Hey there!  This is post #3 in the #FabHealthFitBody 6-week series, & today we’re talking all about exercise & fitness!  (If you missed post #1 about creating a healthy mindset & mastering your motivation, check it out here first.  And, if you missed last week’s post, you can also check out post #2 all about becoming a healthy eating rockstar right here!)

I also want to remind you that I created a Fab Health Fit Body 5-Day Challenge to go hand-in-hand with this series.  It’s basically a 5-day healthy lifestyle plan (including 5 days worth of meals, as well as fat-burning workouts, mindset & motivation tips, & daily detox strategies).  You’re gonna love it!  Download it for free below! ☺

 

Alright, let’s dive into some fitness talk!  Everyone knows that exercising regularly is a critical aspect to living a healthy lifestyle & creating your dream body.  Some of the health benefits of exercise include:

• Boosts your happy hormones & happiness levels
• Gives you a boost of energy
• Reduces your risk of heart disease
• Helps you sleep better
• Increases your strength, fitness, & flexibility
• Strengthens your immune system
• Decreases your risk of cancer
• Improves your memory & brain health
• Increases your self-confidence
• Reduces stress levels & anxiety
• Promotes longevity & helps you live longer

I don’t know about you, but just reading that list almost makes me want to go exercise RIGHT NOW! 🙃  How amazing is it that we can get SO many powerful benefits in a completely natural way, just by exercising regularly?!  I think it’s fantastic! 

But here’s the problem: Many people have negative beliefs or they believe common myths about exercise — which prevents them from exercising or causes them to dread working out.  Overcoming any negative beliefs you have & changing your perspective on exercise will build the foundation for you to make exercising a part of your lifestyle, & actually enjoy doing it!  

So let’s bust some common exercise myths & break through some negative beliefs that could be holding you back!  And afterwards, I’ll share 3 easy strategies to help you up-level your fitness life. 💃🏼

 

5 Exercise Myths & Negative Beliefs

 

Myth #1

 

Myth #1 is that you need to exercise for 30-60+ minutes per day to get the maximum health benefits from exercising, lose weight, & truly be fit & healthy.  But the TRUTH is, you can get in the shape of your life in as little as minutes per day (like 4-20 minutes!), 3-6 days per week. 🙌 

I know, I know, that might sound too good to be true, but believe me — I am personally a product of that truth — I’ve seen it in my own life & countless others.  The most effective types of exercise for metabolism, fat-burning, weight loss, balancing hormones, reducing stress, & overall health are high-intensity, short-duration workouts.  

In fact, long workouts (30-60+ minutes) can actually increase cortisol levels (aka stress hormones!).  Not to mention that working out for 30-60+ minutes per day can feel overwhelming, which can stifle your motivation & prevent you from even taking action & working out in the first place.  

So, to repeat: You can get into the shape of your life in as little as 4-20 minutes per day, 3-6 days per week.  If you’ve ever had the thought, “I feel like I don’t have enough time to work out, especially several days per week.” Or, “I would need to work out SO much in order to reach my weight loss goal or health goals, & the thought of that is just overwhelming.”… Then I hope this truth right here is so freeing for you! 💜 

 

Myth #2

 

Myth #2 is that you need special equipment and/or a gym membership in order to get effective workouts.  But the TRUTH is that you don’t need ANY equipment (or very minimal if you’d like), & you can do super-effective workouts from ANYWHERE (so no gym membership needed!).  This means that you don’t have to spend a bunch of money (or any money) on exercise equipment, gym memberships, or a personal trainer (unless you want to, of course).

If you’re the type of person who is more motivated to work out at a gym or with a personal trainer, or you want to add some exercise equipment to your fitness routine — that’s fantastic!  BUT, I’m here to tell you that you don’t NEED any of that if you don’t want it.  The only thing you NEED in order to do a highly-effective workout is yourself! 😊

 

Myth #3

 

Myth #3 is more of a negative belief, which is: “I just don’t have enough energy or motivation to work out on a regular basis.”  This is a super common one that I hear — & it’s probably the one that I’ve struggled with the most in the past, & that I still have to keep in check to make sure I don’t fall into this negative belief.  

