Recently, a listener to my podcast, “Walking is Fitness” left a positive review and mentioned how she had achieved what I call Fitness Momentum. This is when it would feel harder to skip a day than get out and walk. And, this listener is in Minnesota where the weather isn’t always very inviting. 

In other words, that’s some serious Fitness Momentum.

So, how does this happen? How does one reach a place where it would literally be harder to stay in a warm house, nestled in a cozy chair, with a mug of hot coffee than to go outside in the brutal Minnesota weather to keep your commitment to walk every day?

How do you reach this wonderful state of Fitness Momentum, where it feels like the wind is at your back?

CREATE A HABIT

First, you need to build the foundation. Momentum won’t happen until you’ve done the hard work of creating a habit. Simply put, doing the same thing, the same way, over time. It takes, on average, 66 days to build a habit.

Using the podcast, “Walking is Fitness“, is a great way to do this. Make a commitment to walk every day for ten-minutes. That’s the length of each episode which gets updated daily. This podcast provides a little motivation boost because I’m walking too so it doesn’t feel like you’re doing this hard thing alone.

I recommend walking and listening every day for 90 days. Some days will be harder then others, but those are actually the most valuable days. If you stick with this commitment, you will likely have a daily fitness habit at the end of three months. 

You’re now on your way to Fitness Momentum. For that to occur, you still need one of two things…preferably both.

RESULTS

One of the biggest de-railers of exercise is the perceived lack of results. Fitness is hard and most of us don’t start without the expectation of some sort of change. Typically these expected results are looking better, feeling better, or both! But, this takes time…usually far more time than we have the patience for.

Gradually, if you don’t give up, those changes start to happen. The scale starts to move. We have more energy. The effort expended starts to feel worth it. Momentum starts to build.

It’s hard to keep doing the same thing every day with nothing to show for it. But, once we feel progress our motivation to keep going, and maybe even do more, increases. 

FUN

The other key part of building fitness momentum is finding an activity you really enjoy. This helps with the long gap between when you start and when you see results. It also helps on those days when the results don’t matter as much.

Yeah, believe it or not, there are days when losing the weight, maintaining a weight loss, or even “feeling better” isn’t enough to keep going. That’s when it’s crucial to have a fitness activity you simply enjoy doing.

I love walking. I also love riding my bike. I would keep doing both even if there were “no results” gained from these activities. It’s kinda like my new obsession with Wordle, the online word game that caught fire earlier this year. There are no weight or health benefits from solving the daily Worldle yet I keep at it because I simply enjoy it. I got all kinds of Wordle Momentum right now.

START TODAY

To get started on creating your Fitness Momentum, check out “Walking is Fitness.” It’ll help you first create that Fitness Habit and then move forward to the really good stuff. 

Before long, you’ll find it harder to sit in a comfy chair in a climate controlled space than it is to get outside for a walk. 

That’s when you know you have Fitness Momentum!