10-Min Pep-Talk Walk: Show Up Anyway | 41

Okay, so let's talk about those days. You know the ones. Your workout gear is giving you the side-eye and the couch is a tractor beam, pulling you over to it.

Uh-huh. Been there more times than I can count.

Well, I have a psychological hack for just that, and on this short walk 'll tell you how I trick myself into doing something I don’t feel like doing. Works like a charm.

During this 10-minute walking mini-workout we chat about:

• The "gym bag trick" I've been using for years to squeeze in exercise when I don’t want to.
• Why just "showing up" is more important than having the "perfect" workout.
• The story of how a trip to Costco for new tires turned into a surprise walking workout."

Seriously, if you've ever fought with your couch and lost, this walk is for you.

P.S. You will hear a bell halfway. If you're out, that's your cue to head back.

Instagram/Facebook: @yourwalkingpodcast

Transcript

This short walk is for anyone whose motivation is at zero today—just to get us moving. I’ll share my go-to mental hack for getting out the door when the couch is calling my name (and yours).

Start with your warm-up: deep breath in through your nose and exhale through your mouth. If you’re walking outside or indoors—on a treadmill, a walking pad, or marching around your house—great.

We’re going to go a little faster, a little slower—we’re going to vary this workout. Deep breath in. We’re going to find our motivation today. It’s a shorter workout, a shorter walk, because sometimes that’s all we have. And exhale.

Roll those shoulders back. Roll those shoulders forward.

Shake out your hands.

And always, when you’re walking outside, be aware of your surroundings. See what’s going on. It’s always good if you can find a loop you like to walk—maybe a park or a walking trail—so it’s not super busy. But if you’re in a city, your loop may include a lot of lights. If you’re at a light signal, you can march in place, and it doesn’t matter what people think of you.

You can add a weighted vest if you want, or a backpack. Put your cat in there, your toddler, your dog—whatever you have. Another deep breath, just warming it up.

And exhale. We’re not chasing perfect. We’re just trying to keep the promises we make to ourselves to keep moving. That’s what we’re going to talk about today—doing something or showing up for yourself when you don’t want to. Because a lot of times I don’t want to. Keep your shoulders down now. Light on your feet.

Now we’re going to go a little bit faster.

Sometimes it helps to think shorter steps and a little more arm drive when you’re walking faster. You can still talk, still breathe—your feet are just turning over a bit faster.

Sometimes we have to force ourselves or trick ourselves into showing up for ourselves. When I’m done working and I just want to sit on the sofa for a minute—whenever I get my chores done—but actually, if you just head out for a five-minute or ten-minute walk, or even do five minutes of mobility to stretch out those hips and that back…

You kind of have to force yourself or trick yourself. Sometimes after a spin class I wanted to work out with weights, but I just didn’t want to, actually. Ideally I would do that, but I was too tired.

I put my gym bag by the door and told myself I just needed to work myself up to the gym bag and then I could leave. Our equipment was in rows—row one, row two, row three—so I’d start by the spin room in the back, pick a machine or two from this row, a machine or two from the next row, and a machine or two from the next row,

and then the next row. Suddenly I was at the front, I’d do a little stretching, and then I was done. I’d go home. I had to force or trick myself to show up because I’d done a bunch of cardio, but I wasn’t always doing a consistent amount of strength training—which is also really important, especially as we get older.

Okay—go faster now. Pick up that pace. Tall posture. You want to get to the point during this little burst where you can’t talk in complete, long sentences. You can do shorter sentences, but not full gossip-girl mode. Hold onto it.

Your legs feel strong, your arms feel strong. Your shoulders are down. Deep breath in. Oh—I must tell you, there’s a bell at the halfway point, so if you’re walking outside, that’s your cue to turn around if you want. If you’re working indoors, when we work harder you can add resistance or add a little speed—whatever works for your body. Some people prefer resistance, some prefer speed.

If you’re outdoors and can’t find a hill, look around. If there’s a curb, you can step up and down on it, or put something on your back. Deep breath in now. A little bit uncomfortable,

but strong. When you breathe in through your nose, relax your stomach—really fill, fill, fill those lungs—and then exhale all the way. Now pull that stomach in to really empty out those lungs.

