How many times have you tried to commit to exercising, only for it to all come to an abrupt end without warning? It happens to everyone, but the key is to have the triggers that remind you of why you started in the first place. Hopefully this will inspire some of you to become more committed to exercise and start fulfilling your goals.
There are a number of different ways that people use to stay motivated and not all of them will be best suited for you, as no two people are the same. However, I’ve comprised a list of what I feel are the best ways to stay committed to your exercise. Firstly, and this is a very important one, you need to want to change your habits. Ultimately you are the only person who can change yourself so you have to be serious about wanting to change otherwise you will always find excuses. This also follows the line of not doing it for others, do it for yourself. People are very quick to judge, especially for negative points so you’ll satisfy yourself far sooner than you’ll satisfy others.
Ideas to Help Maintain Exercise:
- You have to want to change your routine. If you’re doing it for someone else then, chances are, it won’t last
- Try to think of it as you’re doing this because you want to feel better not look better
- Feeling better can mean: confidence, flexibility, happier, stronger, more energy in everyday life
- When you start getting fitter (which will happen quicker than you’d think) you’ll start to really enjoy an exercise routine and it doesn’t seem as if it’s a chore anymore
- Make a note of what you’ve been doing so you have something to aim to beat next time you exercise. This not only helps you to improve but it can become tedious if you have no plan of what to do
- Make a list of achievable and realistic goals
- Figure out if you are someone who likes to exercise in the morning or evening and either go before or after work so that it becomes part of your routine
- Ensure you are getting 7-9 hours sleep. Sleep is so vital for our recovery and general mood so you will have so much more energy if you get enough hours but also don’t oversleep
- I realised that with platforms like Netflix and on-demand tv, your shows aren’t going to run out and you end up just watching tv shows because they’re there in front of you but for the sake of sacrificing an hour a day to exercise, you’ll feel so much better about yourself. Then when you’ve done this, you can come back home and chill out and watch your tv shows
- Just think of it in the sense that you really don’t have to put that much into exercising for how much you get out of it. Like thirty minutes to an hour a day is nothing really when you compare it to what else you get up to. It’s all about prioritising your time
- View exercise as an escape and a chance to listen to your music and clear your head, it’s such a great stress reliever too, you just need to get over the initial hump because the start is by far the worst bit, then it becomes enjoyable
- When you start to see improvements in yourself, mentally or physically, you’ll wonder why you haven’t always been doing it and how easy it becomes
- You don’t have to have an ‘all or nothing approach’, think small steps….
- If you are someone who dislikes gym-type workouts, then find something else that you enjoy doing as exercise (football, badminton, kayaking, yoga, walking etc.) and you will find that you’ll want to exercise a lot more as you enjoy it and it’s no longer a chore
Tom is a Personal Trainer
About Lucy Bee Limited
Any information provided by us is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent disease. We always recommend referring your health queries to a qualified medical practitioner.
Lucy Bee is a lifestyle brand selling food, skincare and soap products all completely free from palm oil and with minimal use of plastic. Lucy Bee is concerned with Fair Trade, organic, ethical and sustainable living, recycling and empowering people to make informed choices and select quality, natural products for their food and their skin.
