Is Your ‘Fitness Momentum’ Moving in the Right Direction?

I've been pushing my fitness momentum in the right direction for so long that at this point, being in shape is pretty much automatic.

I can take months off from working out. Then, when I decide I want to be back in shape, two weeks in the gym will have me at 70%. After a month, I could be ready to have fun with a recreational competition.

I think it's because of the residual affects of taking myself to a high level of fitness, and staying there for a few years.

Now, in the time I spend between regular gym workouts, I am quite active. Still, I don't spend a ton of my time working out. My year usually looks like this.

• Summer - Run 1-3 times per week, swimming, golf, skateboarding, hopefully some softball or baseball, and quite a bit of yoga, some gym workouts (1-2 per week max)
• Fall - This is when I rebuild. I usually get a trainer or follow a workout designed to build strength and follow that for about 2 months (2-4 days per week in the gym). Yoga
• Winter - Skiing. Yoga.
• Spring -  Rebuilding. I usually get a trainer or follow a workout designed to build strength and follow that for about 2 months. (2-4 days per week in the gym)

Because physical movement is a passion of mine, I have created a positive fitness momentum that, at this point, is hard to slow down.

My momentum is just like inertia, one of Newton's basic laws of physics.

It says that an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted on by an outside force. So, roll the ball across the table, it will go over the edge unless something stops it. After it hits the ground it will continue to roll until gravity or something else (outside force) slows it down.

Likewise, an object at rest will stay at rest. The ball, not acted upon, does nothing.

Fitness momentum is like that. Since I've been actively playing since I was a kid, I am in great physical shape. I like playing, and because being in shape makes playing more fun, I stay in shape. The more in shape I am, the more fun I have playing the things I love to play, the easier it is to keep going to the gym for the grind of workouts.

The easier it gets, the easier it gets.

On the flip side, the longer it's been since you've exercised, the more out of shape you are, the greater effort it is going to take to reverse the momentum. Right now, you may be the 'object at rest'. What will be the catalyst that changes you from that to an 'object in motion'?

The good news is that even though it may sound like an impossible thing to reverse the momentum of being at rest, it really isn't. In fact, the more effort you initially put toward reversing the momentum, the easier it will be to continue. Once you get past the first weeks and months of a brand new workout schedule, it can become a part of your life.

Soon, you will notice that you feel worse when you don't workout. On days with no morning workout, see if you feel more tired. If you go a few weeks without hitting the gym or doing a great workout, notice if your back feels more tender, vulnerable or weak.

I know that if I go too long without trips to the gym, yoga class or runs, I risk a back injury.

Working out seems like it would be the hard part, right? Well, after a while, not working out is what causes a lack of ease, or, dis-ease.

If you are the object at rest, introduce some motion into your life, and see if the inertia can carry you to a happier place.