None of us wants to show up for ourselves. We do—but we don’t actually want to put in the effort. I sometimes don’t. I went through a phase where I was super motivated—well, the phase lasted like 15 years, so who am I to say? But sometimes you just don’t feel it, and that’s when you trick yourself, or you just get out there and move—even if it’s 10, 12, 15 minutes.

Even if you split it up throughout the day, make it a non-negotiable: “I’m just going to do five minutes of mobility today,” and then do it. The other day I dropped my car at Costco to get new tires, and I didn’t want to wait in Costco—it was Saturday and it was crazy.

So I walked up to PetSmart—it was only nine minutes away—but I walked up to PetSmart, then walked around the shopping center a little bit. Then it was like a hundred degrees and I was hot and tired, but I had no choice but to walk back because I needed to pick up my car. I was carrying cat food, and I walked back.

Sometimes you can do little tricks like that to make sure you do it.

Okay, now we’re going to do a

little mini burst. If you’re on a machine with an incline, add a little incline. If you’re outside or in your house without an incline, just go faster—shorter steps, stronger arms. If you’re feeling spicy, hold onto a burst there and add more arms to it.

Feel a little push. Hang on to it.

Push it now—strong. Squeeze those glutes when you walk, but keep everything else relaxed.

Feel that burst. Okay, we’ve got ten more seconds.

And slow it down a little bit. You’re going to be brisk, but not a burst. Hang on to this for a couple of minutes now. Deep breath in again.

Think about an easy win you can do right after this. If you have time when you get back, maybe do some mobility. I keep talking about mobility because as I get older, everything seems to hurt. I wake up in the morning—oh—everything hurts. So the mobility exercises—if you can squeeze that in—that could be a little win for you.

Because you walked and then you did some mobility—maybe some push-ups or planks—then you’d have two wins right after each other. Or another win you can do later in the day. It’s all about the little things: the little movements, the little wins, the little steps you can take. Eventually they build and build on top of each other until you have a whole new outlook and you feel good, and you kind of crave those little wins—start craving the little bursts and the little mobility movements and craving the little wins. Hold onto your pace. Really get that oxygen in there. Fill up those lungs and make sure you empty those lungs all the way out. Try to do as much little movement as you can throughout the day.

I know I talk about that a lot. And breathe.

Now you’re going to slow it down. In a minute or so you should be able to talk in full sentences. You’re going to walk like someone who shows up for themselves—even when it’s messy, even when it’s not perfect, even if you’re walking in your pajamas.

Have I done that? Probably.

Now slow it down a little more. We’re going to start heading into our cool-down.

See if you can do the same thing tomorrow—same time tomorrow. See if you can fit a five-minute walk, a ten-minute walk, a fifteen-minute walk in. You can look at some of my older episodes and see which ones fit into your day—

10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20, 30, 40—whatever you have time for. Just pick a walk and commit to it. At some point tomorrow you’re going to do another ten-minute walk or a fifteen-minute walk. Or tie it to a cue: while you’re brewing coffee, get out and go for a walk, or walk around your kitchen. School drop-off—that’s a cue. “Once I do this, or while I’m doing this, then this happens.” Even “after dishes, I do this, and then my reward is that.” Slow it down a little more now. Another deep breath in.

Also think about what made you want to walk today. What cue started you walking today? Think about how that made you feel, and see if you can tap into that so you’ll be motivated to go out again. The more we start these little micro-wins, the more often we’re apt to put them into our day instead of reaching for something else or sitting down on the sofa. And I still want to get that walking pad I talk about, because I can get on there—even if it’s slow—and watch TV. Just keep moving. It doesn’t even matter how fast you go; you just want to keep your body moving.

It’s good to get that blood flowing throughout your body and that oxygen. Another deep breath in as we slow it down a little more. After you walk, try to give it a little stretch. It doesn’t have to be a lot—your quads, your calves. Roll out those shoulders.

Another deep breath in, and I’ll see you next time.