The trouble with working out is that it can be such a pain in the arse. We know it is good for us and that we feel better afterwards, but it can just get in the way of the things we really want to do. It can be much easier to just put it off and make up for it later.

Of course guilt eventually sets in, we feel fat, out of shape and in need of a kick up the backside.

We do nothing for weeks, then go hardcore and try and train 5 days that week, start a 1200 calorie diet and swear we will be healthy from now on. This endeavor lasts for 1 week.

Whats the solution to avoid these extremes of not working out, to then going all out?

Well, I learnt a very interesting approach from Mike Boyle which has more to do with mindset than anything. He says the following...

"A bad workout is better than no workout".

What Mike meant by this was, just get in and get on with something. You have 20 minutes? go in pick up a dumbbell and do something with it? You have 10 minutes, do a quick dynamic warm up with a few air squats, lateral lunges and plank shoulder taps.

2 years ago, if I didn't have a full hour to get a proper warm up in, stretching, activation work and weight lifting then I wouldn't have bothered showing up. It would not have been optimal, a waste of my time and I would make up for it another day. That was then...

Thankfully, I have realized that the search for the perfect workout, can in fact be more detrimental. Surely doing something is better than nothing?

Just the other day I had 40 minutes spare. I had previously moved from my old gym Virgin Active (5 mins away) to W10 Performance(15 min drive away) last year. Excuses wold have been easy to make.

I convinced myself that a bad workout was better than no workout.

I jumped in an Uber, got into the gym, did 20 minutes of some basic lifts, got a sweat on and grabbed an Uber back. I felt great, utilized the time I had well and removed any guilt of missing a workout. Sure I won't be winning any body building competitions with this approach, but who cares?!

This is the sort of real world challenge my time poor clients have on a regular basis, The actual habit of getting in and doing something is far more powerful than fueling the smart excuses we have for missing the gym.

I was also able to maintain and reinforce the habit required of getting to the gym. The content was not hugely important, just getting in there and moving was enough to make it worth my while.

So my takeaway for you from this Newsletter is to approach the habit of exercise a little differently.

Don't strive for perfection, strive for good enough. Get in and do something.

An example of a 10 minute workout with no weights/ equipment.

15 body weight squats
15 push ups
15 single leg dead lifts
Lateral bear crawl x 4 lengths with whatever space you have
Side plank - 20 seconds a side

Repeat 2-3 times

Yours In Health

Patrick Fallis

Founder of Leaner
www.leaner-uk.com