This Article is a Guest Post.
Everyone knows that exercising regularly is good for the mind, body, and soul.
Exercising day in day out helps you lose and maintain weight, improve your mood, increase your productivity, and lower your risk of a plethora of health issues.
That said, forming the exercise habit is easier said than done. Showing up to the gym or putting on your running shoes doesn’t seem to happen…day after day. Even the most thought-out plans get derailed by life.
Work, school, family, social life, and other commitments eat up a massive chunk of our time—and there’s always something more urgent that needs your attention.
Don’t lose heart if you have trouble sticking to your exercise plan. There are many things you can do right now to start exercising more often.
In today’s post, you’ll learn seven of the best ways to get yourself to exercise more regularly.
I hope the tips listed here can help you experience the joy of finishing your day after a hard workout and knowing that you’ve accomplished something that positively benefits you.
So are you ready?
Let’s get started.
Start Slow & Easy
Whether exercising for the first time or coming back from a long break, a common mistake many make is doing too much too soon. They start too aggressively, only to give up when they end up exhausted, sore, injured.
Forget about lifting weights for two hours or running 20 miles before breakfast. Instead, think more about workouts you can do no matter what, even when you’re drained, feeling down, stressed, or low on motivation.
Here are a few examples:
20 walk-run workout. After a 5-minute walk, alternate intervals of 30-second jogs and 30-second walks.
15-minute Core workout. This session includes five simple core exercises, such as sit-ups, bicycle crunches, scissors, planks, and metronomes.
30-minute total body strength workout. Perform three rounds of 15 push-ups, 20 squats, 20 sit-ups, 20 lunges, and 30-second plank holds.
An example of a weekly training plan will be two days of moderate cardio for 20 to 30 minutes and one to two days of basic strength training, adding more challenge (reps, sets, frequency, weights, etc.) as your body gets stronger.
And most importantly, listen to your body the entire time. If you experience severe soreness, joint pain, or any other discomfort lasting more than a couple of days, you’ll know you overdid it.
Of course, expect some discomfort, but if you can’t get out of bed in the morning or go up a flight of stairs without pain, take a few days offs and modify your workout next time.
Plan your Workout Routine e in Advance
Planning your sessions takes the guesswork of your workout equation. This might be the best time investment you’ll spend on your health and well-being.
Research found that having a daily planner that incorporates physical activity helps to promote regular exercise.
Sit down every Sunday and plan your workout schedule and plan. Decide the type of session, date, time, and setting of each session. Then write down your session in your daily calendar (hopefully you use one).
On average, shoot for 16 to 20 sessions, depending of course on your fitness level, training goals, and schedule. The more, the merrier.
Once you do so, rearrange your life around your workout time as if it were a non-negotiable appointment you have to keep.
Set the Right Goals
Although you might already know that exercise is good for you, you’d still need a “why” to make it happen. The reason can’t be something vague or unrealistic, like losing weight or turning into a triathlete overnight.
You got to have clear, realistic, and fun reasons. In other words, you need to set workout goals.
And that only works as long as you’re setting the right goals. For example, if you’re trying to run a marathon without prior endurance training, or lose 50 pounds in one month, you’ll be setting yourself up for failure.
The right way to set goals is to set achievable goals. Sure, feel free dream big, but keep your feet in reality. Otherwise, you’re heading in the wrong direction.
Here are a few examples of reasonable fitness goals:
- Completing a 5K in 8 weeks without any running experience.
- Losing one to two pounds a week
- Strength training three to four times awake
- Taking the stairs instead of the elevator
- Biking to work
Draft a Self-Contract
Once you set your goals, have some leverage on yourself by drafting a self-contract. This might be the exact thing you need to get you some momentum going.
What do I mean?
A self contract is any commitment where you pledge on paper what you want to attain as well how to do it, spelling out your duties and responsibilities regarding the fulfillment of your goals.
This self-contract should also clearly define any rewards for following through as well as any penalties for falling short.
That might seem like a lot to unpack, but it’s quite simple.
The outline for your workout self-contract consists of the following:
- Your short term fitness goals
- Your long terms fitness goals
- You concrete action plan
- Your rewards and penalties
- Date at which you should attain your goals
- Your signature and date of signature.
Once you draft it, print out the contract and keep it somewhere where you can see it regularly—pin it onto a fridge or the wall, for instance. This helps remind you of your intentions and bonded duties.
Get a Workout Buddy
Having a workout partner in your corner can make the difference between skipping your sessions and staying on track. It might be the answer to all of your exercise motivation prayers.
Workout buddies provide a potent mix of accountability, support, motivation, and in some cases, healthy competition. You can run more miles, do more sets, and push yourself a little bit further when you have someone to motivate you.
Research also agrees.
A study conducted by the Department of Kinesiology at Indiana University surveyed couples who joined exercise clubs together over a year. The research revealed that couples that worked out together had a 6 percent drop out rate.
Couples who went separately had a staggering 43 percent drop rate, regardless of whether they focused on the same type of workouts.
Ask everyone: your friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, and gym buddies. You can also hit a local sports club or look for one online.
Reward Yourself Often
As you log in more miles and lift more weights, it’s vital to celebrate progress along the way. Rewarding yourself will inspire you to perform better and push yourself a little bit harder, research shows.
Don’t only reward yourself for significant accomplishments. Instead, remember to reward yourself for your hard work. Focus on the process, not just the results.
Make sure to plan a reward system in advance—that way you’ll have more mental space to do other things.
Write down a list of your mini-goals and to-do list items. Then come up with a treat or reward for every mini-goal. For example, if you’ve met your goal of hitting the weight room three, treat yourself to something you like doing.
Some examples include:
- Going for a nice dinner
- Have a long nap
- Go to the movies
- Read a fiction boo
- Netflix and chill
- Take a long shower
- Get a massage
- Get a new workout gear
- Or whatever fun activity you enjoy most.
Keep Track of your program
“If you can’t measure it, you can’t improve it.”- Peter Drucker.
This step might seem tedious, but you got to keep track of everything you do if you’re serious about making real fitness gains over the long haul. No exception.
Don’t trust your memory. Chances are you won’t be able to remember how much weight pressed last week or how many miles you covered on last Sunday’s workout.
Catching progress in the act, whether it’s performing more reps, lifting heavier weights, running faster, or merely exercising more often, makes you want to keep going.
Keep a workout log, whether using a fitness diary or doing it online, to keep track of the following:
- Your body weight
- Your body measurement
- Number of reps and set as well as weights used
- Your weekly running volume
- Your daily calorie intake
- Lessons learned from your session
- Notes on how to improve next time
Conclusion
There you have it! The above measures cover some of the best things you can do to improve your workout motivation and increases your chances of fitness success. You have to do it, then keep on do it.
My best advice? Start now, and never deviate. As long as you’re doing your best you’re on the right path. The rest is just details.
What about about you? Do you have any favourite tips or tricks that can help build the exercise habit?
Please feel free to leave your suggestions, comments and questions in the section below.
In the meantime, thank you for dropping by.
Keep exercising strong.
This Article is a Guest Post.