Eight months ago, Faye joined our coaching program. We often hear what she told us on the first day:
“I hate exercise. I want to have a better attitude about it so I can actually do it instead of being afraid of it. I want to learn some general principles about exercise so I can teach my kids how to stay healthy through exercise. It would be great if I could look great, but honestly I just want to be healthy.”
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Many people we work with are in a similar boat. They have a busy schedule with work, caring for their family and loved ones, and all the other responsibilities that come with “growing up.”
And they’re trying to figure out: How can I have a better relationship with training so that it actually works for me? Both for myself and for my family.
Faye and her trainer started in an unlikely place – not with a training plan, but with a mindset shift. (Call Coach Shortis!)
Exercise didn’t have to jump from “what I loathe” to “what I love” overnight. Instead, they treated it like a hygiene practice.
You don’t have to LOVE brushing your teeth. Brush them anyway because it’s part of self-care. Five to ten minutes of exercise can work the same way.
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Fast forward eight months. Faye did a 5-10 minute workout almost every day. 🙌 🎉 🔥
Here’s what she had to say about it in her own words:
“When I started Nerd Fitness Coaching, it’s fair to say that I didn’t like exercise. In fact, it might be more accurate to say that I loathed and loathed the very thought of exercise. However, as an adult (with children), I realized that my attitude toward exercise was probably (definitely) not conducive to my family’s health. Honestly, I didn’t think I would ever change my mind about exercise. I came to Nerd Fitness and totally had it expect “exercise” while you continue to hate it.”
Luckily my trainer is AWESOME. And also sneaky. He kind of made me really enjoy sports. Sure, most of the exercises felt super athletic, but some of them were, dare I say, fun? Even though it wasn’t fun, it was still doable and I felt good about it. It surprises me so much to say this, but I train almost every day now. And I don’t hate it! Maybe I even kind of like it sometimes. But don’t tell my coach. 😉“
(Don’t worry Faye, your secret is safe with us! 😉)
“Sneaky” is a good strategy
Faye’s story really touched me this week.
My son is 12 and is just now coming up with the idea of
As parents, we want the best for our children. And as a coach, I’m even more aware that the way we talk to and around our kids about fitness has a huge impact on their long-term relationship with it.
Similar to Faye, I want to teach my children how to stay healthy through exercise and hopefully it’s something they don’t hate.
This is what a recent session with my child actually looked like:
Send the invitation. Whenever I go to training, I invite my son to join me. He doesn’t have to. I just keep it casual. “Hey, I’m going to train. Do you want to come?” Sometimes he does. Sometimes he doesn’t. This time he actually got out of Fortnite with his friends to go to the garage with me (which is really freaking awesome!)
The warm-up is our dojo. Arm swinging, leg swinging, shuffling back and forth – all classic dynamic warm-up stuff. But we count our reps out loud in Japanese, one to ten, like we’re training in a dojo, making it feel like we’re warming up as a team. (Something I picked up from my time abroad in Japan!)
Spiegelman. We always end our warm-up with this game. We face each other. One person is moving – shuffling sideways, falling, changing direction – and the other is trying to stay right in front of them, mirroring everything. Makes him laugh every time and he forgets it’s “sport” (me too!)
Power movements paired with play. We did our hygiene work – the strength exercises – but I paired each strength exercise with something dynamic:
- Balance beam walks (on a 2×4) between push-up sets
- The safe box jumps between sets of rows
- “Stuntman” between lunges – I do a false kick, he flies backwards in slow motion onto mats or pillows as if I just knocked him out. Then he can do the same to me. Lots of laughter, lots of getting up and down from the floor.
Cliffhanger. We took turns hanging on the pull-up bar, imagining we were straight out of an ’80s action movie and cheering each other on with our best Stallone voice.
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Photo finish. My favorite way to sneak in sprints. Each person starts at a different spot and the goal is to cross the finish line exactly at the same moment. So you try to balance each other perfectly while going full throttle.
He loved it and asked when we could do it again. ❤️
Two things can be true
Faye’s story and this session with my son taught me the same lesson from two directions:
- Movement is hygiene. You never have to love it to make it worth doing. Like brushing your teeth, taking care of yourself—and the people who count on you—is a small, repeatable act.
- It doesn’t have to be unhappy either. With a few small tweaks – and a change in mindset – you might find that parts of it are even fun (at least sometimes 😃). That’s what Faye’s trainer did for her and that’s what I did with my son this week.
If you’re nervous about the idea of
When I asked Faye what advice she would give to someone thinking about joining the program, she responded with the following:
“You should definitely sign up. 10 out of 10, 5 stars, all in all. Hands down the best thing I’ve ever done for my health.”
Do you want a trainer who is great (and maybe a little sneaky?)?
Find out more about ours Coaching program HERE.
-Frosted
