A couple of summers ago I wrote a blog post about the challenge of building and maintaining good habits. The habit I wanted to (re)build was weight training. After moving to a new house and the resulting disruption of my daily habits and routines, I was having trouble resuming my (pitifully limited) weight training practice.
I wrote about how I was using James Clear’s principles to get myself back on track. In his book Atomic Habits, Clear synthesizes the research about habit formation. He says that to build a good habit, you should make it obvious, attractive, easy, and satisfying. I moved my free weights to my bedroom, listened to podcasts while lifting, and made a plan to lift every other day while I allowed my freshly shampooed hair to air dry a bit before blow drying.
It should have worked. Except it mostly didn’t. I’m notorious for trying to pack too much into my days, and I usually didn’t allow enough time to squeeze a bit of weightlifting into my routine. Not only did I skip the lifting on most of the designated days, but my paltry 10 minutes of weightlifting three times a week were not building my strength, balance, and flexibility in the ways I needed as I moved into my sixties.
I realized that I needed to do more. But what? I’ve always hated gyms: the odor of sweat and rubber, the grunts of the serious power lifters, and the repeated clanking of the machines and weights. Ugh! Plus the whole process of taking myself through a work-out bored me. I avoid boredom almost as assiduously as a fire ant mound.
And I am also notoriously cheap, so I sure didn’t want to pay a trainer to do something I could do for myself.
Except that I wasn’t doing it for myself. I realized that in spite of clipping dozens of magazine fitness articles which outlined workout routines with “guaranteed results,” I really didn’t have a clue how to build an effective workout program. I had watched my husband make huge health gains from years of regular work with a trainer.
In December, I mentioned to my husband that I was thinking that maybe, just maybe, I ought to explore working with an athletic trainer. Chuck wasted no time. He came home from his own workout the next day and said, “Justin will be here to workout with you at 10 am next Tuesday.”
Gulp. Now I was committed. But sure enough, Justin Rollins of All Elite Training came to my house. We worked out in the driveway using free weights, stretch bands, and balancing exercises. He kicked my rear end with that workout, but he was also careful to ease me into the work. I quickly realized that I needed a trainer—not just as an accountability partner but also as an expert who knows how to design a balanced workout program to build my strength, flexibility, and balance. He is careful to keep me from hurting myself. I also found out that exercise is a lot less boring if you have someone to talk with while you do it. So I signed up for regular workouts. And for his weekly fitness class. I even joined the gym. Little by little, I’m becoming more fit.
My takeaway: sometimes you just have to invest in yourself—in your health and well-being. It’s the same advice I give my clients: sometimes you just need a coach or a teacher or a trainer.
How about you? What kind of trained partner do you need to help you achieve one of your goals?