Tuesday, May 28th 2019- by Louise Green

5 ways You Can Learn to Love Exercise!

For some people, they inherently love the feeling of sweating, breathing heavily, the physical push and endorphin rush – they simply love to exercise. However, I want to open a dialogue for those people who don’t love exercise, in-fact they hate it. 

Over many years, I have worked with women of all shapes and sizes and turned even the most loathing exerciser into an exercise lover. 

The transformation from exercise loather to lover does take some work. It’s important to find out what physically and mentally motivates a person and to also identify past blocks and barriers that were creating negative thoughts around exercise. Motivation is a difficult task and we often throw it around lightly like, “I’m just not motivated” or “I hate exercise” but when I hear these statements I know there’s much more to the story that hasn’t been explored.

Here are some strategies I work on with clients:

Louise Green, trainer, author, advocate, athlete

Louise Green is a global plus-size fitness coach, fitness activist and author changing the narrative and idealistic standards of our fitness culture.

Her fitness career began in 2008 when she opened the first plus-size fitness franchise, Body Exchange.

As an influential change-maker, Louise has helped thousands of plus-size women find their inner-athlete and love their bodies.  Through speaking, writing and coaching women online she has lead the charge in creating a more inclusive fitness culture across the globe.

Smashing the barriers of mainstream fitness, Louise is the first plus-size athlete to be featured in elite publications such as: Triathlete Magazine, Bicycling Magazine, Canadian Running and Runner’s World UK.

Louise is the Author of Big Fit Girl and a Columnist at SELF Magazine

You would like to know her better?

https://www.louisegreen.ca/

https://www.facebook.com/louisegreen.bigfitgirl/

https://www.instagram.com/louisegreen_bigfitgirl/

1. Re-frame What Fitness Is to You

Maybe it’s time to re-think what fitness means to you? Our typical societal message surrounding fitness is pretty “hard-core”. Fitness messaging and imagery often displays ripped abs, bulging muscles and intense exercise. Just like our western culture’s idealist beauty standards, we also have preconceived fitness standards that lead people to believe that they need to fit inside a narrow-box. Fitness is simply movement and it can come in all kinds of varieties such as dance, garden work, walking, Pickle Ball and water aerobics, the possibilities are truly endless.

2. Pay Close Attention to What Excites You

Remember, you don’t have to fall into the trap of doing what is typical in fitness culture like going to the gym, running or CrossFit style workouts. Pay close attention to what excites you! When we associate a positive experience with fitness it will be more likely to stick. I am a triathlete and what I find myself most drawn to is the swim component. My body gets a great workout and there’s no impact like there is with running. I know for me, I will also look forward to the swim session the most. What do you look forward to?

3. Exploring Different Types of Movement

The best way to find your fitness “fit” is to explore a variety of activities until you find something you enjoy. Studies show that movement that has a social element to the activity tends to be more enjoyable and sustainable but that will depend on your motivational personality type. It’s important to honour all parts of you, what personality type you are, what motivates you. If you are an introvert, you might not enjoy a group fitness class. Soloist exercisers will typically be drawn to things they can do on their own at a time that works for them. It’s important to explore movement that fits your personality type. There’s no need to try to fit a square peg into a round hole!