But here’s how you can shift your perspective: Realize that there are going to be some days where you just don’t want to work out.  But sometimes you just need to push through & do it!  In other words, don’t let your feelings dictate your actions.  If you feel like you don’t have the energy or you don’t FEEL motivated — train yourself to do it anyways. 👊 

The cool thing about working out is that it actually gives you MORE energy and MORE motivation.  Once you start feeling so wonderful & energized, & you start seeing your body & your health start to change for the better, you start to get more & more MOTIVATED to keep working out!  And over time, working out becomes a HABIT that you simply can’t live without. You might even start craving it. 😉

 

Myth #4

 

Myth #4 is another negative belief, which is: “I can’t work out because  _______.”  So, some examples — “I can’t work out because…”:

• “…I have a very low fitness level & I’m too out of shape.”
• “…I don’t have much or any experience working out.”
• “…I’m too old.”
• “…I’ve had a surgery in the past.”
• “…I have some sort of physical limitation that’s preventing me from working out.”  
• …Fill in the blank with whatever excuses your brain tries telling you…  

But here’s how you can shift your perspective: There are workouts & exercise movements for EVERYONE, & any workout or movement is MODIFIABLE.  The beauty of the type of exercise that I teach is that everyone can do it to their OWN personal best & maximum intensity.

Regardless of how old you are, your current fitness level, or any other perceived or real limitations you have, there’s SOMETHING that you can do to exercise!  So if you’re struggling with any of these beliefs, just know that YOU can absolutely do this! 😌

 

Myth #5

 

The last myth I’ll talk about is another negative belief, which is: “I’ve tried different workout programs, gym memberships, & all different types of exercise — but nothing seems to work for me.”  I know this can be frustrating!  Especially when it seems like the steps you’ve taken are working for other people, but not you.  

But here’s how you can shift your perspective: If certain workout programs haven’t worked for you, let’s get to the CAUSE & figure out WHY they haven’t worked.  So some possible causes as to WHY certain exercise programs may not have worked for you are:

1. It’s the wrong TYPE of exercise.
2. Your FREQUENCY of working out is too low (not doing the workouts often enough).
3. The INTENSITY of your workouts are too low.  

If the type, frequency, &  intensity of your workouts are truly optimized, & you’re STILL not creating the body you want, losing weight, or reaching your health goals, then there’s most likely something else interfering & causing your body to be weight loss resistant or hormonally imbalanced.  3 of the biggest interferences could be stress, your nutrition, or toxicity — all of which I talk about in this #FabHealthFitBody series.

 

3 Easy Strategies to Up-Level Your Fitness

 

Ok, so now that we’ve covered some of the biggest exercise myths & negative beliefs, it’s time to dive into the practical side of things.  Let’s talk about 3 easy ways for you to start taking your fitness to the next level!

 

1. Do high-intensity, short-duration workouts (aka Metabolic Conditioning) 3+ times per week.  

 

These types of workouts are my absolute favorite style of exercise — especially compared to classic aerobic style workouts (such as jogging on a treadmill for 30-60+ minutes).  

Here’s why: Metabolic Conditioning naturally boosts your human growth hormone (HGH) & testosterone levels, which helps build lean muscle, improves metabolism, & promotes weight loss.  And, when done correctly, a Metabolic Conditioning workout puts your body in a fat-burning state for up to 24-48 hours AFTER the workout! #yesplease!  I mean, how awesome is that?! 🙋‍♀️

These powerful fat-burning, hormonal, & metabolic effects just don’t happen with Classic Aerobic Exercise.  Metabolic Conditioning is one of the best ways to start becoming a fat-burning machine & creating your dream body, whether that’s losing weight or having lean, toned, & well-defined muscles. 💪  

Another reason why I prefer & recommend Metabolic Conditioning over Classic Aerobic Exercise, is because there’s a negative effect that classic aerobic exercise can have, that metabolic conditioning doesn’t have.  Longer-duration, lower-intensity workouts (like Classic Aerobic), can actually increase cortisol levels (aka stress hormones!) — which can cause inflammation, lead to weight loss resistance, decrease lean muscle mass, & negatively affect your health.  

