CONTRIBUTED PHOTO Marshalltown resident Kay Iverson works out on the abdominal crunch machine in the EGYM of the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA recently. Iverson exercises at the Y regularly as part of her routine.

Back to school time means back to our regular routines for the school year for our youth, families and school staff.

With most summer vacations now in the rear view mirror, we are settling into what will be fall in Marshalltown.

Getting into a routine can be a good thing for anyone looking to improve their health, especially when that routine is regular exercise. Of course we recommend the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA as a place where that can happen year-round.

We seem to get pulled in different directions more and more these days. But taking time to make time for yourself and your health can do wonders for improving all aspects of your life.

My personal journey

My personal health journey could be considered a work in progress. I remember several years ago I vowed to try to exercise every day no matter what and having an awesome Y has helped that (I’m not only the marketing guy, I’m also a client).

I was able to get a pretty good streak going by telling myself I was exercising daily no matter what. One day that streak broke due to other commitments that popped up, but not before I had completed nearly a year of daily exercise.

I even tracked on a Google Doc the days I worked out, which is very motivating as I didn’t want to look back and see I missed a day. I still have daily exercise as part of my routine and am successful at completing this nearly 99 percent of the time.

Ask the expert

I asked the Y’s Health and Wellness Director Angie Paxson how important routines are to a wellness program and she said they are vital to success.

“Between making healthy decisions on food or exercise you make hundreds of decisions a day,” Paxson said. “If you make exercise part of your routine it becomes a non-decision. It’s a non-choice and you don’t have to think about it. It’s just part of what you do.”

By making it a non-choice that alleviates any inkling of backing out that day, Paxson said. Paxson also said many seek motivation to get started, but she said movement is the key. Once you get moving, that feeling of accomplishment happens and you can get to the motivation aspect.

“You need movement to get started, putting one foot in front of the other, then you start feeling better,” Paxson said.

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Andrew Potter is Marketing and Communications Director at the Marshalltown YMCA-YWCA.