise MUST be scheduled.  Scheduling your exercise means looking at your schedule, coordinating with your spouse, etc, and WRITING it on the schedule!  This must be done.  As women, so many people in our lives rely on us to be ready for anything and everything.  We absolutely NEED to be taking care of our bodies!   I am a personal trainer in Schaumburg and I see how lifestyle habits can affect women.  Essentially, two things happen: 1) The woman takes care of her body and improves function or maintains function or 2) the woman is not actively putting in healthy lifestyle habits and is on a steady decline when it comes to function.  Let me tell you, it is an emotional experience sitting across from a mother or a grandmother explaining to me how she cannot lift up her baby without back pain, or cannot run with her toddler, or cannot throw a baseball with her son. Tip # 1: Schedule your exercise.
2. Stick with it.  As a personal trainer, I see a problem in this category all the time.  Clients get excited about something new and try it.  That is the good part.  The bad part is that plans change in 1-2 weeks.  This is NOT enough time to see progress with any kind of newly implemented change!  When you set out on a new mission, especially with exercise, stick with it for at least 8-12 weeks.  This will give you leverage on understanding what worked and what did not work.  This information is important.  As women, we like to know we are doing something right and we are also generally perfectionists.  Trust me on this, don’t try something for 1 or 2 weeks and make a judgement.
3. After 8-12 weeks, reevaluate.  This is the time to reflect on what you have done for the past weeks.  Do not change anything until you have reached 8-12 weeks.  Here is an example:  I recently had a client that was modifying her cardio plan.  She tried the change for 1 week and decided it didn’t get her the goals she had wanted.  HOLD ON!  Change takes times, 1 week is NOT enough time to make a judgement on what works and what doesn’t.  Stick with it for 8-12 weeks!

Let’s put this together and recap: (I will be using an example, not specific to one particular goal)

1. Define your time. Example: Exercise 3 days per week.  30 minutes each time.  2 days of cardio (treadmill walking), 1 day of weight training (total body).  Write this in your schedule, tell spouse when these times are.
2. Stick with it.  Do the SAME exercise routine for 8-12 weeks.  Keep putting it on the schedule.
3. Reevaluate.  End of week 12, did I achieve what I wanted?  What is the smallest way I can change my exercise plan to skew it to help me with my goals?

Ladies, remember these things as you keep going on your busy schedule.  Your body needs you to take care of it on a consistent schedule.  You cannot pour from an empty cup.  Take care of yourself first.  When in need of some inspiration or change in thought process, don’t hesitate to check out my website, Facebook, or Instagram account.

– Julie

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