Exercising can be a struggle, but it’s essential for your wellbeing. According to Luke Zocchi – Chris Hemsworth’s personal trainer – exercise can improve sleep quality, increase energy levels and lift spirits.
Even if you’re motivated to stay fit, there may be days when it feels like skipping the gym or your workout class altogether. Here are some strategies for keeping yourself motivated:
1. Keep a fitness diary
If you’re trying to shed pounds, build muscle or increase strength and endurance, keeping a fitness diary can be invaluable for staying motivated. Set achievable objectives and celebrate small victories along the way to stay motivated.
Tracking your routine is essential to determine what’s working and not working. If consistency is an issue, adjust your workout or nutrition plan so it better fits with your exercise schedule.
Another advantage of keeping a journal is that it promotes accountability and makes it more likely you’ll stick with your exercise goals. According to one study, writing down goals increases your chances of achieving them by 42%!
Focusing on a goal can make it easy to overlook your progress towards it. A weekly fitness journal is an excellent way to stay motivated and inspired as you look back at all of your accomplishments!
Tracking your weekly activity in a fitness journal can help you identify patterns and determine which days are the most productive. For instance, if Mondays tend to be productive for you, try to incorporate more workouts on these days for added benefit.
For a straightforward yet effective workout journal, we suggest the Minimalist Fitness Journal. With 150 pages to log your daily schedule, this journal includes sections for tracking strength training, cardio activity and total calories burned for the day as well as an instructional guide explaining exercises that target specific muscle groups.
2. Make it a priority
Exercising should be a top priority, as it will extend your life and improve quality of life. Not only that, but exercise also benefits mind and body by relieving stress.
If you want to start an exercise program, set a goal. For instance, commit to exercising at least three times each week and create an action plan on how to fit that into your schedule.
Motivating yourself to workout regularly is the best way to stay committed. Doing this will provide the incentive and accountability that will drive you towards achieving your goals.
Additionally, you should find something enjoyable about exercising so it becomes more enjoyable for you. This will make sticking to a fitness regimen much smoother and make exercising an enjoyable experience for you.
Additionally, it’s essential to find an exercise form that will push your body and make you sweat. Running or swimming are great examples as these activities provide cardiovascular exercise while making you breathe hard.
Once your routine is comfortable, it’s time to increase the intensity and duration of your exercise sessions. This type of vigorous intensity activity offers significantly greater health advantages than moderate intensity activity alone.
Making health a priority will allow you to maximize life and avoid illness or pains later. It will also give you energy and flexibility for enjoying hobbies, exploring new places, and having fun with family. Ultimately, living a long and contented life will become much simpler with such an attitude.
3. Make it fun
No matter if you enjoy or dislike exercising, making it fun can help motivate you to stick with it. Not only will exercise improve your overall health and well-being, but it can also lift your moods, energy levels, reduce anxiety and stress levels, as well as promote better sleep quality.
Research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology has demonstrated that taking time out to relax and decompress from your busy schedule can provide much-needed respite from stress, relieving cortisol (the body’s stress hormone) and giving your mind clarity. Furthermore, it helps manage emotions more effectively; particularly for those dealing with depression or anxiety issues.
Exercises that can be fun include weightlifting in the gym, playing contact sports, running, hiking and swimming – all of which help build strength in your heart and lungs as well as tone up muscles, according to Eisner. You could also try some more calming exercises such as tai chi or yoga for added relaxation, she suggests.
Though many people believe exercising must be a chore, this is not the case. All that’s required is for your activity to be challenging enough to raise your heart rate and build muscle strength.
If you’re new to exercising, start with 5- or 10-minute sessions and gradually increase the duration as your fitness improves. However, be mindful that doing too much too soon may cause discomfort.
Another way to make exercise more enjoyable is by finding an in-person community that you can enjoy with. Even if there’s no physical option available, there are plenty of virtual options that connect you with people around the world who share your enthusiasm for fitness. Message boards, online fitness communities and social media apps can all provide great places to find like-minded individuals working towards similar objectives.
4. Make it social
Are you struggling to motivate yourself to get out of the couch and into the gym? A supportive friend or partner can make all the difference. Not only is exercising with someone you care about more social, but it also serves as motivation when one of you gets tired or loses steam.
Group fitness classes such as aerobics, spinning or boxercise offer a great way to connect with new people who share similar interests and can help expand your social circle. You may find it intimidating approaching strangers, but attending a class with others of your age group or gender makes the process more social and enjoyable.
Another advantage to making exercise social is its potential to elevate your sense of well-being and lift your mood. This is primarily due to endorphins, natural painkillers that have been linked with improved sleep patterns, lower stress levels and boosted confidence in managing day-to-day tasks. Exercise may even improve memory function for some individuals!
Finally, regular exercise can improve your executive function – the brain’s capacity for processing information, thinking strategically and planning ahead. This is a helpful trait when embarking on new endeavors such as finding employment or moving house; it also allows for informed decisions in both personal and professional lives.
Researching the health benefits of exercise can be a great motivator and encourage you to stick with it. To make exercise fun and rewarding, choose an activity that’s enjoyable yet challenging – this way, you’ll feel accomplished and satisfied after every session.
5. Make it a reward
A recent study suggests that in order to make exercise a habit, it’s beneficial to make it enjoyable. Doing so may help ensure you stick with it more consistently, according to researchers.
Researchers from Iowa State University have observed that when exercise is perceived as an unpleasant chore, it may actually make you less motivated to do it. This phenomenon is called delay discounting, a psychological mechanism which diminishes rewards over time.
Kubis and his colleagues found that people with higher exercise motivation – the ability to motivate oneself through behavior change – had less difficulty devaluing exercise. This may be because their exercise is intrinsically rewarding, something that makes them feel good while doing it instead of just something they need to do.
Reward yourself with something small or big, but make it tied to the behavior you want to promote. For instance, if you want to increase physical activity, set a goal of taking a walk after dinner each night or going out only after having completed an intense workout.
Making exercise enjoyable will motivate you to keep doing it regularly. Take your workout outside in a relaxing place like a park or other favorite outdoor space for added pleasure and motivation.
At the end of each session, you can treat yourself to a small reward such as a hot bubble bath or smoothie. When reaching larger goals, however, you can treat yourself more indulgently; for instance, getting a facial after finishing an intense workout or buying new walking shoes after doing certain amount of walks in one week are two examples.