The three R's to help you
stick to your fitness program - Rules, Ritual and Routine
There’s no need to struggle in keeping up a new fitness
program. The biggest hurdle was starting (see one of my earlier blog posts on goal setting) so here’s some tips to help you keep
going:
RULES
Give yourself a rule, something you must do no matter what. What Bevan
James Eyles calls black and white rules: no
excuses. For example, I have 2 rules.
Rule 1 - Drink 2 litres of water every day
Rule 2 – I can drink alcohol only after I’ve drunk 2 litres
of water
One rule is enough. The rule relates to your heatlh and
fitness goals. If you’re quitting smoking then the rule would be to engage in a healthy activity (like taking 10 deep breaths or going for a 10 minute walk) every time you felt like lighting up. If your goal is to manage your weight then your rule would be to record everything you eat and drink in a food diary. If your
goal is to run a marathon then your rulewould be to run every day.
RITUAL
Ritual is where you exercise some self discipline. Something you do regularly and at the same
time. Something that relates to your health and fitness goals.
For example, my ritual is to stretch every morning, what Kit
Laughlin taught
me as the Daily Six (many years ago). I’m quite lazy when it comes to
flexibility, which I need to improve for running, swimming and power lifts, so
this ritual works great for me.
Your ritual will be something that you want to become
routine.
Maybe you’ve heard the saying ‘practice makes perfect’ or even
of Malcolm Gladwell’s 10,000 Hour Rule?
Repeating an action instils it in you; repeat something often enough it becomes
routine.
ROUTINE
A routine is simply something you do, like brushing your
teeth or washing your hands. Again, it should relate to your health and fitness
goals.
My routine is to get up every morning at 5.30am. I had to
train for this: The initial RULE was to get up out of bed at 5.30am no matter
what (I could always go back to bed if I was overly tired or sick) then; I made
it a RITUAL to bounce (be exuberant, like Tigger in Winnie the Pooh) out of bed at 5.30am every morning; so now
it’s normal to get up at 5.30am every morning (and be in bed by 9.00pm every
night).
Your routine might be to eat breakfast every morning, or go for
a morning walk, or to take a half hour lunch break away from your work place,
you get the idea.
Next blog post: The
half way point for your New Year’s Resolution
