Female Bodybuilding: How to stick with the Program

Working out is a moving meditation. It is the largest chunk of dedicated 'me' time that most of us have available to ourselves all day. So why, oh why is it so difficult to drag yourself to the gym?

Hmmm ... let's explore this phenomenon.

Rewind the clock to the third week of January. Your new year's resolution to get into shape has survived the post-party hangover. You went so far as to actually become a member at the local gym. You've bought the new gym towel and you've had your body fat measured. The results were shocking, but what did you expect ... just more fuel for the motivational fire.

So, every morning or evening, you rock up at the gym, working up a sweat and you walk out there feeling great. You follow the diet religiously and you avoid all of live's sweet temptations. And it's going great - the more you do it the better your body works. And you last until well into week 5.

And then the trouble starts. Perhaps a bad day at the office, a fight with your partner or it's "Just one of those days". Often, going to the gym might be the best thing you could do for yourself - but just not today, I'll go tomorrow again.

Tomorrow comes, and it's another reason to let the gym go. Feeling a little guilty, you promise yourself that you'll start afresh next week Monday. The cycle continues, and you just say - Forget it, this is tough.

So what happened?

It was Einstein who said that it takes a lot of energy to get a stationary body moving. And in the beginning, you invested that energy to get your body moving. You were fired up and raring to go. It was fun and exciting because it was something new. But just like gravity will eventually bring everything back down to earth, the reality of expending all that energy on a daily basis can wear you down and bring you back down to earth with a bump. The alternative is that something or someone else brings you to an abrupt standstill. And you just can't quite seem to work up the energy needed to get yourself moving again.

Don't feel despondent - we all have those days. There is a way to get over this little hurdle.

"Little hurdle? Little?!? It's a huge problem!" - is usually the first reaction I get to that statement. "I've fallen off the bus, I've blown it" is a close second. Here's the secret - you've only stumbled; it's only a minor setback.

Resistance training is often the best method to get your body into shape. Click here To read more on Female Bodybuilding

You can read part 2 of "Zen and the art of Bodybuilding" on the Bodaciousbod.com Bodybuilding for Woman website.