Fitness Motivation
Let’s talk about motivation and fitness goals. Not huge fitness goals, like running a marathon or losing 100lbs by Christmas, but simple goals that are the foundation of those larger goals. Getting motivated to do the exercise, and do it regularly is the key.
As we approach the first anniversary of our first lockdown, this is a good time to review our fitness approach during this time.
Many people got serious about their fitness goals during lockdown, regardless of whether or not that had the time, space, or money to invest in new equipment or programs. A lot of people spent a lot of money of fitness equipment or on online programs to help them. Some, but not all, of those people got more serious about their fitness goals. Personally, I purchased a rowing machine, but I’d had my eye on one since before lockdown – and the one I got was much cheaper. Thanks, Costco!
I dusted off the exercise bike I’ve had for several years, and started riding more regularly. It took a few months of sort of sitting around before I got serious about it. Truthfully, I didn’t start to ride regularly until I signed up for a virtual race.
Virtual races allow a participant to walk, run, bike or row through a race for a specific distance. At the end, you get a medal or a t-shirt, similar to a regular 5K road race. You get to do this one when you want to, though, and most of them are longer than a 5k. Since I use the bike as my primary tool, the 5K races (about 3.2 miles) don’t appeal to me. For the virtual race, you sign up through your phone or computer, track your miles using your phone or tracker and add them to the race site. I signed up for a long (300 mile) bike race in the middle of 2020. The vendor I chose for that race mailed the medal in the beginning, which is not my preference. After I completed that race, I signed up for a few, longer races with Yes.Fit. I did 500 miles with them within 3 months of starting my first race - and the medals are really pretty.
I have been working my way through their races since October, and I’m having a good time with them. Each of these races is through someplace specific – Rocky Mountain National Park, or the Irish countryside, or any one of a hundred different places. When you post some mileage, they send you an email showing you your new location along the trail (using a Google map). They usually send a link to pictures of something special in the area. It’s not the same as being on the road with a bunch of people, but it’s a lot of fun.
I do find the races to be motivating – partly because they give riding on a stationary bike, which can be dull, a purpose. I also like the bling – the medals they send when you finish your ride – but I don’t want to collect a bunch of them, so I have signed up for a few races without the medal. Having just completed my first race without a medal, I have to say I didn’t find it as motivating, though I appreciated the emails they sent with the photos of the course. Yes.fit also has a FaceBook community that is very supportive of people working on their fitness.
If you'd like to check them out or join a race, please use the code below so we can both get a discount on our next race.
I joined Glacier National Park! Use my referral code and we both get a discount on our next Yes.Fit purchase!
Referral Code: e9gGOU9L