Taking the “Work” Out of Your Workout at Franklin Athletic Club

by Franklin Athletic Club

Taking the “Work” Out of Your Workout at Franklin Athletic Club

4 Ways to Make Exercising Easier

There’s no time like the present for reclaiming your mental and physical self-care through exercise. But some days, working out just feels like work. While exercising isn’t always “easy,” Franklin Athletic Club offers four ways to make your workout a little easier and more pleasant.

1) Chase the Beat

Music makes everything better. A favorite song to sing along with can distract you from the task at hand. A song with an inspiring message can push you to pedal faster, push harder up that hill, go for one more rep or climb an extra flight of stairs. Eliciting an emotional response can engage your mind in a positive feedback loop: I’m happy, this feels good, I’ll keep doing this.

Choosing upbeat, fast music with tempos around 170-190 beats per minute has been proven to reduce perceived effort by participants. In other words, the external stimulus of great music blocks out the internal stimulus responses such as “this hurts” or “I’m tired.”

Chasing the beat doesn’t require you to actually catch the beat. If you aren’t moving at the same tempo as the song, it’s fine. Just rock out your workout!

2) Be Your Own Hype Guy/Girl

Getting yourself mentally psyched up for a workout with positive and encouraging self-talk can make a big difference in your workout. If you listen to the negative voices in your head telling you that you can’t do something or that it’s hard, you’ll be right. But if you listen to the positive voices, guess what? You’ll be right.

Choose your self-talk, which voice you’re going to give authority and power to. Then ramp it up by saying “You can do it,” or “Come on, “Brad,” keep those legs churning!” By taking yourself out of the first person (“I can do this”), by externalizing the person you’re cheering on, you can actually get better results! A recent study showed athletes that spoke to themselves in the second-person were faster and generated more power. So be your own hype person and tell yourself, “You got this!”

3) Shorten the Commitment

American adults don’t get enough exercise, for the most part. Recommendations include a minimum of 150 minutes of medium intensity anaerobic (cardio) exercise per week, 75 minutes of high intensity, or some combination of the two, in addition to two days a week of strength and/or balance training. That sounds like a lot.

But it all adds up. Don’t feel like you have to commit to meeting a weekly goal for a year. Break your workouts at Franklin Athletic Club into smaller, more manageable chunks. Commit to a 15-minute walk for today. Commit to working out your legs today instead of a whole-body workout multiple days this week. Not only are you more likely to succeed in completing these small, achievable and incremental goals, you’re also more likely to give yourself grace.

Knowing you only have to do legs today means you are more prone to putting forth good effort with good form. And knowing you skipped one day of a walk instead of “blowing it” for the year or even the week means you’re more willing to try again tomorrow. It all adds up.

4) Leave the House and Meet a Friend

There are many kinds of home fitness equipment and apps that can give you a great workout. And they have been critical during the pandemic. But sometimes that sleek piece of home fitness equipment turns into a very expensive clothes racks. They’re almost too easy and convenient. Home gym equipment is also always there, always available. This means you can just as easily use it “later.”

Leaving the house, being intentional and going to a health club like Franklin Athletic Club makes it more likely you will do the exercise. After all, once you leave the house and commit to meeting a friend for a workout, you may as well do it. And working out with a friend usually means you push yourself harder or are less likely to give up halfway through the workout. Don’t have someone to meet? Join a group fitness class and find new workout buddies!

When you’re ready to make it easy (but not too easy) to work out again, we are here, ready to help you meet your fitness goals safely. Sign up online or contact us for more information.

Franklin Athletic Club
112 Rand Pl
Franklin, TN 37064
(615) 599-5544
Franklin Athletic Club