Can there be a more important time to exercise than at the current time. Keeping ourselves healthy, physically and mentally, has to be a priority if we are going to get through the next few months. But at the same time has there ever been a time when the last thing you may want to do is exercise. The days are cold and dark. New Year resolutions to get lean for summer seem superfluous. The gyms are closed. And maintaining a two metre distance on our pavements and on park walkways is a challenge in itself.

It can take a lot of willpower to make ourselves go for that run or do that virtual class. So easy to persuade ourselves that it is too cold, too wet, or just not the right time. The right time being fairly elusive.

I have had exercise in my life for decades. It is a well established habit. I may have changed the type of exercise over the years and more recently during lockdown but it is just something I do. And although I train a lot with my daughter I have never been reliant on anyone else to motivate me.

However, accountability plays a big part in keeping me on track.

Up until fairly recently I have aIways considered my need for accountability as one of my many weaknesses. But one of the first books I read during the first lockdown was The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrond where he writes ‘very little happens in this world, or in your life, without some form of accountability’. Elite athletes are accountable to their coach. CEOs to their stakeholders.

For us more mortal beings Hal Elrond suggests an accountability buddy to keep us on track. For me it is far simpler. I just need to be seen. To be seen to be working out. To be seen to be pushing myself.

One of the simplest ways I do this is by saying it out loud. If I tell my husband that I’m going for a run in the afternoon I will go for that run. Changing my mind is not an option if I’m going to avoid the ‘are you going to let a bit of rain stop you’ or something similar.

Of course, there are people that work out at home, maybe are lucky enough to have a home gym, who do get fitter and stronger. They are completely self sufficient. They don’t need a trainer or an accountability buddy. But I suspect they are few and far between. Even if they are working out they may not be getting fitter and stronger.

It is so easy to stay within your comfort zone. To not exercise at an intensity that will reap the health benefits.

Recent research would suggest that just as we underestimate the calories we consume we also overestimate the amount of exercise we do. For example, 50 % of Americans claim that they reach the 150 minutes a week of moderate exercise. But hooked up to a accelerometer this plummets to below 5%.

I was in the same camp a few years back. I was going to the gym but just fannying about. Pushing and pulling light weights, never going any heavier. Keeping within my comfort zone. Only when I started going to a gym that encouraged me to go harder and heavier did I start to see results.

I’m reminded of the quote attributed to Einstein that ‘the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result’. I was certainly not acting sanely.

I’m very fortunate to belong to a gym that has stepped up in an exceptional way during lockdown. It hosts three workouts a day. It is the same workout but with a choice of times to do it. It is delivered via Facebook live, Zoom and My-Zone. Zoom and My-Zone being interactive. My-Zone allows the trainers to not only see you but also your heart rate monitor reading. They can see how hard you are working.

A couple of weeks ago a workout was posted that I knew would be difficult for me to complete in the time allocated. Too many burpees. My first thought was I can’t do it followed swiftly by I will do it but on Facebook live so I can’t be seen. Followed again by doing it on My-Zone with my camera off. I did the class with my camera on. I finished the workout 10 minutes after everyone had left. But I did it and had been seen to do it. I need to be seen. I need those words of encouragement. And importantly advice if I’m doing something that that may cause injury.

Of course if buddying up is your thing then Zoom is a great way to work out together.

On a weekly virtual chat with a friend who was struggling to find the motivation to exercise I suggested doing a zoom workout with her. She agreed and before minds could be changed I sent her a zoom invite for the following day. I pulled together a fairly simple HIIT 20 minute workout. We arrived at the planned time and worked out. And I’m fairly confident that it was at a higher intensity than if we had done it solo.

Exercise has always been important but now even more so. For our physical and mental health and to boost our immunity response. But to reap the benefits we have to do it and at an intensity that challenges the body. Moving out of the comfort zone can sometimes take more than our own willpower. Being accountable to a trainer, a friend, a partner may be the answer.