Whether it’s an aversion to discomfort, a busy schedule, personal stresses or a lack of knowledge, there can be many roadblocks to exercising, making it difficult to find your work out motivation. It helps in times like these to adopt good habits that will help to keep up your drive to exercise and improve your health and fitness. Here are 7 tips and tricks to help you stay motivated:
Reward Yourself
Training hard as you work towards your personal targets doesn’t mean that you have to be hard on yourself. It’s ok to be proud of your achievements and to reward yourself for your efforts. Indulging in the occasional night off, a little bit of chocolate, a small glass of wine or a cheat meal once a week can be just what you need to maintain a healthy lifestyle, while also giving you something to work towards. There’s a reason why your parents always let you eat dessert after finishing all your green vegetables; small rewards are good motivation to stay healthy!
[PGPT-button label=’To see how PGPT can help you plan a balanced diet that won’t punish you, read all about our Nutritional Planning service’ url=’https://pgpt.co.uk/nutritional-plans/’]
Do What You Enjoy
It may sound obvious, but the exercises you do should be the ones that you enjoy. This doesn’t mean to take it easy on yourself and always choose low-exertion workouts, but forcing yourself to only do exercises that you hate and struggle with is very likely to make you lose enthusiasm for training. Of course, a balanced programme of different types of exercise is important to build all aspects of fitness and reduce risk of injury, but if the thought of doing one particular exercise brings your mood down, it’s wise to make sure that it’s not the only or most frequent exercise that you’re doing.
Be Realistic
Something that often limits a person’s work out motivation is by making their goals unrealistic. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set your sights high, with long-term goals and targets to work towards. However, telling yourself something like ‘I’ll do a 10km run over my 30-minute lunch break’ is a sure-fire way towards losing motivation. Make sure to be aware of the time you have, as well as the kinds of workouts that are achievable, so that it doesn’t feel impossible to even start in the first place. This will ensure that you not only finish your workout, but also feel great by doing so
[PGPT-button label=’Find out why being mobile personal trainers allows us to help our clients train effectively at times and locations that suit them’ url=’https://pgpt.co.uk/mobile-personal-trainer/’]
Take Small Steps
With a goal in mind, such as competing at a sporting event or hitting a target weight, it can be difficult to be patient and put in the graft of regular exercise over a long period of time. The issue with rushing into too frequent or too intense workouts to achieve your goals quickly, is that if progress is not made you may end up losing your work out motivation, as well as potentially suffering injury or illness that will put you out of the game for a long time. A good way to stay motivated and committed to your workout routine is to be ok with making small steps at a healthy and steady pace.
Small steps in the right direction can make a huge difference
Phone a Friend
Self-motivation is very difficult for some people, with a lack of knowledge or lack of confidence making it hard to feel that you’re capable of doing exercise and achieving your goals. As well as providing extra accountability for your fitness routine, talking to a friend or family member about your progress, worries and issues with exercise can be a good way of settling your doubts and staying in a positive mindset. Also, working out with a partner or group is a brilliant way of making exercise more enjoyable, while also providing someone to motivate and look out for you.
Hire a Trainer
Just as a with a friend or family member, hiring a personal trainer is a great way to have advice, motivation and support when exercising. The expertise of a personal trainer allows them to tailor each client’s programme to their own availability and ability, meaning that every workout will be achievable and every goal attainable. Many trainers also have been through difficult times, so can offer personal advice on how they themselves have overcome a lack of work out motivation.
[PGPT-button label=’Read about PGPT and the backgrounds of our team of personal trainers. ‘ url=’https://pgpt.co.uk/personal-training/’]
Just Do It
Finally, the simplest way of overcoming a lack of work out motivation is to just get started! More often than not, once you’ve begun exercising, got your blood pumping and feeling the rush of endorphins, you’ll want to keep going and pushing yourself for the rest of the workout. It’s having this knowledge that can help you to begin your workout, even if other mental roadblocks are preventing you from feeling motivated.
Work Out Motivation With PGPT
At PGPT, we focus on helping our clients find their work out motivation and commit to a healthy, fit lifestyle. From goal-setting and mind-set coaching to support and nutritional advice, we strive to create the perfect personal training programmes to suit people with busy or stressful lifestyles, so that they can reap the benefits of diet and exercise to improve their lives. For bespoke personal training, look no further than PGPT.
We specialise in providing comprehensive personal training programmes for busy Londoners. Contact PGPT today to find out more, or book your complimentary consultation.