![]() Some people just aren’t gym people, and that’s fine. Take a longer rest break and chat for a bit, even if you’re there to work hard. One of the hardest things any person can do is walk into a gym for the first time, and if they approach you and just need a friendly face, don’t get upset that they interrupted your third set of squats. Introduce them to someone they see you talking to at the gym. Maybe they could sub in on your winter ultimate team and see how much fun group sports can be. Maybe you subscribe to a message board you got a lot of support from. Maybe you get amazing recipes from a web site you love. Maybe you have a trainer you really like and have gotten great results from. By next Christmas, where do they want to be? With any luck it will trigger the need to sustain what they are doing. Let them know how long it takes to achieve things. Again, I’m trying to reinforce the long term aspect of this for sustainability.Īnother way to motivate them might be “you know, I signed up for a Spartan Race in June – you should think about it” or “Hey, I’m thinking about doing the Army ½ marathon in September so I started training for the 10k in May”. As a method of support, ask them where they want to be at the end of the YEAR. It is a new thing to fit into your schedule, you have no idea what you’re doing and are nervous every time you step into a facility. Typically the first few weeks as a new exerciser is confusing and tough. Swallow your pride and tell them if they need it to hire a professional. Let them know that it took you as a fitness person a long time to get to where you’re at and if they want to get support, you’re there but don’t overdo it.Īnd please don’t suddenly become a personal trainer and offer to work out with them and show them everything you do. ![]() If they went to the gym that morning, give them a high five and leave it at that. Hopefully they will figure out something for themselves. The simplest thing is to say “awesome news!” and if they ask questions tell them what worked for you, but also let them know what you went through in order to arrive at that conclusion. They are likely getting it from multiple sources and it can be not only confusing but overwhelming. Don’t tell them to start running five times a week for weight loss, or start deadlifting like you do. Our instinct as soon as someone outside of our world wants to jump in is to tell them what worked for us, which simply may not be what would motivate or work for that person. It’s probably obvious when you talk about what you did on the weekend or take off your jacket. Your friend/co-worker/spouse knows you’re a fitness person. STOP GIVING ADVICE AND GIVE SUPPORT INSTEAD So here’s a list of ways as “fitness people” we can all help make sure that whomever you know who is getting started stays at it long term and gets to the state that you’re in: loving exercise and feeling a ton better. But we can all do our part to help keep as many around as possible. Then hopefully some of those people can inspire others to get started, and snowball effect takes place and boom, no more obesity. ![]() I want to have thousands of people NOT stop working out after six weeks and get healthier. And for some reason many of them stop after a few weeks. But something is going to drive them into a gym (besides marketing hype) very soon. Over half the population doesn’t exercise at all, and only about 10% regularly (meaning 3x a week and sustained for over six months) because it just isn’t on their radar and never has been. See – you’ve already swallowed the pill of fitness, but you are in the vast minority. ![]() With society the way it is and a massive obesity epidemic, we should all play our own part in not only helping these people get into fitness, but keeping them around as long as possible. The fact we even have a nickname for new exercisers says it all. The first thing I need to mention is that in the fitness world there tends to be a lot of elitism, and I’ve already seen the “resolutionist” memes going around Facebook. I know this might be a bit early, but in three weeks it is 2016 and a whole new set of people will be undertaking new fitness goals. ![]()
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