Mum’s 10-month review

For anyone new to reading Never Too Old to Lift, you may not have seen the previous posts showing my mum getting started with strength training. She was inspired to start training following being asked to proofread the first few posts on this blog. 

Her posts have turned out to be some of the most-read posts to date.

Here are the 3 posts that show her story so far:

• Inspired to Start Strength Training
• Mum’s First Strength Program
• Mum’s 2 Month Review

I recommend reading these first before continuing with this post.

You might have noticed that there’s been a very lengthy gap since her 2 Month review. Over the last few months, I’ve been a bit preoccupied with the move to Birmingham and starting a new business part-time whilst still working my previous job.  During this time Mum spent a lot of the summer over in France.

This meant I did not keep up to date with how Mum was getting on with everything. Given that she has not volunteered any progress reports to me, I fear that the exercises may have stopped.

Now that everything is settled again for me and that Mum is back in the UK, I wanted to check in with her and find out how she’s been getting on.

My catch up with Mum

How have the last 7 months been?

I have spent about 3 months of this period in France and have found that it was an excuse to break my exercise routine. However, I have also been more active in general during the warmer months with walking, gardening etc.

What was the main challenge you found?

I did find that the new set of exercises that you gave me were considerably harder than the first ones and so I was not as enthusiastic about doing them.  I especially found that doing the lunges without something to aid my balance was very hard and painful.

What ideas can you think of to work around this challenge?

I think that if these new exercises were gradually introduced in line with the old ones that would have helped.

Are there any other challenges you faced?

I had a fall whilst I was on holiday and badly bruised my hip and hurt my knee. This was another excuse to stop exercising during the period of recovery.

How could you work around these?

Initially, I was kept motivated by you checking up on me.  If I have to report to you on a weekly basis then this would provide me with an opportunity to discuss any exercises that I was finding particularly difficult. In the case of the fall, you could have suggested some gentle exercises that would have helped my recovery.

Any further challenges?

Due to spending time between the UK and France, the equipment I have is shared between the 2 locations. I have used this as an excuse as I have had not had the correct weight to hand when I’ve wanted it.

How could this be resolved?

Given that the equipment you recommended was not expensive, I could get a second set of kettlebells and bands to keep out in France.

How did you feel when you were doing the exercises regularly?

I did notice that I felt more agile and was pleased that I could see gradual improvements in strength and flexibility. I even had a couple of comments that I was looking more toned.  I also felt more confident in how much my body was capable of.

Do you notice any residual benefits since having stopped?

I still do some of the original exercises on their own without doing the whole routine. I still have more flexibility than when I originally started.

Can you remind us what your goals were when we started?

Generally, I would like to continue to be an active person throughout the rest of my life so that I can enjoy activities such as walking our dog, gardening and looking after future grandchildren.

Some of the more specific goals were:

• Getting up from the floor more elegantly and without pain.
• Get up/down the stairs with less pain.

Have these changed at all?

No, I would say they are the same.

Can you imagine how you’d feel if you achieved your goals?

In my mind, I can imagine myself being fitter and less tired and would feel wonderful if I achieved the above goals.

Would you like to start training again?

Yes definitely.

What can I do to help you keep your motivation?

The idea of being accountable weekly to you would certainly motivate me to keep up with the exercise routine as will restarting my bullet journal.

What can you do differently to help your motivation?

I do find playing music whilst I am doing the exercises helps as it creates a rhythm to push forward the movements. Also, I need to regard doing the exercises as more of a habit, something like brushing my teeth, so I don’t need to think about when I am going to fit them in.

Staying Motivated is Difficult

Given that mum had eased off the exercises, I briefly thought about keeping quiet and not writing about it again on this blog. I didn’t want this to result in any of you becoming demotivated.  I was worried that you might see it as an excuse not to start or to give up if you’ve already started. 

We decided not to ignore that and that it was important to share mum’s difficulty with motivation.  This is because it’s a common story that many of us all go through. 

Getting started is hard, but keeping going is often more difficult until the habit has really become established.

At the start of trying something new you often get a sense of excitement which drives you to continue.  You get quick ‘wins’ in the early stages. 

This is especially true with strength training. Your technique improves, you can lift more weight, you notice benefits in how you feel day to day. As you progress, these improvements start to slow down, which can result in reduced motivation.

Fairy Tale Social Medial Stories

Too many stories seen on social media are the fairy tale stories that I was admittedly initially trying to emulate.  They normally show people making drastic changes in one way or another and they make it look like it was an easy process.   

What they don’t talk about is the difficulties they faced and that they thought about giving up. This gives a very skewed impression, making it look like achieving results and maintaining motivation is easy.

That leaves the rest of us feeling like we’ve failed when our motivation wanes for a while.  We’re left thinking that there is no point in trying because we didn’t get the easy results we were hoping for.

I hope that showing Mum’s experience of a dip in motivation and hopefully seeing her overcome this will inspire you to keep going, even if this means starting again.

So what now?

– Resume habit of 3x per week

Mum has indicated that she preferred the original workouts.

Right now Mum’s main goal is just to get back into the habit of finding time to exercise again.  Once the routine is established again we can think about progressing towards her original goals.

We have decided to return to doing exercises at least 3 times per week again. Any more is a bonus.

As a reminder, here is the original workout that Mum was doing and will now restart.

– Track progress with the bullet journal

Using the bullet journal was a great way for Mum to track progress and see an unbroken streak forming.  She will create another page for October and send me a photo of the journal every Sunday evening for me to share with you.

Here is an example of the bullet journal that she previously tracked her progress in.

Click the picture below to find out where you can find a bullet journal on Amazon.

– Stay accountable

Mum found that when I held her to account she was more likely to continue.  So I will make a commitment to checking in with her on a weekly basis to discuss difficulties.  This will be over the phone due to location.

We have arranged to meet up in person toward the end of November to review her program. Unfortunately, that is the earliest date we can find to meet in person again but gives mum plenty of time to establish that routine.

We will then start to reintroduce some more challenging exercises to ensure that Mum keeps pushing herself out of comfort zone. We will take into account her likes and dislikes from her experience so far.

To make it fair, when I post Mum’s progress each week, I will also share what I have done.

I will make the same commitment to strength training sessions at least 3 times per week.

– Equipment for France

To avoid having to transport the kettlebells back and forth between the UK and France, Mum has committed to getting a second set. The equipment we originally used was very affordable and readily available on Amazon. You can find these on Amazon by clicking the pictures below.

Have you started strength training recently?

Feel free to share your progress with us too by commenting on my Facebook or Instagram posts each week or by replying on Twitter. Use the #nevertoooldtolift

This post was written by myself, Chris Tiley, a physiotherapist based out of Movement Therapy Clinics in Harborne, Birmingham. For more information on how I can help you visit christileyphysiotherapy.com

Some of the links above are affiliate links. This means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission. This commission comes at no additional cost to you. Please understand that everything I recommend is because I honestly believe they are all helpful and useful to assist you in achieving your goal in becoming stronger, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel that you need them or believe that they will help you achieve your goals.