Fitting in fitness to a busy life isn’t always straight forward is it??
I have three energetic children who are lucky enough to be given the opportunity to do lots of after school activities
I have paid employment at two places of work – First Days Children’s Charity and Edgbarrow School.
I am the Chair of the School Fundraising Committee where my children go to school.
I run a junior Triathlon Club – Reading Rascals
Oh and I run Barnes Fitness (with the help of my husband, Ian) and am a director of MST Events
But I make time to exercise and train – and here’s how and why….:
- Friends
Most of my great friends are people I train with…. Like minded people who think it’s “normal” to set an alarm at something beginning with a 5 to be able to start a swim session at 6.3oam!Having friends that you know you’ve committed to meeting to exercise with, is going to make it much more likely that you are going to turn up and not press snooze on your alarm….it’s a fact, you won’t want to let your friends down.
I sometimes ask my friends to look after my kids so I can exercise as ultimately I’m a MUCH better Mum if I have exercised and had some “space!” Who can relate to this??
- Fun
If it’s not fun, I wouldn’t do it….Of course, there are going to be some parts of some sessions when I think “why”, “I can’t do this”, “this really really hurts”….. But I try and make a fun element of every session – whether that’s creating a fun playlist of “tunes” that are going to make me smile, something fun to eat/drink after the session as a reward or even creating a fun session such as 38 different ways of swimming 50m when it was my 38th birthday….
I’m also very passionate about making sessions fun that I deliver as a triathlon coach. Fun sessions are something I thrive from when coaching our Reading Rascals Junior Triathlon Club. Fun, challenging and rewarding sessions do exist – just take a bit of thinking about it and energy putting in to. - Fartlek
Fartlek training, which translates to “speed play” in Swedish, is similar to interval training when you switch the pace up every now and again with increased pace.This to me is about VARIETY – don’t always run at the same pace, don’t always do the same training, mix it up – variety is the spice of life…..If time is tight, a fartlek session where you run/cycle or swim at different intensities is going to reap great rewards as opposed to not doing anything.
- Forward Plan
Call me “old school”…. I still use a paper diary! I find the process of physically writing something in my diary is going to make it more likely for me to remember/commit to whatever it is.I do like to plan – hence why I am an Event Organiser!I plan my training sessions like I plan social engagements….I like to know what’s happening/when and plan in advance rather than “wing it” – after all “fail to plan, plan to fail.”
- Fitness Coach
Hiring a fitness coach is no different to hiring a business coach, a cleaner or someone to advise you on your mortgages. A credible fitness coach should be qualified in their field of fitness and have experience of similar goals to what you are wanting to achieve. Fitness Coaches can help you achieve your goal, keep you motivated and help you plan your fitness journey.Lewis Williams of PeAK UK is “bravely!” taking me on my Ironman Wales journey. I can honestly say – that having Lewis doing the “thinking” for me in terms of what training I need to do when and how much depending where we are in the training cycle/how my body is reacting and what else I have going on in my busy life is a godsend and worth every penny. I’m also lucky that I get to train alongside Lewis at times – when I say this, he is lapping me multiple times in the pool but it’s great to be able to get feedback from him when he can actually see me training.
