How to Stay Motivated on Your Fitness Journey

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How to Stay Motivated on Your Fitness Journey

It can feel impossible to stay motivated when you’re working towards a fitness goal. The stresses of daily life; the pressure of work and the lack of energy; can all have a huge impact on how we approach fitness. These 7 easy steps can offer you some motivation to get you on track to achieving your goals.

1. Achievable Expectations and Goals 

Begin with smaller objectives and work your way up to long-term aspirations. Keep in mind that your objectives should be realistic and achievable. It’s easy to become frustrated and give up if your objectives are too hard or time-consuming.

A long-term goal might be to complete a 5K walk; while a short-term goal could be to go for a 30-minute walk five days per week. Even minimal amounts of exercise have perks. A moderate objective is to go for a 30-minute walk five days weekly. A long-term goal could be to run a 5K race.

Australia’s physical activity recommendations for adults 18-64 outline that each week; you should be getting 2 ½ – 5 hours of moderate-intensity exercise; or 1 ¼ to 2 ½ hours of vigorous-intensity exercise across 5 sessions. 

“Achieving small goals will give you the motivation to move up to something harder,” says resilience coach Elisabeth Wightman, “Short-term goals help minimise procrastination and give you evidence that you’re capable which will help your productivity”.

2. Enjoyable Exercise 

Make a list of activities you like to do, and use it to constantly change up your regime to keep it fresh. If your workouts aren’t bringing you joy, try something new. Join a team sport, take a ballroom dancing lesson or check out a health club, or martial arts school for alternative exercises options that feel more like a fun activity than a chore. If you prefer working out at home, look for instructional videos on YouTube. There are thousands of free videos for all kinds of exercises from yoga to high-intensity workouts. You can also just go for a walk around your neighbourhood; as a simple and peaceful way to get your heart pumping.

3. Regular Routine

Physical activity should be planned as if it were any other essential task. It can be super easy to say “I don’t have time”; but really all you need is 30 minutes and we can all find that in our day. Try making a set weekly schedule for your workouts so you know what to expect from the week and get into a routine. 

You can also incorporate exercise into your everyday life. Take the stairs over the elevator or walk to the shop instead of driving. Small changes like this can give you an easy 10 minutes of exercise.

Even if you get the advised amount of weekly activity, sitting for lengthy periods of time may have a negative impact on your health, according to research. Try investing in a standing desk for your office to reduce the amount of time you spend sitting. 

4. Document it

Recording your achievements will help you to stay motivated. Document all of your workouts; so, you can look at them when you feel unmotivated and see how far you’ve come. Tracking your hard work will stop you from giving up halfway through. 

“Documenting your successes is an awesome way to instil a sense of accomplishment in yourself and can even help you remember routines you really liked so you can go back to them later,” says Integral Tuition.

5. Get Social

The ultimate way to hold yourself accountable and have fun while doing it is to get social with your workouts. Whether you invite a friend to a job or join a team sport or virtual zoom workout group; having other people to encourage you and to talk to when you work out will motivate you. 

Working out with others; will not only improve your physical fitness but it will also help to improve your mental health which is huge! 

6. Make it Rewarding

Exercising can be hard! It is definitely something to be proud of and reward yourself for; sticking to your routine is a great way to keep yourself motivated. Try setting yourself a long term goal and then rewarding yourself with a gift; like new workout clothes or shoes or a month-long membership to a fitness class you’ve been wanting to try. The rewards don’t even have to be fitness related, take yourself to the movies or buy a new video game. After all, without balance, you will lose motivation. 

7. Give Yourself a Break

We are HUMAN! Choosing a day or two to take to yourself each week; will give you something to look forward to and prevent you from getting burned out. If you feel it’s all getting too much; take a day off, or if you really don’t feel in the mood to work out at your scheduled time; bargain with yourself. Telling yourself you can enjoy 1 hour more of TikTok before you take on a workout; will make you feel way more willing to get up and go. 

“Just be sure to get back on the horse right away and if you do take a day off immediately reschedule and stick to it” notes Vicki Witt Weight Loss.

Physical activity is for life. When your motivation begins to fade, refer back to these tips and remember you’re capable!

Featured photo by RF._.studio from Pexels
Sarah Miller

Sarah writes about her personal journey, learning, life optimisation and her passions. For more thoughts and ideas, you can connect with Sarah on Twitter

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