The Only Bad Workout…

There’s a phrase that many of my clients will have heard. The phrase also appears on a t-shirt that can be bought in the Power of One Fitness shop: “The only bad workout is the one you didn’t do.”

The sentiment behind it is fairly straightforward, and James Clear’s quote above lends itself to that thought process of doing what you can, when you can, with what you have available (and that includes time as well as equipment). Too often we can kid ourselves into thinking that we don’t have access to our usual gym or equipment or perhaps we think we don’t have enough time to do a full workout.

Well, the beauty of exercise is that it all counts, and it all adds up. The compound effect, often talked about with regard to finances, is very much present in exercise and the effect you can have on your body.

One minute of exercise is better than no minutes of exercise. So if all you have time to do is one minute of some form of exercise, do it! A few weeks ago, I gave the tip of, if you are snowed under with work or something else, setting an alarm once an hour, and doing one minute of your chosen exercise. If you are working a twelve hour day, and manage ten squats in your minute each hour, that will be one hundred and twenty squats on the day. That’s not a bad effort. Your body and brain will thank you.

Of course more is better, but something is definitely better than nothing. Do what you can, when you can.

In doing so you will be allowing your body to move and adapt, but you will also be changing your mindset; moving away from a fixed all-or-nothing mindset to one that is open to being flexible and adaptable. 

As children we often played with things and situations, creating games out of thin air with rules that were specific to us, which allowed us to have fun and enjoy life. At what point did we get so structured that we have to follow a set plan to the letter or don’t do it at all?

One of the best testimonials for Power of One Fitness was one that said how the client’s mindset had shifted, from one of fear of exercise to one of enjoyment: “This is a million miles away from those awful PE lessons at school. I never thought I’d feel so at home in a gym, or enjoy workouts as much as I do.” How wonderful is that? Love it! 

That client has become the type of person who doesn’t miss workouts willingly, and will do what they can. It totally affirms my reason for being a personal trainer: to help people be better, to be fitter, leaner, stronger and healthier, but also to help shift their mindset. Just like the client mentioned a few weeks ago, who said I had “given him permission” to do a series of five minute workouts at his desk instead of trying to get to the gym for an hour – something he never had time or energy to do.

If you’d like a sensible conversation about how you could change your mindset as well as your body, please click this link (or the gold button at the bottom of this page). I’d love to have that chat with you. 

P.S. If you’d like to see the aforementioned T-shirt, check out: https://www.powerofonefitness.com/shop/