A common thing that we see with many individuals who make a number of different changes with their diet however do not improve their health is the lack of sufficient exercise. Do you find getting disciplined about exercise a challenge? Are you one of those individuals who manages everything during your day except for your exercise? Then this article is just for you!
Focus On The Short-Term Benefits
As essential as the long-term health benefits of exercise are, just being aware of them isn’t sufficient to motivate most people. Rather, research suggests that you should focus on the more instant benefits.
A study of middle-aged women found that individuals whose main goal was to live longer or be healthier essentially exercised less than those with “quality of life” goals, such as having more energy or lower stress levels. Put in another way, if you think exercise will assist you to cope better right now with a demanding job or screaming kids, that’s more likely to get you to the gym as opposed to the notion that exercise will assist you to prevent a heart attack in 20 years.
The key is recognising what the short-term payoff of exercise is for you:
- Is it sounder sleep?
- An improved mood?
- Clearer thinking?
- Lower pain levels?
- Increased patience?
Such benefits may not be evident instantly if you’re new to exercise, so determining which ones apply to you could take a little time. However, once you figure it out, make sure that you keep those rewards in mind – or better yet, paste them on your bathroom mirror, fridge or wherever else you can easily see them – so they offer a nudge, particularly when you feel your willpower flagging.
Timing Plays A Key Role
If you have a work schedule where you start work very early in the morning, then you just may not have the resources to add that into your morning schedule. In that case, don’t worry. Perhaps it’s the other way around where you wind up work very late into the night, but you have a late morning start.
Based on your work schedule always make it a non-negotiable one hour for yourself. It might take a month to get committed to it but putting it into your scheduler and having a reminder will ensure that you start creating that habit.
Have A Compelling Reason
When individuals find themselves stalling on their fitness goals, it’s not as they’re not good at seeing things through, but rather as they actually didn’t care that much about the fitness goal in the first place.
Let’s take running, for instance. Perhaps you signed up to run a marathon as you thought it would be impressive, however then you came to the conclusion that you didn’t care enough about amazing your mates in order to justify getting up at the crack of dawn for those taxing winter runs.
However, getting wind of the fact that a family member (or even a celebrity) has suffered a health scare can be an extremely compelling reason in order to focus more on your own health. Taking a small amount of time to find a good motivation for doing something, or to identify the most convincing features of a goal, will help to keep you on track.
Contact Trifocus Fitness Academy
If you would like to discover additional information about exercise, then you need to do our Personal Training Diploma. Follow this link to find out more.