Life can be stressful. Or, actually, let’s be honest…Life can be completely unpredictable! One minute you have a perfectly good plan to exercise, and the next thing you know, the bikes chain breaks, it’s raining sideways, someone needs something, work has landed on your desk, or your body has decided that today would be a very good day to remind you that you are no longer 25. And there goes the exercise plan.  

Most athletes have some sort of training plan. It might not be written down in military-style detail, but there is usually a goal. Brandon, for example, is training for the Knysna Extreme. His training currently revolves around making sure he gets enough time on the bike, enough running and enough swimming so that when race day arrives, he can hopefully say, “Yes, I trained enough.” 

I have no such excuse. I’m not training for anything. I’m not chasing a medal. There is no finish line waiting for me. I just know that I feel better when I exercise. My training plan is often as sophisticated as opening YouTube and thinking, “Right, what do I feel like doing today?” Pilates? Cardio?  Dance?  Strength? We do walk the dogs on Leisure Isle and a hike over the weekends but swimming I will wait for summer.  

Something that promises to give me a six-pack in seven minutes? Obviously, I chose the last one. Well… I watch the first 30 seconds and then decide Pilates sounds better. 

And Then Life Happens. This is where motivation gets interesting. Because it’s very easy to exercise when everything is going according to plan. The sun is shining. Your shoes are ready. You have time. You feel energetic. You are feeling very virtuous. Then…BANG. 

Life. The bike breaks. It rains. You get busy. Family commitments appear. Work takes over. You’re tired. You have a million things to do. And suddenly that little voice says: “You know what? Maybe tomorrow. “Tomorrow becomes the next day. The next day becomes Monday. Monday becomes next Monday. And before you know it, your exercise clothes are sitting neatly folded in the cupboard wondering what they did to deserve this treatment. 

But should we really let those interruptions stop us. I don’t think so. Exercise isn’t always about being competitive. It’s not necessarily about going faster, further or lifting heavier. Sometimes it’s simply about how it makes us feel. That feeling after you’ve moved your body. That slightly smug feeling when you know you’ve actually used some of those muscles. The feeling of being alive. And if you’re lucky enough to exercise outdoors, there is so much more.A sunrise.A sunset.Birds.The lagoon. The mountains. The fresh air. Swimming in the water and looking around thinking, “How lucky am I to be doing this?” 

And then there are the people. The friends you make. The laughs. The encouragement. The conversations that somehow happen while everyone is supposed to be concentrating on exercising. Sometimes the social part is just as important as the exercise. 

And apparently our brains approve of all this moving around. Regular exercise can help reduce stress and anxiety, improve mood and support better sleep. Movement affects neurotransmitters such as endorphins, serotonin and dopamine and helps regulate our body’s stress response. 

So when you’re having one of those days where your brain feels like 37 browser tabs are open and you have absolutely no idea where the music is coming from, exercise can actually help. You don’t necessarily need a two-hour workout. You just need to move. 

This is probably the bit I need to remind myself of too. If you don’t feel like exercising, don’t tell yourself you have to do an hour. Tell yourself: “I’ll just do five minutes. “Five minutes of stretching. A walk around the block. A few Pilates exercises. Dance around the kitchen. Take the dogs for a walk. Put on a YouTube workout. Do something. 

Because five minutes can quite easily turn into ten. Ten can become twenty. And sometimes, once you’ve started, you actually feel like carrying on. And if you don’t? That’s okay, too. At least you moved. 

I think this is important. If you absolutely hate running, why are you running? There are so many ways to move your body. Swim, Walk, Cycle, Dance, Pilates, play padel, Lift weights, Garden, Hike, Walk the dog. 

Put on music and dance around the lounge like nobody is watching. Because, quite frankly, nobody needs to see that anyway. The best exercise is often the one you enjoy enough to do again. 

There will always be days when exercise doesn’t happen. And that’s okay. Sometimes your body needs to rest.  Sometimes work genuinely has to come first. Sometimes family needs you. Sometimes the weather is so awful that even the dogs look at you as if to say, “We’re not going outside in that.” 

And sometimes you simply don’t feel like it. That’s life. The trick is not to turn one missed day into a lifestyle. Don’t beat yourself up. Don’t wait for Monday. Don’t wait for the perfect time. Just start again. Five minutes. Ten minutes. One walk. One swim. One YouTube video. Whatever works. Because perhaps motivation isn’t something we have to wait for. 

And at the end of the day, whether you’re training for an extreme triathlon like Brandon or simply trying to keep your body moving because it makes you feel good like me…We’re not necessarily doing this to become the fittest person in the room. We’re doing it because life feels better when we move through it. So, when life happens…Don’t give up. Do something different. Have a laugh. And then…just keep moving.