I recently wrote about the connection between physical and spiritual strength and what spiritual disciplines I practice regularly. I also wanted to share how I managed to get myself into an exercise routine, in case anyone needs encouragement to start.
When I started this journey in September 2024, I was doing very little physical activity. Our family regularly went on walks and hikes, and I occasionally tricked myself into doing some kind of exercise video on YouTube, but I was certainly not in a daily or even weekly pattern of moving my body.
I finally decided to do something about it. Here is how it went:
Setting Up for Success
For an exercise routine to stick, I had to build a solid foundation first with three things:
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I started this new routine on a school break (my oldest was in kindergarten at the time). I wanted to see how much time it took me to add something to my morning routine when there wasn’t the pressure of getting to school on time.
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I stopped pressing snooze. My husband and I are early risers, but I had gotten myself in the habit of pressing snooze for an hour, which meant rushing to finish my quiet time because I didn’t get up in time. My quiet time is nonnegotiable, so in order to add in exercise, I needed to get up at a time where I would be able to do it all before needing to wake my kids.
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I started sleeping in my exercise clothes. It was the silliest part of this process, but I was not kidding about my disdain for exercise. Having to go to the effort of changing my clothes in the morning, after not pressing snooze, would have been an excuse not to do it. I needed to be able to get out of bed, put on my shoes, and go straight to exercising.
Deciding What to Do (And What Not to Do)
As with sleeping in my clothes, another barrier I had to remove was the expectation that I had to do a certain kind of exercise. I adopted the mantra “something is better than nothing” and chose to exercise however I felt like exercising (or, more accurately, which exercise I could push through without quitting 10 minutes in.) At the beginning, this looked like doing a lot of walking exercise videos.
I did not even think about joining a gym. There are a few reasons for this. First, if I had to go to the effort of leaving my house to exercise, I simply would not exercise. (Let the reader understand: I love to be lazy.) I also didn’t want to invest the extra time involved in getting to/from a gym, even if it were close. Second, I dislike paying money for something I can easily access for free, like YouTube videos I can do from my home (I actually have access to a fitness center for free at the seminary where I work, but see reason #1 as to why I don’t use it). Third, I dislike using exercise machines, like a treadmill or eliptical. I find them super boring. So, a gym membership is a waste for me. (The one exception is that I do use a hotel gym if I’m traveling.)
Additionally, paying money for something that has not yet become a habit (particularly when you really don’t want to do that habit), is a waste of money. I learned this the hard way when the idealist in me purchased a set of dumbbells years ago, before I had a true exercise habit…and then rarely used them. Fortunately, those dumbbells came in handy as I solidified the habit (more on that later).
I set a goal to exercise thirty minutes per day, five times per week. As the days passed, I began to create playlists of exercise videos that I enjoyed or videos I wanted to try. If I found I didn’t enjoy one, I would switch to one I did enjoy. On “rest” days or sick days, because I was trying to build in a habit of moving my body, I would do light stretches or walking for ten or fifteen minutes. Because I was trying to build a habit, moving in some way every day was nonnegotiable, even while sick or traveling. (I have somehow avoided sickness that would completely prohibit me from exercising.)
In summary, I set the bar very low for myself as far as the type of exercise and I set the bar high for consistency. I tried to make entry into this new habit as seamless as possible with the intent to see where it took me. I set my sights only on habit formation, not weight loss, strength gains, or doing anything beyond just moving for thirty minutes per day. And it paid off.
Progress
Two years ago, I could never have predicted how far I’d come on this little habit of exercise. As movement became more of a habit, I grew to enjoy exercising and the way I felt both physically and emotionally once it became a regular part of my routine. I experienced gratitude as I realized what a privilege it is to be able to move. And I became curious at what I could do.
As exercise became habitual, I learned that I could do harder things. I began researching what women my age should do to protect (to the best of their ability) their longterm health, and started exercising more intentionally. I even started eating better because I was motivated to fuel my body in a way that would make exercise both easier and more effective.
These days, I don’t have to sleep in my exercise clothes anymore. I exercise with more purpose than before, but still give myself the freedom to do what I feel like doing. Where my weeks used to be filled with walking exercises, now they’re filled with strength training and cardio that I could have never dreamed of doing two years ago. I began using that dumbbell set I had purchased years ago, and then invested in heavier weights because I outgrew the ones I was using. I could spend that money with integrity because I had already built the habit. I take true rest days and if I’m sick or injured my back doing a squat (true story), I go back to those walking exercises that helped me build the habit in the first place. The habit is solidified enough now that a temporary deviation is not going to derail me.
I’m no CrossFit trainer, and I don’t look noticably different than I did before. But I only compare myself now to my previous self. My current self is stronger and healthier than I’ve been in at least a decade. It’s not a linear process; some days I feel super strong and other days I barely get by, even two years in. What matters is that the habit is there, and I can see the progress.
If you’re thinking about trying to exercise regularly, I hope this is an encouragement to you. Start small. Remove the barriers. Lower your expectations. And get curious about what your body can do.
If you need a place to start, here is a list of the channels I follow and have used regularly over the last two years. The first three are better for beginning/cardio workouts. The bottom three are more focused on strength training (but also have some cardio, too).
- Get Fit with Rick (my OG walking workouts)
- Walk at Home
- Team Body Project (YouTube and Website; both have free workouts, but you do have to create a free account on the website to use the videos there.)
- Nourish Move Love (YouTube and Website; I’m currently doing the Max 20 program.)
- fitbymik
- Juice & Toya
Photo by Samantha Gades on Unsplash
