There is an old saying that goes along the lines of “The day you plant the seed is not the day you eat the fruit. Be patient and keep watering.” Be patient and keep watering. In the same way that Nietzsche describes the goal of a melody is not its ending, we don’t do workouts for the purpose of doing workouts. There has to be some higher, intrinsic goal; one that isn’t instant. You have to be patient, keep showing up and doing the work, enjoying the process to be able to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

Whatever your goal or reason is for doing whatever exercise you are doing, it is in the doing that the magic happens; in the consistent action that change occurs. 

The body will adapt. 

It just takes time. 

Time and effort. 

Effort consistently over time.

And then you’ll look up, like the person who just kept putting one foot in front of the other, and see that you have come a long, long way.

Of course there will be days that work, or life, or family or sickness gets in the way. It happens. The trick is to get back to it as soon as you can. The goal of exercising is not to finish the chosen exercise, although I am sure it can feel like it in the moment (“Just let me get through this one last set! Please!”). The goal is bigger than that. Whether it is to be healthier so you can play with the grandchildren, to be fitter so you can get up a flight of stairs without wheezing, to go on that dream activity holiday and enjoy it to the fullest, to run your first 10k race, the goal is not to do the workouts.

So keep showing up. Keep doing the thing. And achieve whatever you set out to do.

Once you’ve achieved that thing, hopefully your habits will now include working out, so they have become a part of your weekly routine. 

Goals come and go, but habits persist, and it is my job to help you ingrain those habits into your life, so you can achieve many different goals in your life.

If you’d like help sticking with a workout routine, or even starting one, please get in touch. I’d love to help you be healthier, stronger, fitter, leaner or whatever your goal is.