Let’s be honest: it’s not always easy to find the motivation to exercise, and it’s even harder when you just don’t enjoy it. Here are a few tips to get you started:
👉CHANGE YOUR PERSPECTIVE
Shift your thinking from couch potato to thinking like an athlete. This may sound like a big challenge, but it’s not as big a leap as you think. How do you want to live the rest of your life?
👉SET A GOAL
Set a goal and write it down. There’s nothing more motivating than that first 5km run looming in bold letters on the calendar. Register early and commit to an exercise program that will get you in shape by race day. Set realistic goals that include clear milestones, you’ll find a ripple effect occurs and things fall into place in your work, home life, and health
👉SCHEDULE A REGULAR WORKOUT TIME
Some of the most committed people exercise every day before the sun comes up or late at night when the kids are in bed. Sit down with your weekly schedule and try to build in an hour each day to be good to your body.
If you convince yourself you’ll fit in a workout some time after that last meeting, once the kids go down for a nap, failure is certain. Chances are a last-minute invitation will come along, or the kids won’t sleep. Write your workout on your calendar, set up daycare, and rearrange things around this one hour as if it were any other important appointment you have to keep.
👉THINK FUN AND VARIETY
By nature we need change and variety to stay motivated. We also need to have fun, so exercise is easier if its fun. Make sure you include exercise you enjoy and look forward to doing - think dancing, surfing, or playing sports with family and friends.
👉REACH OUT TO OTHERS FOR SUPPORT
Many of us have trouble asking for help. Yet in order to stick to a program, we need buy-in and encouragement from other people.
Find a friend with a shared zest for running, and planning scheduled workouts together. It’s easy to hit the snooze button when it’s just you, but much harder to leave a friend waiting at the track.
Lobbying your workplace to offer on-site fitness, yoga, or Pilates classes will also support your mission for a healthy lifestyle.
So start thinking of yourself as an athlete, and not a spectator. Set a goal, sign up a friend, pull out the calendar, and have some fun.
By following these steps you will set yourself up for a lifetime of better health, more happiness, and more energy for everything else in your life.
Keen to get started, head over to www.prescribeexercise.com.au and book a time with our Accredited Exercise Physiologists today.
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