Welcome to afitnewyou! Today I want to help you get your workout started, because starting out is usually the hardest thing to do. For the majority of people, Monday is the start of the work week, with Saturday and Sunday being the weekend, and is usually when we say our training schedules start. Although we should be active every single day, its Monday when we try to get ourselves going. Even from the religious perspective, God rested on the 7th day, which we observe on Sunday. Unlike Him, I'm usually too busy on Sundays to rest, catching up with all that needs to be done around the house, so even I start my training week on a Monday. But even though this is the day that most people plan on starting their routines, its often one of the hardest to get to the gym. There are plenty of posters and memes, that emphasize how much we all sarcastically love Monday mornings when we have to get "back to the grind." So after struggling in the morning, and then getting through the day, getting the extra energy to be physically active is often tough to do. A way to help your overcome the doldrum of a Monday is to plan on doing something you really want to do. Being excited about what you plan on doing is the greatest way to ensure you actually do it!
A former employer of mine often used the phrase "You want to finish how you want to start." What he meant by this was that even if you started off the year on the wrong foot, as long as you finished strong, you would start the next year strong. And I agree with this for a number reasons. For one, its how we finish that is the most important. If you are weak or out of shape now, you want to get to the point, finish, where you are stronger and in better health. It is said it is never to late to start, but with our health, being active usually is end goal orientated. We start exercise routines to get into shape. So finishing strong is important. But without being contradictory, it is just as important to start strong, because you need to start to get you going.
One way to start strong when you otherwise would be dragging is to do something you really enjoy. I often joke that Mondays in most gyms are "International Chest Day" because so many people are hitting the bench press. Why? Because so many people prefer to do chest and biceps exercises because not only are they less demanding than leg exercises, but they also hit the areas of our bodies that are often most noticeable. While I used to use that moniker for Mondays at the gym as a bit of a diss, I could also recognize that the gym was often most crowded at that time. There are a few reasons for that, but I would argue one is that there are more people there because they are there to do the exercises that they most enjoy. If you are having a hard time getting started with your weekly routing, choose exercises that you most enjoy. Picking things that you enjoy doing will ensure that you actually do them.
On the other hand, another way to start strong is to get the parts of your routine that you most dread out of the way. Hitting the dreaded "leg day" on a Monday might not sound like the most enticing way to start your week, but if you get it done and out of the way, it will make getting to the gym later in the week easier to do. Furthermore, hitting your legs on a Monday is also preferable because, as I already mentioned, Monday is International Chest Day anyway, so the squat racks should be free. Sometimes it is easiest to finish strong by getting what you desire least out of the way first.
No matter which mindset works for you, doing what you find easiest first, or doing what you dread the most first, starting the week of strong is extremely important. While putting in the time at the gym is all about the ultimate payoff, we only get there once the ball gets rolling. Its simple physics to understand that the ball wont get rolling until we push it, but once it gets going it will be much easier to keep it going. So no matter what day your training routine starts, think about which tact you will take to get you going. Whether you do what you enjoy the most, or what you find the hardest to do, just starting strong is what will let you finish strong. Starting strong is a motivational way to finish at a fit new you!
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