Every year, millions of people make new goals to lose weight or get into better shape, and more often than not those goals get set aside as time goes by. Fitness is vital for proper health, but many of us struggle with getting into the habit of working out consistently. Sustaining any exercise routine can seem like a daunting task, but there are simple steps you can take to make working out a regular habit.
If you're struggling to keep up with your fitness goals, it could be that you're trying to accomplish too much too fast. Whether you're attempting to lose weight or build muscle mass, if you set the bar too high you may become easily discouraged and give up.
Breaking down your ultimate goal into smaller steps will keep you motivated as it's easier to see results in the short term rather than hope for quick results on goals that may take much more time.
Many people concerned about their fitness tend to gravitate towards exercise plans that may be too long or too intense for beginners. You may think that committing to run five miles a day, hitting the gym for two hours every other day or attending an hour-long fitness class six days a week will keep you motivated, but you may be misleading yourself.
If it's been a while since you've had a consistent workout plan, you may find that you cannot complete long, intense workouts on a daily basis. This will easily sap your motivation, cause you to give up and potentially lead to injury if your body is not prepared for this type of activity.
Even if it's only 15 minutes of yoga, a half-hour of walking at a quick pace or a five minute core strengthening routine, starting with a shorter workout that's achievable will help you get into the habit of sticking with your routine. As you master these less intense workouts, you'll be able to increase the difficulty incrementally while ingraining the process into your daily habits.
Planning on working out "when you have time" can be a setup for failure. Actually incorporating a specific time to work out into your calendar will make it easier to consistently complete. Think of it as making an appointment to yourself. We keep professional and personal appointments, so treating a workout like an appointment can give you the mindset that fitness is important and a scheduled part of your life.
Taking the time to get your workout necessities ready to go ahead of time will put you in the mindset that it's something that is going to happen.
This can be as simple as downloading your workout music mix to your smartphone, making sure your Bluetooth earbuds are charged and setting out your running shoes the night before a morning run. Put a TapouT Citrus Kick in the fridge so it's nice and cold come workout time or maybe place your yoga mat in a visible area with free weights or whatever apparatus you'll be using for that fitness session. Not only will you be mentally prepared when it's time to exercise, but you also won't have any excuses since your fitness accessories are ready to go.
Working out day after day can be a grind, and you may eventually begin to dread exercise if you overdo it.
Don't feel like you've failed if you take a day off. Even professional athletes schedule off days into their routines. Taking a recovery day can help your body heal and rest up for the challenges of training sessions during the rest of the week. It can also put you in a relaxed mental mind state that will encourage you once you get back to the exercise routine. Knowing that you'll have a day off can be a great motivator throughout the week.
You can coordinate your schedule so that workouts are connected to activities you already have planned.
Let's say you have a day where you have errands to run, but you have the ability to schedule a gap for a workout. Plan on running your errands close to your gym so you can hop in for a workout or map your routine so it takes you near a local walking trail. Overtime, a workout will become part of the errands you run and will become a habit almost every time you leave the house.
You can even incorporate this strategy if you plan on working out at home. If you plan to tidy up your workout areas, you should plan on using it before or after. If you work from home or spend most of the day behind a desk, use your breaks to go for a walk around the block or climb a few flights of stairs. If you have the time off anyway, you can utilize it to make fitness a force of habit.