With Metabolic Conditioning, you don’t have this negative effect, & it doesn’t have any other negative health consequences that we know of either.  One other reason that I personally love Metabolic Conditioning over Classic Aerobic Exercise is because Metabolic Conditioning takes way less time, & you get more benefits! #winwin 🙌

 

2. Find a workout buddy or accountability partner to increase your fitness motivation.

 

Workout buddies make exercising more fun, & they’re a great source of accountability! 🙂 When you have accountability, you’re much more likely to stay motivated to live a healthy lifestyle long-term — including exercising on a regular basis.  

Your workout buddy could be your best friend, your spouse, a neighbor, a coworker, or a small group of friends.  Here are a couple ideas to effectively utilize a workout buddy:

• Text each other on a daily basis — let each other know what workouts you did or are going to do, encourage each other, & hold each other accountable.
• And then of course, work out together sometimes — either in person, or you can even work out together via FaceTime or Skype.  So your workout buddy doesn’t HAVE to live near you — you can definitely have a virtual workout buddy & utilize texting, video chatting, & social media to hold each other accountable & even work out together whenever you want.

I personally love doing these things, & I always notice a huge boost in my fitness motivation when I have active workout buddies!

 

3. Invest in some affordable workout equipment & fitness tools.

 

Remember: NO equipment is necessary in order to do fat-burning Metabolic Conditioning workouts & get amazing results.  So if you don’t have any special workout gear, no problem.  BUT, you may still want to consider investing in some because workout equipment & fitness tools can really add versatility, intensity, & challenge to your workouts!

There are a few pieces of basic exercise equipment that I think are really valuable to have.  These basic pieces of equipment are all fairly inexpensive, they add a ton of versatility & potential for new exercise movements to your workouts, and I highly recommend that everyone have at least 1 of these.  

So here are a few pieces of basic equipment I definitely recommend purchasing to up-level your fitness:

1. At least 1 pair of light free weights.  Free weights allow you to do several upper body exercise movements that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to do without weights.  Some exercise movements you can do with free weights include speed bicep curls, tricep kick-backs, shoulder presses, & arm raises.
2. A stability ball/exercise ball — which can be used to diversify core, upper body, & lower body exercise movements.  Some exercise movements you can do with a stability ball include stability ball passes, stability ball knee tucks, hamstring curls, decline push-ups.
3. A resistance band/exercise band — which are great for upper body movements.  Some exercise movements you can do with a resistance band include banded rows, banded pull-downs, & banded pull-aparts.

Another fun fitness tool that you can incorporate into your fitness routine are Foam Workout Dice.  They make workouts more fun, spontaneous, & versatile — no 2 workouts are alike!  One of my favorite ways to use workout dice is to choose a length of time for the workout (for example: 12 minutes), & then roll the dice, do what it says, & repeat that process for the entire 12 minutes.  It’s actually a lot of fun! ☺

 

Your Action Steps

 

So here are your action steps to start taking your fitness to the next level:

1. If you have any negative beliefs about exercise, do your best to combat those beliefs by taking action!  Once you start working out regularly, you’ll start to see that you can absolutely do this!  Also, every time a negative thought or excuse pops into your head, speak positive affirmations about yourself & your view of exercise.
2. Make a commitment to do 3-6 Metabolic Conditioning style workouts per week, & schedule the specific days & times in your calendar each week so you can stick to it.
3. Find a workout buddy that you can exercise with occasionally, hold each other accountable to stick with your workout plan, & make exercising more fun!
4. Consider investing in some inexpensive, basic workout equipment — such as a pair of free weights, a stability ball, a resistance band, or some foam fitness dice.  These pieces of equipment can make your workouts way more versatile!
5. Want to start creating fabulous health, a fit body, & a happier life? 💜 Download the free Fab Health Fit Body 5-Day Challenge below!