Now
something you all will face, just as I have faced in the past, is the ability
to stay motivated for exercising. As you move forward and reach new heights you
will find it increasingly more difficult to reach higher then you are now. This
is due to multiple reasons such as fatigue, time consistency, general mood and
even the weather. So today for my article I will discuss some tips and
techniques to stay motivated.
Now
you will notice, keeping a workout schedule will be very different to keeping a
dieting schedule because we already have set out time for shopping, cooking and
eating. While it will be increasingly difficult to maintain workout schedules because
of the additional time need.
1. Change
your Perspective: The first tip change your perspective,
while easier said than done, can be a drastic tool for motivation. Change from
a “Couch Potato” mentality to an athletes mind. This means to stop thinking of
working out as a negative but as a positive. Say to yourself each day, “Why did
I begin?” You should be able to answer this with any goals you set for
yourself. Which leads us into my next tip
2. Set
a goal: These goals should be many, short and realistic or
attainable. This can be as simple as, “I will not eat sugar for one week” or “I
will stay with in my intended calorie intake every day for this week.” The
setting and achieving of daily and weekly goals is a great mood booster and a
needed motivator. You can also add a bribe to your goal. Such as buying a new
video game, clothes, shoes or something you can have after reaching your goal.
3. Schedule
a Regular Workout Time: All you need for an affective workout
is an hour a day. So sit down at the beginning of each week and schedule an
hour for exercise. I would recommended making it the first thing you do, as it
is a great kick start too your metabolism and increased mental health. It also
gets it done for the day, giving you free time for whatever you need. But
simply scheduling a time isn’t enough, you need to set alarms and keep to them.
4. Fun
and Variety: By the very nature of Humans we need
change and variety with in our lives to stay motivated. Fun is an essential
part of life and working hard. You can do this in a variety of ways. Talk with
people you see at the gym routinely and develop friendships. You can find some
of the best workout partners at gyms, they also act as an essential tool for
learning. You can also schedule fun into the act of exercising. Go for group
bike rides or runs through the forest, take dance classes, yoga classes, kick
boxing classes. Anything that is interactive and engaging to make you forget
that you are actually working out. This variety in exercises can help to train
muscle you don’t normally hit in routine exercises.
5. Reach
out for Support: Social networking makes communication
such an easy thing now a days that it is staggeringly quick, but it doesn’t help
you too ask for help. Asking for help and advice is crucial for learning and
developing, but also for staying motivated. You can’t go at it alone. I have a
few set of friends that I have met through the simple routine of exercising. I
use this groups to stay motivated by scheduling workouts together for a few set
reasons. It is great to have someone to talk with while working out, ask
questions and opinions on a variety of exercise issues. But I mainly use them
as fuel for motivation. It is easy to stay in bed when it is just you, but it
is hard when you have someone waiting on you.
6. Schedule
in Rest Days: Always remember that resting is as
important as working out itself. Resting is were muscle really builds. So
schedule in a day or even two days of resting in between heavy workout
schedules. But when you schedule these rest days don’t just make it about
yourself. This is a perfect time to interact with friends or do a family event.
I personally like to take my rest days for myself and it consents of sleeping, Netflix
and a good amount of food.
7. Quotes
and Reminders: Another great motivation tip is to place
reminders around you. This is more than the setting of an alarm or scheduling a
workout. This is placing physical things around you that remind you of your
goals. Posters that depict your physical goal are great, or your favorite
athlete. I have a friend, let’s call her Amanda, who started to diet and
exercise for the specific purpose of getting into a wedding dress that she
loved. So she hung the dress over her closet door in her and her finance’s
bedroom, so that every day she saw it and was reminded of her goal. What I do
is I have a quote I created taped to my bathroom mirror, it says, “Better then
you were yesterday”. Its meaning is pretty self-explanatory, to continually
improve myself each and every day.
One way that I can really
motivate myself is by using quotes printed on my t-shirts. You know the kind of
t-shirts I am talking about if you have spent more than five minutes in a busy
gym. The shirts that say, “Beast-Mode Activated”, “Sore today, Strong Tomorrow”,
“Sweat is Fat Crying”, “Remember why you started” and “I’m that Dude.”
What I have done is
started creating my own t-shirts for motivation. My shirts say a few various
saying to help get you motivated. For men I have a black and white shirt that
says “Bearded Lifters do it better” and women I have similar black and white
shirts that say, “Stronger than his Beard”.
These products and more
are available on CafePress.com at http://www.cafepress.com/profile/131698214
and I will be adding additional products in the near future.
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