Why No Fitness Start Is, Or Should Be, Perfect

Contributed post.

Whenever we aim to make a change in our lives, it’s easy for us to wait until the perfect time for it to happen. Of course, there’s a little wisdom in this. If you’re about to climb Mount Everest, it’s probably best to wait until you have the right equipment, a good night’s sleep, and a healthy breakfast in you before you give it a shot.

But the truth is that if you let schedules and dates dictate your forward growth too much, it’s easy to let perfect become the enemy of good and wait until all the stars align before you begin. But the truth is that the stars may not ever perfectly align. If you live a busy life and have responsibilities and stresses (who doesn't!??!), there will always be something delaying your action or distracting you.

For this reason, it’s important to recognize that no fitness start is or should ever be perfect. Starting now is the best possible time you could begin, health and energy permitting.

Moreover, starting now might feel more comfortable than trying at some vague “tomorrow,” instead, in that your new pursuit may feel more digestible and comfortable with your renewed effort. Let’s consider why that’s the case, and how to get started with such motivation in mind:

Pushing Through That Initial Ennui Feels Wonderful

There’s a great deal of confidence and a sense of self-worth that comes from starting your fitness journey. Even if this begins with a walk outside, you’d be surprised just how comfortable and confident you feel in your new return, startingly quickly. Many people delay their fitness journey because they might not feel like getting active right now. But the mental journey from ennui to pushing through your sense of tiredness to feeling wonderful at the end of a small run can be wonderful, and it may help you think more clearly and feel better than you have in months, maybe years. So, consider this a challenge, one you get to implement on your own terms. You’ll thank yourself twenty minutes from now.

You Can Plan A Digestible Schedule & Start Very Small

You’d be amazed at how little effort you can implement to begin with, and how quickly that snowballs into fitness momentum. For example, the Couch to 5K plan is designed around intervals of running and walking, so that you only run at a light pace for sixty seconds, then walk for ninety. This can be quite easy for an able-bodied person to start with, and you can reduce the intensity if you need to. But do this for three days, and then your next session you’ll find that your cardio starts to adapt. In other words, starting small can accrue massive changes very quickly, and that’s a wonderful outcome for many.

You Only Need To Make A 1% Improvement

In the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear, he notes that the best athletes in the world and even top minds at organizations like NASA focus on squeezing 1% improvements in everything they do. They don’t make massive systemic changes every single time they try something new, but they innovate on practiced wisdom and the understanding of the past.

You can do that too. Perhaps if you’ve disliked cycling on a spin bike, you could try yoga instead. Maybe, instead of keeping up with a perfect gym schedule, you just try to go one more day a month. Maybe this time you’ll use a different service that helps you gain muscle while losing fat, because you found the last guide you used was a little outdated or less informative than it could have been. A 1% improvement helps you make that next 1% improvement, and before you know it you’ve sustainably improved by 50% compared to last year.

You’ll Be Lapping Everyone On The Couch

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what you do. If you focus on good lifestyle habits, especially a collection of very small ones, you’ll be lapping everyone on the sofa. For example, perhaps you’ve cut out alcohol to only twice a month compared to four times a month last year. Well, that’s 24 times you didn’t drink compared to last year, which is absolutely a health benefit.

Moreover, if you keep going, you’ll be much better than you were last time. You don’t need to compare yourself to anyone else, just who you were before now. This way, you can feel a sense of progression even if someone younger than you is running three triathlons in one day. This helps us feel a sense of dominion over our own lives, instead of feeling subject to the experiences of others. That, in itself, can give us the motivation to keep going.

With this advice, you’re certain to understand that no fitness start is, or could be, perfect. But you’ll keep going regardless.