Dear Matt,

I’m horribly inconsistent with exercising and I hope you can help me. I do real well for a couple weeks. I get up early and walk-run for an hour, then when I get home I do Hindu pushups, Hindu squats, bridging, pull-ups and much more. Then I miss a day and there’s a great sense of letdown. It takes me a week to get over the guilt for missing a day, and this bugs me because I know I’ve lost ground. What can I do to improve upon this situation?

Bart

Dear Bart,

First, instead of feeling letdown, I suggest you letup.

Second, missing a workout is a way to gain ground without leaving the ground you’re on.

How so? Well, so many people have this ancient and erroneous notion that if they miss a day they are getting worse. Quite the contrary. Your brain and body love getting a break here and there, and after a rest you come back stronger.

Third, when you stop with the guilt trip over missing a day of exercise you can replace it with a joy ride to wherever you want, all from the comfort of your Lazy-Boy. Studies show that imagining you are exercising affects your muscles in much the same way as doing so physically.

As someone who worked out three times a day for many years, I was resistant to the idea of ever taking a day off, from anything.

‘riting, running, ruff n’ tumble, everything for me was everyday or not at all. Turns out that days off led me to greater strength, endurance, flexibility and productivity.

Fourth, from what you’ve written it appears that you make the non-classical mistake of STARTING BIG. This is the way to failure.

Start small. Much smaller than you think you should.

This approach activates the “no one can eat just one” reflex inside your brain/body after taking the “Betcha can’t eat just one” challenge issued, previously issued by Lay’s potato chips in 1963.

And guess what that “challenge” led to?

Junk food addicts.

Well, you may not see it now but you’ll see it when you do it. After doing just one Hindu squat or pushup – take a rest for a few seconds and feel the urge for another. Rest even though you don’t feel that you need it and I betcha that you’ll want more! I betcha don’t stop with just one.

Lastly, I suggest you eliminate the one-hour slog-jog and replace it with five minutes of super slow Warrior Walking – which you will crave.

Make your daily exercise habit easily reachable and it will become sustainable.

You’ll naturally want more than five minutes, but deny yourself until the itch to move takes over your mind and body – and you will feel compelled to do it.

When that happens, you’ll be wearing your new habit from head to toe.

Matt Furey

By the way, here are the links for Warrior Walking and Combat Conditioning.