Keeping up motivation to go to the gym now the nights are drawing in is definitely proving challenging. You know that feeling when you get home from work after a long day, get cosy on the sofa and then gaze reluctantly at your trainers? Or when you set your alarm for a morning run and the temptation is just far too strong to reset it and go back to sleep?
I’m definitely battling with that right now, but I feel more determined than ever to keep to a routine and make my goals happen. At the moment my current routine is that I see my Personal Trainer once a week, on a Monday or a Tuesday, and then do the same session on my own twice more that week. Our weekends have been busy for the last couple of months with either being away or friends visiting which has meant a bit more pressure to fit in my workouts as I’ve had to do three mid-week sessions, which is three occasions in a week where I get home from work pretty exhausted and have to quickly put my trainers on before I change my mind! I really miss my running as it would have been great to supplement my gym sessions with morning runs, but I just can’t accomodate them into my routine at the moment. I have to leave my house for work about 7.20 so in order to go for a half hour run and be home and showered in time I’d have to set my alarm for about 5.45 and I just don’t think I can face that, especially in the pitch black! There’s also no streetlights around where I live and I haven’t quite mastered running with a head torch yet. This is leading me to a bit of a complication at the moment as I’ve signed up for the Brighton Half Marathon at the end of February and I just don’t know how I’m going to fit in training for it.
When we’re not busy at the weekend I do try and fit in weekend runs, and I’ve been going to a boxing class on a Saturday morning, which I absolutely love. It’s really good to get a workout in but feel like you’re learning something new at the same time – time flies really quickly in the class so it’s not like slugging your guts out on a treadmill.
One of my favourite ways to motivate myself however has to be new gym gear. At the moment I’m favouring baggy vests, leggings and brightly coloured Nikes – all I need to do now is set up an instagram fitness account and put chia seeds on everything, right? On a serious note, it actually does make me feel loads better about going to the gym when I know I have a new pair of jazzy leggings in my gym bag (superficial as that sounds). One thing that deeply excited me last week was that my personal trainer advised me to get some gloves for when I’m lifting weights at the gym as I always find it a bit slippy and uncomfortable lifting the weights bars without them – of course I opted for some Nike ones (£13, bargain!), and now I feel like a right badass in the gym (plus no worrying I’m going to drop weights on my face due to sweaty palms…)
One weird thing about getting into fitness is that I definitely spend more time eyeing up more sporty clothes than I ever used to. My Nike trainer collection is now starting to get a bit out of control – as well as the Free Runs I wear to the gym I have a rather burgeoning Nike Air Max collection which recently had this beautiful pair added to it… Aren’t they just a thing of wonder and beauty to behold?
// Nike Air Max 90 Cheetah, JD Sports*
I’ll be wearing them with skinny jeans and a wool coat for optimum winter comfort! In fact, I don’t really want to take them off at the moment – they definitely beat cramming cold feet into a pair of heels. I quite often wear heels to work and having to navigate the broken paving stones and wet leaves on my journey from the train to my office is downright perilous at this time of year; I’m usually found repeating in my head “Wish I was wearing my Nikes….”
And now I’d better sign off and go and put my gym gear on and get that bum out of the door! Summer bodies are made in winter, as they say – and April weddings may require some work to fit into that dress!
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