Tag: fitness
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Setbacks and identity
I confess my recent humbling attempts to start upper body exercise again have had me questioning some fundamentals of my identity. Joy and pride in getting stronger has been a really important part of my fitness journey, and something that has motivated me to start building up my skills to offer personal training. These last…
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Tail of the snake
When you’ve built up your strength and fitness, it’s tough when you realise you’ve lost fitness. You’ve slid down the snake and there aren’t any ladders in sight. And the square you used to be on seems unreachably far away. It can happen so easily – injuries, illness, life events or just getting older. It…
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Exercise snacking
I’m a big fan of exercise snacking. It’s easy to see exercise as a big thing – something we need to commit precious hours to. And of course for some goals you do need to put the hours in. But it’s also easy to fall into the trap of starting too big, and setting ourselves…
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Checking in
One tool I often offer to many of my coaching clients is a check in. It works like this. I ask them to choose a moment in their day for a quick check in. A point to take stock of how things are going. Crucially there’s no judgement, just noticing. The best time varies. If…
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Fun and motivation
Runners often talk about type 1 and type 2 fun. Type 1 workouts are the ones that are actually enjoyable at the time. And type 2 are those that aren’t fun at the time but feel good to get done. I’m lucky enough that I mostly enjoy my runs, rides and gym sessions while I’m…
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Little steps
My fitness journey didn’t start with a marathon. It started one evening in lockdown, in a park in the dusk with a battered old pair of trainers. Feeling how my mind and body were struggling with so little movement in my daily life. And having a playful experiment to find a way of running that…
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Be smartly stubborn
I’ve had a few tough weeks with a frozen shoulder which is really getting in the way of my marathon training. It’s a weird but painful condition that comes out of nowhere and takes its own time to go away. I’ve tried to keep going as best I can, really wanting to keep my goal…
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Does flexibility suit you?
Some people thrive on options, others do better having just one thing to do. I was coaching someone today and we were coming up with a plan for her to look after her physical and mental wellbeing to help deal with work stress. She had a good sense of what worked for her (running, yoga,…
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New shoes
Today I got new running shoes. I’d been putting it off because my old shoes were comfortable. Maybe a bit battered, but still functional. And it seemed an unjustified extravagance to get yet another pair of running shoes! So I kept putting it off. But over time those old shoes had broken down, and weren’t…
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Trackers and streaks
Trackers and streaks can be really helpful in motivating ourselves. But if we’re not careful, they can be counterproductive. For over 500 days I’ve consistently done a minimum of 8000 steps a day. I often do more, but 8000 is a good baseline that I can still hit consistently when I’ve spent a few hours…
Jessica Smith - Life, work and fitness coaching 