The Cheat Sheet For Exercise Motivation
3/5/2019
Written By: Ryan Chan |
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How many times was your New Year resolution and/or Birthday wish - to exercising at least 3 times a week / to looking slimmer or fitter? And how many times have it fail to come true?
When you fail to exercise even though you wish to, the reason often falls into one of these:
Let’s take a look at you can tackle each of these scenario to get you back onto your fitness track.
When you fail to exercise even though you wish to, the reason often falls into one of these:
- I’m so tired, I’m so lazy, I don’t have energy to exercise
- I don’t have the time to do it
- It’s so boring
- I don’t know what to do, how to start
- It’s so troublesome to have to go to the gym to workout
- I’m still not reaching my fitness goal, it’s so slow
Let’s take a look at you can tackle each of these scenario to get you back onto your fitness track.
I’m so tired, I’m so lazy, I don’t have energy to exercise…
1. Organise Your Schedule
There will be a certain period of time along the day that you will feel more energetic and that will help to boost your willpower to exercise. Try to arrange your schedule so that your workout timing fits into these energetic slots.
For example, if you are someone who has more energy in the morning after you wake up, you might want to do some light exercises before your breakfast, have a good warm bath after and enjoy your breakfast before heading to work.
2. The 1 Minute Rule
Whenever you feel lazy to exercise even though you want to, I want you to challenge yourself to do any exercise for just a single minute. It could be a minute of push-ups or sit-ups or jumping jacks. Whatever it is, just do it for a minute. If you feel that you are ready to do more, then go ahead with whatever workout that you have in planned. Else, stop and resume the activity that you were doing before and try again in an hour or another day.
3. Just Follow
You can easily search for anything on the internet. Simply type “Home Exercise Routine” in YouTube and you have tons of workout plans for you to choose from. Simply put your phone in front of you and follow their real-time workouts and instructions and you will be on your way to a healthier day. Here are some YouTube workout channels that you might find useful:
Fitness Blender
Leslie Sansone
4. Get A Personal Trainer
Trust me, once you decide to invest in a personal trainer, you will not find any more excuse to not work out. Even if you do, your trainer will not let you go that easily because it’s his/her job to get you to exercise. But do take note that there are trainers that requires you to go to their gym and those that can travel to wherever place that is convenient for you. So do look out for them and choose the ones suitable for you as convenient is also a big factor in getting you started on exercising.
Leave all the goal setting, workout planning, progress tracking, repetition counting to them and just enjoy the quick torture session. But I promise you will feel less guilty and more accomplished after and you’ll be thankful to have exercised that day.
There will be a certain period of time along the day that you will feel more energetic and that will help to boost your willpower to exercise. Try to arrange your schedule so that your workout timing fits into these energetic slots.
For example, if you are someone who has more energy in the morning after you wake up, you might want to do some light exercises before your breakfast, have a good warm bath after and enjoy your breakfast before heading to work.
2. The 1 Minute Rule
Whenever you feel lazy to exercise even though you want to, I want you to challenge yourself to do any exercise for just a single minute. It could be a minute of push-ups or sit-ups or jumping jacks. Whatever it is, just do it for a minute. If you feel that you are ready to do more, then go ahead with whatever workout that you have in planned. Else, stop and resume the activity that you were doing before and try again in an hour or another day.
3. Just Follow
You can easily search for anything on the internet. Simply type “Home Exercise Routine” in YouTube and you have tons of workout plans for you to choose from. Simply put your phone in front of you and follow their real-time workouts and instructions and you will be on your way to a healthier day. Here are some YouTube workout channels that you might find useful:
Fitness Blender
Leslie Sansone
4. Get A Personal Trainer
Trust me, once you decide to invest in a personal trainer, you will not find any more excuse to not work out. Even if you do, your trainer will not let you go that easily because it’s his/her job to get you to exercise. But do take note that there are trainers that requires you to go to their gym and those that can travel to wherever place that is convenient for you. So do look out for them and choose the ones suitable for you as convenient is also a big factor in getting you started on exercising.
Leave all the goal setting, workout planning, progress tracking, repetition counting to them and just enjoy the quick torture session. But I promise you will feel less guilty and more accomplished after and you’ll be thankful to have exercised that day.
I don’t have the time to do it…
1. Prioritization
Saying that you don’t have time to do something simply means that the thing you want to do isn’t of a high priority to begin with. Rather than giving a more tangible or direct solution to this issue, this strategy deals more with self-reflection.
