A comfort zone is a beautiful place, but nothing ever grows there.
lovesweatfitness.com
Lockdown, the sequel: It’s colder, darker, rainier, windier. There’s fewer restrictions but there’s also less sunshine and motivation to get outdoors. The instagram “Don’t worry you can work out from home!” brigade is wearing thin. You’ve done all the workout DVDs, PE with Joe is not a novelty any more and it’s a struggle to simply get out of bed in the morning, knowing you’re only going to work in your sweatpants, let alone having the energy to get up head into the dreary outdoors for some form of cold sweat.
Sound familiar?
Me too. The whole home workout thing was fun for about 3 weeks. Now it’s really hard to pluck up the motivation to do it properly and not get distracted by the new series of The Crown…(WHICH by the way, nobody told me had been released and so I could totally have binge watched that whole thing this weekend?! Missed opportunity…) In fact, when I asked my Champions Under Construction Facebook community what their biggest challenges were right now, there was one that really struck a chord with me…
This came up alongside “Trying to warm up…just rode 1.5 hours through a rain storm” and plenty of angsty comments about the gyms being shut again.
Let’s start with the VENTING…
The first thing to address is how everyone’s feeling right now. Back in the summer, we felt like lockdown was a pain, but it wasn’t so bad knowing we could get outside and soak up some feel good vitamin D (SPF coated of course!!). When the pools and leisure facilities opened in some kind of weird post-Covid way, it was okay. We were back to being able to take classes, see our friends and start pumping out some more endorphins again. But now the gyms have shut AND the sunshine has disappeared, we’ve had a double whammy loss of happy hormones. A lot of us are feeling down in the dumps and that’s when the comfort eating and the despair sets in. What’s the point? Christmas is going to be ruined anyway. What have I got to stay in shape for? And next month is mince pies, advent calendars, Christmas puddings and general lard-filled foods, so why on EARTH would I bother trying to get fit and healthy right now?
You know why. Because chowing down on pies and chocolate for the next 2 months is going to make January outlandishly depressing and it’s going to be so much harder to shift all the excess chub then. Plus, we all know that eating good food, watching our portions and steering clear of alcohol makes us FEEL better. Essentially, we’re eating and working out to help us feel good as well as live a long and healthy independent life – that’s just a fact. And while you know this, sometimes we need a reminder.
But also, that’s just not that inspiring. I know, weirdly, not dying is not inspiration enough for us to “live our best lives” (who coined this phrase, I hate it).
…and finish with the GOALSETTING.
We need something better. Something more emotive, something that hits home.
I hate running. Really passionately hate it. I like weights. I like cycling and I wouldn’t say I love swimming, but I ADORE being in water. So basically most of my training brings me joy. But I don’t like being cold, or wet. And I hate cycling in the wind. So you can see, that in the winter, when I need to be running for over an hour at a time and heading out for the longest, slowest, most puncture filled bike rides in the world, that it can be a bit tough to motivate myself. How do I do it then? I have a strong, powerful goal.
For me, it’s my A races, the prestige of wearing my home nation’s kit and powering my sponsor’s good name to the best possible race finish I can do. It’s having responsibility to team GB and to Aesthetic Entrepreneurs.
So while you might not be competing at the Olympics next year, you need to have purpose. It might be to lose a few pounds, it might be to avoid diabetes, it might be getting fit enough to kick a ball around with your kids or go hiking with a significant other, or it might be a little bit of resentment, a bit of a “F*** you” to someone (a bit of bitter motivation never did anyone any harm, but maybe don’t make it your whole being…that’s going to give us a whole host of bigger problems to deal with…).
Whatever it is, WRITE IT DOWN. Set it as a background on your phone, pin it to the fridge, just put it somewhere to remind you of your current purpose.
And then the fun begins…
Motivation will get you pretty much 90% of the way there. Honestly. I mean, it’s not going to have you running a marathon tomorrow if you’re still contemplating the couch to 5k programme, but it’ll definitely help you stop snoozing the alarm and get out of bed and into those trainers in the morning (which by the way, is one of the BEST ways to stay motivated and productive while you’re working from home – another whole separate article…). But what about the remaining 10%? And what about the comment I showed you earlier about staying safe in the wind, rain and dark of the winter months?
1. GET SOME HIGH VIZ ON!
This is probably the most important piece of advice I can give you. You should NEVER be out and about in the darker winter evenings or mornings without something reflective. provizsports.com is the home of reflective kit, but there are other more cost-effective versions out there. Proviz make everything from reflective dog coats to running jackets and gloves and while they can look horribly grey in daylight, they will absolutely save your life at night time. No excuse for drivers not to see you in reflective kit!
2. Get a decent head torch.
If you’re heading out for a run, grab a good headtorch. Sunrise is late, sunset is early these days so it will pay to have the safety of a light if the sun is catching you up and you’re out later than planned in the evening. I use Petzl’s reaktiv; it’s comfortable and fairly light and it doesn’t bounce around on the front of my forehead like some of the heavier ones that aren’t running specific. Likewise, if you’re thinking about grabbing your bike in the evening, get some decent lights and decide based on where you live whether their primary purpose is to help you see or help you be seen; lights to aid you seeing where you’re going will need to be much brighter than those aimed at scaring off monsters (sorry, I mean traffic in the dark).
3. Go on the trails you know.
Now is NOT the time to be experimenting with that new off road footpath you’ve been wanting to hunt out for the past few weeks. I do love running off road in the dark, but I am always within a couple of miles of my house and luckily for me, there are a plethora of trails I can follow without going far from my doorstep. If you’re not lucky enough to be able to structure your whole run this way, then it may be best to stick to more well trodden and well lit paths – you don’t want to be twisting an ankle in an unknown corner of woodland miles from home!
4. Get out in the morning if you can.
There are two main reasons for this. If you get your workout done first thing, you can relax safe in the knowledge that once the working day is through, you can simply come home and hunker down with some relaxing food and a good box set. There’s nothing worse than seeing the weather deteriorate, knowing you’re due to be out plodding pavements after work. You usually end up skipping the sessions and wallowing in a mixture of self pity, despair, loathing and ice cream. The other reason is that it gets lighter as you run rather than darker! Which is always a nice feeling.
5. Know when to say no!
Sometimes, it really is just stupid, not brave, to go out in “all weathers”. There’s always going to be some weirdo who insists on telling you how manly they are for heading out in yesterday’s hurricane. The truth is, they didn’t have a good ride, they didn’t really benefit from the session and they wish they hadn’t gone out. The reason they did it is because their entire self worth is external and they needed to prove to YOU how cool they are. Let them do it. It’s stupid. Riding your bike in gale force winds is just asking for trouble from overblown trees, poor visibility and puncture ridden roads. Likewise, there are some days where the rain just hurts when you’re running. So sometimes, you do need to revert to your indoor home gym set up. And that’s okay! Variety is the spice of life!
And there you have it!
You know what, it’s never going to be as appealing going out on a grey and miserable day. But spend winter concentrating on just getting out there; take time to look around you. Enjoy off road paths and embrace the mud! Make sure you’re doing it safely and have your core motivation piece on hand at all times to help kick start you when you’re feeling anything but inspired to get out and about.
Remember, if you need any more advice on how to get through the winter – or any other season for that matter – staying fit and well, get in touch with the form below!