Find Your Tribe!

Physical activity comes easily for some. We look forward to it. It is an essential part of our day.

If I’m ever in my head or overwhelmed by anything, I go for a run or get an killer lift session in. I’m able to clear away the crap, sort through my feelings, prioritize and re-focus. 

When I moved to Pittsburgh and quit playing organized sports, I became a lone wolf in the gym and on the trails. I would see people at the gym with their friends and think how nice it would be to find some friends to workout with. I had very few friends when I first moved here – none of whom enjoyed the gym. My social anxiety prevented me from introducing myself to anyone at the gym. I continued going by myself, smiling at people (which seems creepy now that I think about it) hoping they’d invite me to join their group.

These girls are my people.

I can always count on at least one of them being available for a workout at any given time. When I’m feeling sluggish and want to take a day off, all it takes is a message from one of them to get me off my ass and join them for a workout. We support, we encourage, we offer guidance and assistance and we push each other to strive for our full potential.

Now that being said, physical activity does not come easily to a lot of people.

Whether it be due to physical limitations, a negative mindset towards exercise, lack of motivation, fear and/or time and scheduling constraints, many people find it difficult to fit physical activity into their life.

I’ve heard a lot of people say “I don’t like exercise”. I find that hard to believe. You may have friends that have tried to recruit you to join their gym or try their favorite exercise class and you did not like it. To me, that just means that you didn’t like that particular type of exercise. It may take some trial and error, but I guarantee that everyone can find some enjoyable form of physical activity.

If you struggle with finding an enjoyable form of fitness or sticking to a program, having a tribe is an incredible way to adhere to and maintain a regular fitness routine.

Organized sports. If you prefer playing sports rather than going to the gym, join a team – make new friends and get some exercise!

Once you find something you enjoy, exercise loses it’s chore-like, hassle stigma and becomes an enjoyable activity for you.

Benefits of a Tribe.

You’ll never be short on positive, encouraging, self-esteem building people. Build your tribe with the people that want to see you succeed and that you want to help succeed. People that support you and your attempt to be a healthier version of yourself. Find as many sources of support from as many aspects of your life as possible. Your personal, professional, health and fitness tribe.

You could be someone else’s person.

How cool is that? You may have people in your life that are looking to achieve the same goals as you but aren’t motivated to start yet. We are often more likely to help other people before we help ourselves so having a conversation with those close to you, explaining how their support, encouragement and participation would help you stick with it, may make you more successful in your recruitment. Similarly, knowing that someone requires your assistance in their journey will allow you to build a strong mutual support system.

It’s your environment, so do what you can to make it the most conducive to your needs. Since the people in our lives make up a very large component of our environment, it’s important to recognize who your tribe is.

Willpower alone is not always enough for us to stay on track, so why make our environment more challenging than it needs to be?

If you’re feeling stressed or discouraged, instead of heading to the pantry to self-soothe with a bag of chips, reach out to your tribe and get a good sweat session in. I promise you won’t regret it. Not only will it put you in a better mood, but you’ll be proud of yourself and the positive choice you made.

If you are looking to make some positive, healthier changes to your life and don’t know where to start, join the TrainingLife Tribe and let’s work together to help you reach your goals!

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