Regular exercise

Hello Everyone!

Hope everyone's drinking more water now after reading my first blog post. Today I thought I'd outline how I stick to my exercises and get motivated each day. Everyone struggles to get motivated, especially when the weather’s dull, and I have to use a mag trainer, rather than actually ride my bike outside.

If I zoom back about 18 months I remember finding it quite hard to do my exercises each day, this was mainly because I couldn't think of what to do. At one point I was getting my mates out each day to play tennis, and I thought this would be enough exercise. However I soon learnt that it is important to work all areas of your body. This is because muscles need adequate time to recover and if you're always working the same muscles then they have no time to recover!  

My friend Rob and I developed a fitness planner together ...

The fitness planner really did help me get into exercise and I still use it 18 months on. However I suggest if you are not already exercising regularly that you build yourself up slowly perhaps three days a week and work yourself up to five days a week. Not only is this more safe and effective but it also helps your mind settle in to it gradually.

Right, so my exercise life. I'll make a fitness plan on the planner each Sunday evening. I will then use this every night during weekdays. Then, as I work Saturdays and Sundays, I don't have to worry about exercising over the weekend. In addition to that I'll often go for a few extra runs and go on a couple of cycles either on the mountain bike or on the road bike, depending on the weather. It all probably sounds a bit tough if you're starting from scratch, as it did for me, but now I treat exercise as my hobby and I love it.

Okay so some days I do find it a bit tough to get my shorts on and slip the running trainers on after a long day at school. But there are loads of things that I think about which get me motivated. I often set myself goals; my latest goal is to complete a London to West Sussex cycle ride (65 miles) in aid of Patricks Kidney Van (www.patrickskidneyvan.co.uk), so I often think if I'm not fit for it I'll struggle or won't be able to complete the ride.

Without setting a goal it's hard to score.

For some reason I absolutely love quotes and my mind is full of them. There is something that I can't explain about a quote that makes me wanted to get up and do my exercises. Michael Jordan, the famous basketball player, said many inspirational things, my current favourite is:

If you quit once it becomes a habit. Never Quit.

Now that quote just wants me to prove to everyone that I'm not a quitter, and he's right: If you say you'll leave your exercises till tomorrow and you'll do double the amount tomorrow, you’ll make a habit of it and, before you know it, you're saying it every other day. So just never quit.

Believe me, when you get into exercising you get into it for life, and you'll always be concerned about your health and fitness. As they say, 'use it or lose it'. If you don't use your body then you’re surely going to lose it.