Lay down the TARP, or some other inane mnemonic acronym: Induced exercise, part 11.

(Parts 1 2 3 4 5 6  7  8  9 and 10)

I posted number 10, "Use your imagination," just yesterday, and really, I think if you haven't read it first, you should go read it, and maybe give yourself a couple of days of thinking about it before moving on to this post.  I personally spent about four months contemplating the image I describe in that post, before I went on to make some real plans concerning my physical fitness.  I hope it doesn't take you that long, but I do think it deserves your attention.

* * *

Now for the nitty gritty work.  There are four variables you need to nail down before you will have a jen-you-whine regular exercise program.

OK, really there are five.  Four, and you have a plan for an exercise program.  The fifth variable concerns whether you actually, you know, show up for it or not.

But here they are, the big four:

• T - Slots of time in which to exercise.  The slot must include time for transportation, changing clothes, etc.:  all the things that transform you from Your Normal Life into Exercise Woman and back.
• A -  One -- yes, one -- activity that's good for your body and that you should be able to do a few times a week for the next several months.  
• R - Your route, that is, the place where you will exercise, or the path along which you will travel to get there and back.  Also, how you get there and back, and the stuff you'll need to carry with you or wear.
• P - Provision made for the needs of all the people who depend on you while you're exercising. 

(Yes, I could have suggested you "do your PART" or "take a PRATfall" or "get out of the TRAP", or swapped "activity" for "sport" or "location" for "place" and gotten ALPS or SLAP.  I don't care.  If you don't like my TARP, come up with your own DMA.)

 

( That's "damn mnemonic acronym.")

Time slot.  Activity.  Route.  People's needs.

These four things are not, it turns out, independent.  You cannot really work on them individually:  you can't, for example, decide first when you're going to exercise, and THEN figure out what kind of exercise you're going to do, and so forth.  Well, you could do that, but you would be unintentionally limiting yourself along the way.    

Instead you need to imagine whole scenarios at once, and figure out what you'd have to do to get there. 

•  Perhaps you'll be a twice-a-week swimmer... in a pool... then you need to join a gym... and if you join a gym, there's a child care there, and that takes care of the people... well, now you know what you need, you just have to go and find out how much it costs, and consider whether you could afford it.  
•   Or perhaps you will be a runner... outside or at home?  Well, if at home, you might need a treadmill... but then your ten-year-old could be in charge of the younger kids... if you leave the house you would really feel more comfortable with a baby-sitter.  Which makes more sense to pay for?  The treadmill or the babysitter?  What about yoga?  Hm, there's a parent-and-child class available!  But it's offered at a particular place and at a particular time.  So if you choose that, the time and place are decided for you.
•    What about yoga?  Hm, there's a parent-and-child class available!  But it's offered at a particular place and at a particular time.  So if you choose that, the time and place are decided for you.

You see what I mean?  

So the Big Four aren't a four-step guide to figuring it out.  There are many ways you might become the person you imagine becoming.  Each possible scenario, though, has to account for the time, the activity, the route, and the people who depend on you.  If you haven't figured that out, the scenario isn't complete.

Perhaps, as you weigh your options, you'll want a separate piece of paper for each one.  The name of the possibility across the top:  "Scenario:  Swimming while the kids are in swimming lessons."  Then down the left side of the page, T. A. R. P.  "Time:  once a week when the class is scheduled.  Activity:  swimming laps.  Route:  the community center, and I really have to change and shower at home to maximize my pool time.  People:  the kids are in the lesson, so I know they're okay."  At the bottom of the page you can leave room for notes about pros and cons, cost, phone numbers to call to ask questions, things like that.

I'm going to write in more detail about each of the Big Four.  But here are some notes first.

1.  I'm going to suggest that you start by doing less, much less, than you think you're capable of (or especially less than you think you "should" do) and leave room in your psyche, if not your schedule, to add more.  Your mantra should be:  I have the rest of my life to become the person I wish I could be.  Right now I am working on the basics.  When I have mastered the basics, then I can do more, if that seems right.

2.  Nevertheless, you should endeavor to send a signal to yourself that you are, in fact, serious about change.  Have you failed to keep up with your hoped-for goals in the past?  Are other people openly skeptical that this time is going to be any different?  If so, it's all the more important that this time really BE different.  If you've tried a dozen times to stick to a home workout program, maybe this is the time to try leaving the house.  If you've always tried to exercise three times a week and never managed to keep up with it for longer than a month or two, maybe this is the time to set a goal of one or two times per week.    What can you do that will tell yourself, This is the beginning of my becoming an athlete?  Maybe it's just going slowly, telling yourself you're going to master things one at a time.  Maybe it's a new pair of shoes.  Maybe it's a schedule, or signing up for a class, or making an agreement to meet a friend for an exercise appointment.  You know best.  Send that signal.

3.  The number one goal is to build the habit.  The first habit is to decide what to do, and then to show up for it.  Showing up is at least half the battle, maybe more.  So do yourself a favor.  Make it easy for you to show up.

4.  You might need more than one scenario to take you through a whole year, depending on the climate, kids' class schedules, et cetera.   Here in Minneapolis, urban bicycling in June is not exactly the same sport that it is in January (just ask my husband, who bike commutes year round).  But bear in mind your past history:   have seasonal changes triggered seasonal quitting?  If so, plan something to prevent this.

5.  Don't forget the fifth variable making TARP in to TARPS:  S for "will I actually show up for this?"  

Comments

[mrsdarwin]

I really think you ought to write a book. You've got a great system going on here.

For the record, I like PART, but I couldn't say why.

[4ddintx]

I'm realizing that I have been slowly but surely doing these steps over the past few months (since before baby was born in October, even).

One of my Lenten disciplines has been to exercise 3X per week. I've chosen to do it at home to a video for various reasons (can elaborate if anyone cares what video and why), and it's working. I knew that a promise to God would keep me on track until Easter and then I'll have to rely on willpower and the fact that it's already in my schedule.

Tabitha