Tips on How to Keep Yourself Motivated To Exercise
Everyone knows that exercise is essential for your weight and overall health, but sometimes it can be a struggle to stick to an exercise plan. Many people start fitness programs, but quit when they don’t enjoy it or don’t see the results as fast as they were hoping. But is everyone focusing on the wrong thing with regards to maintaining an exercise program? You’ll find huge amounts of expert advice on why exercise is important, and how to manage your time to fit your workout in, and an overabundance of information about the benefits. What you don’t often see is more indirect advice that might have a bigger impact. As stated earlier, everyone knows exercise is beneficial. Knowing it is beneficial doesn’t get your shoes laced though. But what about motivation? If you work to maintain your motivation with regards to exercise, you’ll find the rest of it takes care of itself.
Break mental barriers
Your self-perception might be getting in your way. A majority of people think that exercise is all about losing weight and changing their physique alone. You need to change this mindset. Exercise affects the body in countless other ways. It helps the heart get stronger, reduces stress, and can help reduce your risks of developing diabetes and various types of cancers. Widen your lens to the benefits that exercise offer. You’ve got to remember that some of this is subconscious, and your subconscious might well rate decreasing the chance of premature death quite a bit higher than going down a
Remind Yourself Often of Why You Want This
You took up this health kick for a reason, can you remember why? That is the biggest risk to your goals, forgetting what they are and why they are important to you. This one is personal so you have to be completely honest with yourself about the strongest desire you have with regards to health, no matter how you may think it sounds. Wanting to look good at the beach is just as important as wanting to be able to spend more active quality time with your kids, when we’re talking about maintaining your motivation. It is personal to you. Find a motivating picture, such as one which highlights your body goals or what you want to be able to achieve with your better health, and print it on canvas then hang it somewhere you will see it every day. The permanence of the print, and the fact that you see it many times a day will really help keep you on track.
This image is used with permission from TheCanvasFactory.com.au
Be kind to yourself
A number of studies have shown that self-compassion increases the probability that you will flourish in any endeavor. Therefore don’t hate yourself or beat yourself up about your look, your current fitness level, or your lack of motivation. Rather, pat yourself on your back for what you have already achieved, no matter how small, and you will feel elated. If you have made mistakes along the way, use them as stepping stones to great success.
Make your health a priority
If your health and wellness are not a priority, things may fall apart in the end. Most people create time to take care of less important things. Sometimes we do things that we don’t want to do, but have to do them for some reason. And these are the hardest to find motivation for. Even if exercise is not your cup of tea, you HAVE to get used to doing it. Make your health a top priority, and do not miss that scheduled workout.
Set realistic goals
Settings goals is important for everything we need to achieve in life, keeping fit is no different. Set realistic and achievable goals and stick to them. Whatever your goals, be sure to write them down and the date you wish to achieve them. This will keep you going even through difficult and challenging times. The results will come but you need to be willing to work out.
Mix up your workout
If you’re struggling to stay motivated, it is time to do something a bit different from the regular exercise routine. Fitness experts agree that variety is one of the best ways to keep exercise routine fun and engaging. Simply get together a group of friends and take dance lessons together or even play indoor netball. Rock climbing is another great option if you’re trying to mix it up, as long as whatever you are doing is fun and involves vigorous movement, it’s a good option.
Image source – Wikipedia.org
Most people struggle to stay motivated when it comes to working out, particularly because everyone leads such complicated lives these days that there are always many other important things to take care of. However, as exercise is key to maintaining a healthy lifestyle we hope these tips will help you stay motivated and stick to it. Check this out.