2. The 1 Minute Rule
Whenever you feel lazy to exercise even though you want to, I want you to challenge yourself to do any exercise for just a single minute. It could be a minute of push-ups or sit-ups or jumping jacks. Whatever, just do it for a minute. If you feel that you are ready to do more, then go ahead with whatever workout that you have in planned. Else, stop and resume the activity that you were doing before and try again in an hour or another day.
3. Get A Personal Trainer
When you decide to invest in a personal trainer, besides the monetary investment that you are making to achieve a healthier lifestyle, you are also investing a part of your time to ensure that proper time allocation is done to help you achieve that fitness goal. This comes in the form of those appointments you are “forced” to set with your trainer to train. Under normal circumstance, you will always find little to no time to exercise. However, once that investment is made, as you scroll through that busy schedule of yours, for some reason, there will always be one or two timeslot which you can exercise in. This can be link to the first point of “Prioritization”, though in this case, you are “forced” to give your body more time than it usually gets.
Saying that you don’t have time to do something simply means that the thing you want to do isn’t of a high priority to begin with. Rather than giving a more tangible or direct solution to this issue, this strategy deals more with self-reflection.
2. The 1 Minute Rule
Whenever you feel lazy to exercise even though you want to, I want you to challenge yourself to do any exercise for just a single minute. It could be a minute of push-ups or sit-ups or jumping jacks. Whatever, just do it for a minute. If you feel that you are ready to do more, then go ahead with whatever workout that you have in planned. Else, stop and resume the activity that you were doing before and try again in an hour or another day.
3. Get A Personal Trainer
When you decide to invest in a personal trainer, besides the monetary investment that you are making to achieve a healthier lifestyle, you are also investing a part of your time to ensure that proper time allocation is done to help you achieve that fitness goal. This comes in the form of those appointments you are “forced” to set with your trainer to train. Under normal circumstance, you will always find little to no time to exercise. However, once that investment is made, as you scroll through that busy schedule of yours, for some reason, there will always be one or two timeslot which you can exercise in. This can be link to the first point of “Prioritization”, though in this case, you are “forced” to give your body more time than it usually gets.
It’s so boring…
1. Find an Exercise Partner/ Buddy
The easiest and most direct way to solve this problem would just be to find a friend or even a family member to exercise with you. This way you guys can motivate one another to exercise, chit chat during workouts and grab a healthy meal before or after your workouts together. While many of the times we aim to be self-motivated to do something, often it can be difficult to start thus it is absolutely fine to get externally motivated in order to instil a certain level of commitment and habit to help you kick start your engine. However, that being said, getting a suitable partner can be difficult as they may not enjoy what you want to do or simply just a mismatch of schedule.
So…
2. Join a Group Fitness Class
Alternatively, you can join a fitness class. This way, you will have a group of people exercising together with you, motivated by one another and/or the teacher, and fit what you want to do as well as your schedule. Of course for the start, you might not be close to the participants as compared to if you were to find your own exercise buddy. But you can definitely build up the relationship fast especially when everyone has a common interest and a place and time to exercise together.
The easiest and most direct way to solve this problem would just be to find a friend or even a family member to exercise with you. This way you guys can motivate one another to exercise, chit chat during workouts and grab a healthy meal before or after your workouts together. While many of the times we aim to be self-motivated to do something, often it can be difficult to start thus it is absolutely fine to get externally motivated in order to instil a certain level of commitment and habit to help you kick start your engine. However, that being said, getting a suitable partner can be difficult as they may not enjoy what you want to do or simply just a mismatch of schedule.
So…
2. Join a Group Fitness Class
Alternatively, you can join a fitness class. This way, you will have a group of people exercising together with you, motivated by one another and/or the teacher, and fit what you want to do as well as your schedule. Of course for the start, you might not be close to the participants as compared to if you were to find your own exercise buddy. But you can definitely build up the relationship fast especially when everyone has a common interest and a place and time to exercise together.
I don’t know what to do, how to start…
1. Start Simple
The sheer amount of exercises you can do is definitely intimating for the start but remember, one of the main objective of exercising is to increase your heart rate. Anything that makes you breath harder, sweat more, is a good exercise to do. For example, you could walk faster, walk up a hill, jump on the spot, do some push ups and sit ups and repeat everything for at least 30 minutes. There you have it, an exercise routine! It is that easy!
Alternatively, you can…
2. Follow an Exercise Program
You can easily search for anything on the internet. Simply type “Home Exercise Routine” in YouTube and you have tons of workout plans for you to choose from. Simply put your phone in front of you and follow their real-time workouts and instructions and you will be on your way to a healthier day. Here are some YouTube workout channels that you might find useful:
Fitness Blender
Leslie Sansone
3. Get a Personal Trainer
Lazy to plan your workout? Have a fitness goal but don’t know how to work towards it? Afraid to get injured during workout? Want someone to push you? Need someone to count your repetitions and sets for you? Or simply just want someone to be there to listen to your rants? You can solve all these with a Personal Trainer. There are those that requires you to go to their gym and those that can travel to wherever place that is convenient to you. So do look out for them and choose the ones suitable for you.
