Susan Smith Jones, PhD

Tips to Upgrade Your Exercise Program & Stay Motivated

Excerpts from The Joy Factor: 10 Sacred Practices for Radiant Health

In Chapter 5 (Exercise — Fast and Slow, Alone and Together: I Choose to Move) of The Joy Factor, I cover in detail the best exercises to look younger and tune-up your body, and also share many amazing stories from my clients' experiences about how exercising regularly changed their lives, from individuals to families. This chapter will inspire and motivate you to embrace a life of fitness, especially the personal story about my first marathon and how my grandmother, Fritzie, rallied me on from the other side, a year after she passed away. Here's a brief excerpt from the chapter. And if you need help staying motivated to exercise regularly, please click here. 

Excerpt from The Joy Factor — Chapter 5 below:

We all know exercise is a key component of vibrant health, yet statistics reveal that only about 25 percent of Americans make exercise a regular part of their lifestyle. My hope is that after reading this chapter, if you’re not already a fitness enthusiast, you’ll be helping to increase the percentage. Whether you have several children and are busy with them from morning to night or are CEO of a Fortune 500 company who puts in 12-16 hours a day, seven days a week at the job, you must find time to exercise.

If you can’t carve out an hour each day to exercise, or even 30 minutes, then break the time up into 10- or 15-minute allotments. It should be pretty clear by now that I don’t believe in gimmicks and potions and magic pills, and I promise you there is no substitute for exercise. The old “I don’t have time to exercise” excuse just doesn’t work with me. You must make fitness a priority — a nonnegotiable part of your day.

You need — we all need — to find some type of physical activity that fits into your lifestyle and that exercises not only your body, but also your mind and spirit. If there is one self-help idea that has really caught on and that I’m sure will stay with us, it’s the idea that physical fitness transcends the physical body and benefits your mental and spiritual fitness as well.  

Staying Motivated to Exercise

Kim used to do all her workouts in the gym. Four to five mornings a week, before dawn, she went to her gym and walked on the treadmill, staring out into space, oblivious to her immediate environment. When I was there doing my weight training, I saw her doing the same 45 minutes on the treadmill for weeks, only occasionally switching to the bike or the stair climber. Then one day, after her workout was complete, I introduced myself and told her I had just finished my strength training routine. I asked her about her workout. She admitted to me that although what she did was convenient and gave her good results, it was boring. “I am a morning person, so it’s not too hard getting up before the rest of the world,” she said to me, “but it’s often hard to motivate myself to get on the treadmill and do the same old thing.”

Then she asked what I liked to do for my cardio training, so I told her about my passion for hiking and being outdoors.“There’s something about being in nature, feeling the sun, breathing the fresh air, absorbing the mood-lifting negative ions, and actually going somewhere, as opposed to walking in place, that makes the time fly and makes the workout fun,” I told Kim. She was intrigued, and I asked her if she would like to accompany me on a hike the following morning.

We agreed to meet at the head of one of the Santa Monica trails, just minutes from both of our homes, at 6 a.m., the same time as her usual workout. Her experience was no different from that of my many other friends who started in the gym and are now avid hikers. While hiking you can take in a variety of terrain, flora, and fauna, while soaking up a wide range of sensations, sights, sounds, and scents as you move and work out your entire body. Hiking strengthens your body and feeds your soul. In other words, you feel invigorated throughout the day. Of course, seasonal and weather changes offer further variety as your program continues throughout the year, as does an occasional change of location. For three decades I’ve told my clients and friends that making exercise fun should be as high a priority as making it effective. And even if you don’t live in a climate that’s conducive to exercising outdoors year-round, you can still add fun into workouts simply by listening to terrific music, going to a gym that motivates you, watching an exercise DVD that’s invigorating, or simply parking at the end of a parking lot when out and about and walking farther to your location. I do this frequently when I travel and still want to get in some exercise. Lightweight and easily packed exercise bands and an upbeat music CD can do wonders for motivation to exercise in a hotel room.  

Make It Social

Another reason I love to hike is that it’s easier to make exercise a social experience in the outdoors. Often my days are filled with activities and responsibilities, and when I do have time to visit with my friends, it’s usually over a meal at a restaurant. When I hike with a friend, however, we get to spend real quality time together as we super-tune our bodies, minds, and spirits. And we get to burn calories instead of adding calories as we would if we were getting together over lunch or dinner.

My favorite time to hike is in the early morning. The time passes more quickly outdoors, which makes it easier to do a longer workout. I get so absorbed in what I’m doing, seeing, hearing, feeling, and saying that when I’m done, I feel completely relaxed and energized at the same time, and I’m ready to take on the world.

You can make your workout more intense, beneficial, and enjoyable by doing the following . . .  (refer to this chapter in The Joy Factor for comprehensive information on getting in the best shape of your life, no matter your age). 

For more detailed information on exercise, how it benefits the body, and my surefire tips to stay motivated to exercise and achieve your fitness goals, please refer to my my companion book to The Joy Factor entitled Walking on Air: Your 30-Day Inside and Out Rejuvenation Makeover. In this new book, I outline a step-by-step, day-by-day plan for you to achieve maximum self-healing potential in just 30 days. Put simply, you'll transform your life in 30 days with this bestselling two-book set. Walking on Air is short enough for anyone to complete, yet long enough to create significant changes in how each person feels. For each of the 30 days, I offer you one simple practice that will help you refocus on total wellness. If you give me 10 minutes a day to focus on each chapter, I'll give you a healthier, happier, and more successful you in just one month. And in Chapter 16 (Celebrate the Miracle of Your Body with Exercise), you will be inspired and motivated to start a regular fitness program and stick with it, or to upgrade your existing program. Through this two-book set, I will become your personal life coach. I will help you get unstuck from the "spin-cycle" lifestyle, shed some pounds, champion high self-esteem, glow with health, look years younger, feel more confident and empowered, and learn how to celebrate life with live with gusto.

To order these books for yourself and extra copies to keep in hand to give as gifts (each one comes with an autographed card from me), and to also receive a FREE bonus gift of one of my natural remedy booklet/CD combos with each purchase, please call: 800-523-9971 (US & Canada) or 215-632-6100 (intl), both ET, M - F • 9 - 5.