Paige Waehner - Strength Training for Seniors - Increase your Balance, Stability, and Stamina to Rewind the Aging Process

And don’t forget, there are things built into us that make us want to change, and harnessing those can make it that much easier. That’s where having clear goals can really make a difference.

WHAT MOTIVATES US TO MAKE A CHANGE?

You’ve learned about motivation, the kind that drives us from the inside and the outside, but there are some specific things that have the most impact on us.

As we get older and want to participate in life, there’s one area we all want to improve: Health. In fact, it’s the one thing wasted on the young, right? You don’t know what’s going to happen to your body as you age until it does. And, boy, does it.

Health often becomes one of the main reasons we decide to make a change, and it’s easy to see why.

IMPROVING HEALTH

Improving health can be a big motivator depending on a person’s situation. Maybe it’s that first time your doctor put you on a medication you never thought you’d need. Maybe it’s having that surgery you weren’t planning on. Either way, things will happen to derail you from basic life tasks including:

✓ Pain—Pain is a definite motivator, something anyone who’s been through a major injury, surgery, etc. can tell you. Being in pain changes how you act, how you feel, and what you do to deal with it. For many, it’s a reason to get stronger so as to avoid it.

✓ Getting off certain kinds of medication—Some medications are necessary, but there are others we might be able to wean off of with exercise. High blood pressure, diabetic medication, or even anti-depressants are things that, in theory, we can manage with lifestyle changes. Obviously this should be done through the purview of your doctor.

✓ Better sleep—One thing we often notice as we get older is that sleep is harder to come by and most of us know the benefits of getting enough sleep including reducing stress, weight loss, and allowing our bodies to rest and rejuvenate. Numerous studies show that regular exercise can increase the amount of slow wave sleep we get, the kind that helps us get the rest we need.

✓ More energy—Science has shown that an object at rest tends to stay at rest. But an object in motion? Yes... stays in motion. The more you move, the more energy you generate, and exercise has been proven to enhance those “feel-good” hormones such as endorphins, hormones designed to boost our moods and make us feel better.

✓ More clarity—If there’s one thing movement can do, it’s to allow us time to let the mind wander a bit and that often brings clarity to regular, everyday problems we might chew over, given a little too much time inside our minds. Giving your mind a break with some mindless exercise may help you solve problems a little easier.

SELF-EFFICACY

One of the most important ways we feel motivated is by taking on a challenge and then conquering that challenge. No doubt you’ve experienced any number of challenging situations and one thing we learn is that we can always do more than we think.

That’s where self-efficacy comes in. Self-efficacy sounds like a fancy word, but it really refers to the fact that you have complete confidence in your abilities. Whether that’s confidence in your own motivation or over your own environment, that belief is what adds to your ability to control what’s going on around you.

Part of this confidence comes through practice. Every time you show up for a workout, every time you reach for a pair of weights, you increase your own sense of belief in yourself. It really is all about believing in your own capacity to do this. And that happens every time you show up.

There are different ways we can experience self-efficacy including:

a.Experience: Mastering any task, even if it’s mastering an exercise program, gives you that achievement that helps you keep going. It’s like gardening. When I started out, I had no idea what I was doing (sometimes still don’t). But over time, I’ve learned a lot just by trying and that makes me want to do more.

b.Modeling: This may involve having someone in your life who’s succeeding at something. For example, my husband started walking regularly and, just seeing him do that was motivating enough for me to realize I could do it too. Looking around at the people in your life can give you inspiration to make a change.

c.Social persuasion: This type of motivation can come from someone you know or, in some cases, belonging to a group. Whether that’s a gym or some other like-minded people, seeing those people or being invited to join them can also be a motivator to help you master different tasks.

BELIEVING WE CAN SUCCEED

One important part of this mix is believing in ourselves, especially during difficult situations. Some of us are going through a variety of issues: back problems, arthritis, joint issues, and other things that cause chronic pain.

One of the most important things that keeps us going is knowing we can succeed. What keeps us from believing that? Fear.

Part of believing in ourselves is dealing with the fear that all of us feel from time to time. Fear of failure.

OVERCOMING FEAR OF FAILURE

Is it really possible to completely overcome fear of failure? I don’t think so, although working on it is certainly a worthwhile venture. Fear serves a very important purpose in our lives, knowing when to avoid something that may harm us being just one.

When it comes to exercise, fear of failure tops the list of reasons to avoid it. While we’re all born with the same knowledge, there’s some part of us that believes we are just born knowing how to exercise.

It’s that belief that has us walking into gyms thinking that we’re just supposed to know how all these contraptions work and exactly how to use them.

The good news is that no one is born knowing these things and, second, you can learn at your own pace and make decisions that work for your body.

The truth is that some days, you will fail. As humans, it’s what we do, but that doesn’t mean we give up. One way to deal with that failure is to:

✓ Set goals based on what you know you can reach—Here’s the good news: You don’t have to have the same goals day after day. Sometimes what we can accomplish changes based on how we feel from day to day. Sometimes, it’s the best decision to change your goal rather than force something that just isn’t going to happen through no fault of your own.

✓ Focus on the energy you need for now—Too often we think of exercise as something we have to do day after day after day. In reality, we only need enough energy for what we need to do right now. Tomorrow’s energy will come and then we can rely on that.

✓ Be okay with what you can do—Every day is different. Some days you knock it out of the park and others you’re just happy you made it out of bed. Celebrate what you can do each day and adjust for that difference. It’s normal and it’s okay.

FINDING SOCIAL SUPPORT

One of the most important coping strategies when it comes to exercise is developing strong social support. Having a social network, whether it’s online or local, is one way to keep that belief that you can succeed.

The great thing about current times is that there are many ways to stay social, even if you’re at home and don’t always have the means to meet other people.

✓ Meetups (https://www.meetup.com/) are one of the best ways to find people who are into what you’re into. This free website allows you to sign up and join groups that match your interests, whether that’s hiking, biking, dancing, or book clubs.

✓ Nextdoor (https://nextdoor.com/news_feed/) is a great way to keep up with what’s going on locally and reach out when you need help with almost anything.