10 Things I Do To Make Fitness More Fun

I coach fitness for a living, and trust me, even coaches have days where we stare at the gym and feel overwhelmed. I mean, why wouldn't we? It's overstimulating, loud, often busy and carries this weird sense of pressure. One that we don't put on ourselves willingly; it sort of gets thrust upon us as soon as we walk through the door. Fitness has a tendency to become very serious; with a lot of people screaming about discipline, the grind and dedication. Social media. The media. Friends. Peers. Family. There's always an opinion and a tonne of information out there on what we should and shouldn't be doing. It becomes ALOT. A constant battle of finding more information but not having a clue what to do with it. It seems like the barrier to entry just gets bigger and more unrealistic too. We find ourselves comparing to others, diminishing our own goals and achievements, because they're just not as impressive as everyone else. But, throughout my time as a coach working in fitness and as a person who LOVES training, fitness and moving my body, the more I’ve realised consistency doesn’t come from being hardcore all the time. Fitness, becomes a lot less intimidating when you stop treating everything with an all or nothing mindset. When you're able to find ways to make the process lighter, easier, and honestly… a bit more fun.  The people who enjoy fitness most aren’t the people doing everything perfectly. They’re the people who’ve learned how to make the process feel lighter, less intimidating, and actually sustainable. So here are my 10 tips, of things I've done to make fitness a bit more 'me friendly'.

A list of things I do now that make training more fun, less daunting and keep me consistent. Which, we all know, is key.

1️⃣ Wearing gym outfits I ACTUALLY like. I’ve accepted not everything suits me and that’s FINE. I’ve also accepted I don’t like wearing a lottttt of trending styles and don’t find them comfy or practical. So I’m over forcing it.

2️⃣ Realised that we all have different training preferences and that’s ok. You don’t have to / shouldn’t feel pressured to do anything you don’t want to just because it’s popular at the moment. Fitness gets easier when you stop forcing yourself into someone else’s version of it.

3️⃣ I focus on how fitness makes me feel, not just how it makes me look. Of course aesthetics and wanting to change your body, deserves it's place in fitness. That’s normal. But the longer I’ve trained, the more I value:

• better energy and sleep regulation

• feeling stronger

• improved mood and stress management

• my self value and worth

• having a healthier relationship with myself

Because when appearance becomes the only goal, fitness can start feeling exhausting.

4️⃣ Moved away from taking a fitness watch and data as gospel. Watches can give you metrics, numbers and zones…but it’s all subjective and not 💯 accurate. I use data as tools but don’t lose my mind over. A watch telling me I'm not performing that day, that I'm being lazy, under recovered and constantly updating me with heart rate zones? Just added pressure added into the mix.

5️⃣  I make things easier, more accessible and more achieveable instead of harder. Sometimes fitness needs fewer obstacles and cheat codes that work for you.The easier something feels to start, the more likely you are to stay consistent.

Things that help me:

• laying gym clothes out beforehand or packing the night before

• having exercise alternatives and back up plan

• going to the gym at a time that suits my brain and body

• learning to be adaptable and flexible with expectations

• training closer to home and at a gym that I actually like (neurospicy tip)

6️⃣ Unfollowing accounts that made me question my worth, giving false or dangerous advice, or just made me feel, sh*t about myself. Comparison makes fitness feel heavier than it needs to be and is an instant mood killer.

7️⃣ I practice auto-regulation and have learnt how to adapt and amend on the fly as needed. All or nothing approach never works and it just makes every session feel 10x harder when you expect to be able to show up the same everytime. You're not a robot.

8️⃣ Actually 👏 eating 👏 and 👏 not 👏 going 👏 into 👏 every 👏 session 👏 under fuelled 👏 Because migraines, dizzy spells, feeling sick and weak are not part of the programme. You earn the right to train through good nutrition, you don't earn the right to eat through exercise.

9️⃣ I meet myself where I’m at. I’ve learnt you need to earn the right to zones, paces and more challenging exercises. They’re not just given and shouldn’t be expected. Which means that pressure to perform, is all relative to me and my goals.

🔟 Work with a coach I trust, respect and who gets me. Which means we have a plan, targets and someone to laugh at my f*ck ups with 🫠🫠

BONUS 1️⃣1️⃣ I’ve learnt to not take things too seriously. You’re allowed to have a bit of fun. You’re allowed to make mistakes (it’s normal), change your mind, play around a bit anddddd have a laugh. Fitness is important. But it’s also okay to be human while doing it.

Sometimes workouts are messy. Sometimes your gym playlist is terrible. Sometimes you confidently walk into the gym and immediately forget what exercise you came to do. Even with the best though out plan.

It happens.

The people who last in fitness usually aren’t the people who are hardest on themselves, they’re the people who learn to enjoy the process, adapt and keep showing up imperfectly.