How to get motivated to Workout Again After Being Sick

Ever wish that you had gotten a flu shot?  I wish I did.  I got strep throat earlier this month and was out for a week.  I had a miserable 4 days with a high temp, painful throat and a pounding headache.

Now back to reality, I’m feeling pretty out of shape.  It’s very hard getting back on my fitness plan after being beat up by the flu.  I’ve had a total of 3 workouts after getting over strep throat and they were all pretty crummy.

Also on the nutrition side of things, my inner fat kid always seems to come out of me when I’m sick.  When you feel sick, food is always a way to get comfort.  Usually, food choices that get the endorphins going aren’t the best for keeping your body fat percentage in check.

When I write a post I’m usually in a pretty good mood.  This will be one of the few blog posts I write when I feel in less than a good mood.   I figured I’d share some of the insights I give clients as well what I do personally to get back to working out after being sick with the flu.

Newton’s first law: An object at rest tends to stay at rest and an object in motion tends to stay in motion.  Do something and get moving!

Every little thing counts.  A 10 minute walk, jog or a few push ups add up over time.  Momentum has a very strong effect on your life.  If you keep working out and stay in good shape, it’s fairly easy to maintain things.  When you’re lazy and sloth like, it’s pretty easy to stay like that.  Six months go by, and before you know it you’re either in amazing shape or your 20lbs heavier than you should be.

There are plenty examples of momentum, I’ll use the Superbowl as an analogy.  If you watched the Superbowl XLVII, the Ravens were crushing the 49ers.  The Niners just couldn’t catch some crucial passes and the Ravens were just building up so much momentum. One really big play that caused the momentum to swing in HUGE favor of the Ravens was a 108 yard kickoff return by Jacoby Jones.  Niner fans were feeling pretty hopless after that.

Then something unexpected happened.  The New Orleans Superdome had a power outage.  About half the lights in the stadium went out and it took about 20-30 minutes before they could get it fixed.

This reduced the momentum in Ravens’ play-making and Niners almost pulled it off.

After Jones’ run in the 3rd quarter, the score was 28 Ravens and 6 Niners.   The 49ers still ended up losing the game, Ravens 34-31.  If it wasn’t for the lights, Niners probably would’ve lost by more than 3 points.

Momentum is something important to notice.  Building momentum is as simple as doing something positive every day.  Stop reading right now and do 10 squats and 10 push-ups.  What does this do to your body?  It changes your physiology, your heart rate will be a little elevated and some blood will be diverted to your muscles.  This physiological effect triggers psychological changes.  You’ll feel different and you will feel better.

So to get myself out of my “funk” of feeling out shape, all I have to do is something physical challenging every day, with a focus on intensity over duration.  If you’re recovering from being sick or just having trouble getting re-motivated, the major tip I can give to people to build your momentum.

 

Do something positive and something physical , ideally multiple times a day.  It could be something you do for as little as 5-10 minutes. Wrestling with my 5 year old son, is another way to change my physiology, to build momentum on my physical and mental state.

Changing your posture can positively or negatively affect the way you feel.  Sit up straight, pull your shoulders back and hold up your chest.  Your breathing will change and the way you feel will change.

These are a few of the things I do to get myself into a more productive state of mind.  One thing I just did was make a video.  That really made a positive impact on how I felt.  It’s not always easy to get that motivation to work out, but hopefully this stuff puts some ideas in your head.

 

What has worked for you to build momentum? Comment below with some ideas, I’d like to read your thoughts.