The sheer amount of exercises you can do is definitely intimating for the start but remember, one of the main objective of exercising is to increase your heart rate. Anything that makes you breath harder, sweat more, is a good exercise to do. For example, you could walk faster, walk up a hill, jump on the spot, do some push ups and sit ups and repeat everything for at least 30 minutes. There you have it, an exercise routine! It is that easy!
Alternatively, you can…
2. Follow an Exercise Program
You can easily search for anything on the internet. Simply type “Home Exercise Routine” in YouTube and you have tons of workout plans for you to choose from. Simply put your phone in front of you and follow their real-time workouts and instructions and you will be on your way to a healthier day. Here are some YouTube workout channels that you might find useful:
Fitness Blender
Leslie Sansone
3. Get a Personal Trainer
Lazy to plan your workout? Have a fitness goal but don’t know how to work towards it? Afraid to get injured during workout? Want someone to push you? Need someone to count your repetitions and sets for you? Or simply just want someone to be there to listen to your rants? You can solve all these with a Personal Trainer. There are those that requires you to go to their gym and those that can travel to wherever place that is convenient to you. So do look out for them and choose the ones suitable for you.
It’s so troublesome to have to go to the gym to workout…
1. Work out at places that you feel convenient
Nobody says that exercising can only happen in the gym. It can happen almost anywhere and if home is the most convenient place to do it then so be it. You can do simple High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) or follow an exercise plan or video online to get the job done.
2. Bring your workout attire everywhere
How many times were you in the scenario that you feel like working out but you are not in the right attire? Or that you want to change up at home then head out to work out only to find yourself stuck in the couch watching television? Bring or even wear your workout attire everywhere so that when the urge comes or the opportunity hits, go for it. Always be ready for a workout!
Nobody says that exercising can only happen in the gym. It can happen almost anywhere and if home is the most convenient place to do it then so be it. You can do simple High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) or follow an exercise plan or video online to get the job done.
2. Bring your workout attire everywhere
How many times were you in the scenario that you feel like working out but you are not in the right attire? Or that you want to change up at home then head out to work out only to find yourself stuck in the couch watching television? Bring or even wear your workout attire everywhere so that when the urge comes or the opportunity hits, go for it. Always be ready for a workout!
I’m still not reaching my fitness goal, it’s so slow...
1. Set Realistic Goals
Often people want to get instant result or drastic result within a short period of time. Bear in mind, how long did it took for you to be where you are. Did you suddenly become obese overnight? Did your abs suddenly disappear in a day? Were you once muscular but lost all your muscles within 24 hours? Chances are NO. You probably had months of sedentary lifestyle and plenty of junk food to get obese. So you’ll probably need months of active lifestyle and plenty of high intensity workouts to get the result you want. So be realistic in setting your goals. And remember, drastic methods will NEVER be sustainable. This includes supplementation for weight loss and drugs for gaining muscle.
In general, it is worth noting that:
A healthy weight gain is around 0.5kg a week and,
A healthy weight loss is around 0.5-1kg a week.
Talk to fitness or healthcare professionals* regarding your goals and they will be able to advice you appropriately.
*when I mean professionals, I mean people who are certified. Not just any sales person or promoter of a certain supplementation products claiming that they are experts in their business.
Also, you might be interested in knowing if you are using the right method to track your fitness progress here!
Often people want to get instant result or drastic result within a short period of time. Bear in mind, how long did it took for you to be where you are. Did you suddenly become obese overnight? Did your abs suddenly disappear in a day? Were you once muscular but lost all your muscles within 24 hours? Chances are NO. You probably had months of sedentary lifestyle and plenty of junk food to get obese. So you’ll probably need months of active lifestyle and plenty of high intensity workouts to get the result you want. So be realistic in setting your goals. And remember, drastic methods will NEVER be sustainable. This includes supplementation for weight loss and drugs for gaining muscle.
In general, it is worth noting that:
A healthy weight gain is around 0.5kg a week and,
A healthy weight loss is around 0.5-1kg a week.
Talk to fitness or healthcare professionals* regarding your goals and they will be able to advice you appropriately.
*when I mean professionals, I mean people who are certified. Not just any sales person or promoter of a certain supplementation products claiming that they are experts in their business.
Also, you might be interested in knowing if you are using the right method to track your fitness progress here!
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