Top Tips To Maintain Your Fitness Motivation
Especially when you're training at home, even if you have the best home gym equipment, it can be hard to stay motivated. If your fitness motivation isn't where you want it to be, you've got plenty of company. By some estimates, more than two-thirds of the adult US population is trying to lose weight.
Interestingly, recent research has shown that a buildup of fat tissue around the organs can be a health problem, even in thin people. So, even skinny people are not necessarily fit or in shape.
Given a choice, most people would probably say they want to be in shape and lose weight. I always feel better when I'm fit, don't you? You have more stamina, and you're more equipped to handle any challenges thrown at you. Better yet, you're not so easily tired.
The diet and fitness industry sells billions of dollars worth of products, pills, and gimmicks every year. How many fitness club memberships go unused? How many fitness machines are purchased every year, and then sold at flea markets the next?
The truth is that when it comes to fitness, there is no magic pill or diet. Complete fitness requires proper nutrition and efficient and regular exercise. Surprise! Many of us sufferfrom poor fitness motivation because we can't reach the unrealistic goals set by the fitness industry itself.
If you've tried to get in shape and lose weight but failed, you may have fallen prey to the following issues:
1. Results Too Slow
Not enough return for the effort: If you don't see results fairly quickly, you won't remain motivated. Makes sense, right?
2. Too Much Choice
Giving yourself choices can be a great motivator. But, the thousands of advertising messages pounding on you every week telling you that you can lose weight by buying a pill or a machine are not helping you. There are too many distractions. You have to find a plan that works for you and stick to it.
There are simply too many exercise programs and diet plans out there, all telling you that they're the best. There's Pilates, spinning, traditional cardio, and all kinds of celebrity-backed fitness machines and diet companies.
Your brain receives all those messages, and somewhere in the back of your mind, you think that maybe you should just be able to take a pill instead of sweating so hard.
3. Lack Of A Plan
Do you have difficulty staying on plan? With so many distractions, it's easy to self-sabotage. If you don't have a plan or system to follow, to begin with, it's easy to let yourself get out of shape over the years.
There are so many commercial programs and possibilities out there. Once you choose an exercise and diet routine to follow, your best bet is to forget about all the other heavily advertised programs.
The other thing you must do is find a fitness plan that works. That includes proper nutrition, creating a calorie deficit, boosting your metabolism, and doing more efficient workouts. Exercises based on newer research allow you to spend less time and effort and get better results.
Actively Seek Motivation
Millions of people lose the battle with fitness motivation every single day. Sure it can be tough to find the time, energy, and drive to keep yourself exercising. A good place to begin is to ask yourself a simple question. If you are not looking for ways to motivate yourself to exercise, then how will you ever find it? Your perspective may change when you ponder this question.
The fact is, you can find many reasons not to begin, but it's a choice you are free to make. Sure, the beginning may be the toughest part for many people, but if you want to do something you'll figure out a way to do it.
Are you ready to change?
Adherence is everything. The most important thing in health and fitness no matter your goal is adherence, results never come as fast as advertised. Long term results are gained by repeated habits performed and improved upon regularly.
Understanding the stage in which you are in is key to your long term adherence. Here are the 6 stages of change:
- Pre-Contemplation Phase - When you haven't even thought about wanting to exercise or diet but for some reason you’re influenced to change. This could be an advert or seeing someone else achieve it for example.
- Contemplation Phase - You start to talk about it with friends or family members and call a gym to ask about memberships.
- Preparation Phase - You purchase workout attire, book in for a gym induction and plan.
- Action Phase - You have taken up an exercise program and have maintained it three times per week for 6 months.
- Maintenance - If you have successfully passed through the action phase, congratulations you have now created a new habit.
- Relapse Phase - At any stage it is possible to relapse, usually this is due to sickness, injury or a life event.
Once you have identified the stage you are in it’s easier to set realistic goals. Of you are already in the Action Phase then it’s time to work on adherence. But if you are still in the Preparation Phase it’s a good idea to take on some of the advice below.
Here are some ways to get your fitness motivation back on track:
Make a commitment
Don't hop from one program to another hoping to find that quick fix. Once you find a good program, stick with it. Success takes consistent time and effort. Utilise websites such as www.stickk.com which is a free tool developed at Yale University to help people stick to goals, On this website you create ‘Commitment Contracts’ that hold you accountable to hitting your goal by setting a stake; money to charity if you fail or a wager with a friend or family member and then holding you accountable by integrating your social network.
Use tracking to improve
Measure your results against your goals and see what's working. Modify your plan if needed, and continue to do more of what works until you hit your target. This could be simply tracking your weight in a diary or tracking your food through MyFitnessPal. In fact, there is a lot of tech to track your fitness, see my article on 'What's the Best Tech For Fitness Motivation?'
Having a partner
To work out with can accelerate your progress a great deal. This just means that you schedule workout sessions with a friend or partner to help motivate each other. Finding the right person is essential, find someone who is positive or already in the Action Phase, there is nothing worse than spending an hour 3 times per week with someone who is going ton drain your energy, demotivate you and let you down.
Train in the morning
Many people find the thought of working out early in the morning rather unpleasant. We understand that sentiment. According to research, though, exercising in the start of hours increases the likelihood that someone will stay with it long term. Aside from exercising in the morning, doing it five or six days per week was a factor. You may want to take this into consideration. Based on this, even if you're not used to exercising early in the day, you might want to try it for at least a week. Just give it one week, and we believe you will like it. This works because your early workout sets you into motion, and this can last all day. There's no better way to increase your metabolism and give you a feeling of aliveness.
Accountability
becomes a factor when you work out with another person. Now, if you fail to keep an appointment, you're not only letting yourself down but your buddy as well. It's an unbreakable rule that you don't let your buddies down, whether in combat or at the gym. You'll find that this is a highly effective way to overcome the problem of losing motivation. This is especially good for sociable people who are energized by doing things with others.
Develop a positive outlook
A positive outlook in general, can be a way to motivate yourself for fitness.
Keeping a positive outlook when circumstances are difficult can be hard for anyone. No matter how hard it is, though, it's worth it, because of what you have to gain by such an attitude. The reason we mention this is that if you are more positive in your outlook, then you will have an easier time with motivation and fitness programs. This is true for whatever you want to do in life. Remember that all the parts of your life are connected. You can get a sense of accomplishment when you stick to your fitness program. By feeling good about one thing, like fitness, your general positive attitude can be reinforced. You should try it.
Keep your fitness program and goals as workable as you can: Take it step by step, and don't think you have to accomplish everything right away. Your fitness program should be something you work on, in small steps, every day, and this will eventually lead to great results.
Don't change your lifestyle to fit your fitness plan: Instead, slide your fitness program into your way of life. Stop doing what isn't working, shut out the noise and stop looking for quick fixes. Find a complete fitness plan, based on modern research that works, and commit, track, and tweak.
We hope that this article has provided some inspiration, please go ahead and read our best home gym equipment reviews!
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