Why you should pay attention to Valentine’s Day

If you’ve set foot in a Target this year, or if perhaps you are like to play around on Pinterest, then you probably know that yes, the next holiday on our calendar is indeed Valentine’s Day. 

You pretty much can’t escape it in any sort of retail environment, even though some of these shops are still plucking the errant tinsel out of their rafters.  I’m ok with it, I mean, I get that they’re trying to boost sales by capitalizing on the holiday, so whatevs… I’m on board with that.

But I got to thinking about Valentine’s Day this morning. It is such a polarizing holiday. If you’re in love, it’s pretty wonderful.  And to some of my companionless compatriots, it’s pretty rotten.  Then again, I know plenty of hitched couples who enjoy Valentine’s Day far less than some of my footloose friends.

Eh, I digress.

The reason I got to thinking about Valentine’s Day was that I had huge attendance in RPM class this morning.  My normal 6am class on Friday mornings averages about 16 or 17 people.  Today, I had 25 which is only 2 bikes short of selling out.  (I totally get that members get annoyed with full classes, but as instructors, boy do we love it .)

Anyway, about 4 or 5 people that came today were people I hadn’t met before and are probably someone that would be lumped in the category of a “new years resolutioner”.  There’s always something about new gym members in January that people like to make jokes about:

“Ehhh… they’ll be gone by February.” 

“I’m just going to skip January and come BACK to the gym in February when all these annoying new people are gone.”

“These new people better not take my spot!”

And there’s all sorts of anecdotal evidence that people who join a gym in January are more likely than not to stop using it by mid-year.   But you cannot let them get you down.  You cannot listen to them.  Here’s what I’d like to say to all the New Years Resolutioners of the world:

Starting out on a fitness routine after a hiatus SUCKS.  It’s f$*%ing hard.  You feel like you’re weak, incapable and that you want to barf.  And then, god forbid in a group setting, you feel like you’re the only idiot who can’t seem to keep up with the class.  I totally get it.  It’s f$*#ing miserable. 

But here’s the deal:  If you can just stick with it until Valentine’s Day, I believe you’ll have a better chance of making it a permanent part of your life.

I promise it gets better.

It will not be easy, it will not come overnight, but I PROMISE it will get easier.  It will get to the point where you can successfully complete your workouts.  You will start to see the results you want and most fascinatingly, you might even start to enjoy your workouts.

Have patience, take it one day at a time and make the promise to yourself to see your resolution through.  Stick around, Valentine!  Give it until February 14th. 

It will catch on.  I promise!

(images courtesy of Pinterest)