A while back, I threw up a post about how I believe that food should be looked at as an investment in your body. You should be getting more back from your food than what you put into digesting it. Well, that's not the only aspect of healthy living that should be looked at like an investment as well.
I hear from people in less-than-ideal shape that they would exercise more if they just had the energy to do it. Trouble is, they're stressed out from work, family, and/or just don't have the time to do it. Their lives make them too tired and stressful to exercise. They're just waiting for a time when they won't be so tired and strung out. Then, they'll exercise. Of course that day never comes, and it never will if they persist with this kind of attitude.
About two years ago, I received a boxed set documentary on Navy SEAL training. One of the things that they drilled into these poor bastards is the concept of "evolutions". They were expected to push their limits. One day's record chin ups or record time on the obstacle course was expected to be exceeded. It got me thinking: those guys, no matter how beat up always managed to find enough in the tank to get more out of themselves. I thought about my own training. How many times am I REALLY too tired to work out and push it a little? Realistically, not very often.
When the cards are on the table, you are only going to have energy if you force yourself to be energetic. That's the first step, no matter how tired you think that you are. Resolve that you've always got even just 15 minutes to train. Find it in yourself and DO IT! Don't tell me either that it's easy for me because I'm already in shape. I once flew a red eye flight to Phoenix, drove down to Tuscon, got two hours of sleep, worked 12 hours of hard labor, and exercised for 20 minutes after all of that. Are you THAT tired? I'm sure you had more in the tank now than I had in mine then!
As you get yourself mentally set to be energetic, you'll start making a surprising discovery: You FEEL more physically energetic. Like I said in the title, being energetic is an investment. You have to give a little bit of your energy to get more back. It's just making that initial investment that is difficult. That's why Matt Furey says that when you resolve to start exercising, 50% of the work is already done. If you ever expect to feel more lively and not half-dead, you've got to get over that mental block that people give themselves for not starting in the first place: I'm too tired.
GET OVER IT AND GET TO WORK!
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