Last month, we laid out the groundwork for you to start your fitness journey with a solid foundation. Your next challenge? How do you keep that energy alive for the rest of the year, let alone for the foreseeable future? To build off of Part 1, Part 2 will dive into techniques to boost your motivation, maintain accountability, and navigate the inevitable hurdles that come with any long-term fitness journey.
1. Find Your Tribe, Don’t Just Join a Class
Workout Buddies: Exercising with a friend can add fun, healthy competition, and mutual support. What is the main reason that you enjoy being around your friends? Good friends lift each other up when things get tough! Don’t you think it would help to find some of those key people to keep you on track – this does matter to you, doesn’t it? The same also goes to what you can provide your friends. Think about this: do you feel better when you received something nice or when you do something nice for someone else? This feedback loop can create an unstoppable force when you are working on tough goals together.
Professional Guidance: Hiring an experienced personal trainer will provide you with a structured program that can help you get results faster WHILE keeping you on track. Far from a requirement for success, working with a fitness professional does have its benefits. Aside from the accountability that it provides, personal training allows you to expand your exercise knowledge. Imagine being able to go to the full extents of your abilities with the comfort of knowing that you are doing things correctly. Reduce injuries, recover faster, have more tools to utilize, the list can go on. Next time you feel stuck, reach out to an expert for that kick that you need to get back into gear!
Community Engagement: Share your success in trusted online groups and communities of like-minded people. With accountability being the main driver, once you know that others are aware of our intentions for change makes it much harder to back out- use it to your advantage! You may notice here that we didn’t suggest announcing it to just ANYBODY. People you trust will give you the feedback that you need in the early stages of change, let everybody else see it when you build your confidence!
2. Mix Up Your Routine
Variety is the Spice of Fitness: Avoid boredom by participating in different programs. Whether its different types of fitness classes to changing areas of focus when working with your personal trainer, variety is key to realizing changes that you want to see! Next time you find yourself hitting a slump or not being excited about the next workout, do a quick search to find something novel and new to try out- you just never know when you’ll find your next jam!
Set Mini-Challenges: Keep your routine fresh by setting monthly or weekly challenges, like a step count competition or a new workout type. Though these are seemingly small compared to your overall goal, they are pivotal in achieving said goal! It can be as simple as marking each day of the calendar when getting your workouts in- you wouldn’t want to mess up that awesome streak you’ve had going all month, would you?
3. Track Your Progress
Keep a Fitness Journal: Write down workouts, feelings, and progress. Reflecting on your journey can be incredibly motivating when things get tough. We often tend to focus on the now without giving much thought to what it took to get here in the first place. When you take the opportunity to retrace your steps and review what you’ve done, it not only can re-ignite that fire but it will make you feel like that you don’t want to let yourself down. So remember, while journaling is a great exercise for the now, it is even more important for your future self!
Use Technology to Your Advantage: Fitness trackers and apps can offer insights into your progress and help set new goals. This is a good excuse to get that smart watch you’ve been eying! While it may seem inconsequential to be able to take a look at your step count or how many calories you’ve burned during your workout, it again is about the little things that add up. What if you see that you are off by 2000 steps one day vs. your relative goal? Do you think you might get that little push to complete it? That’s why!
4. Get Inspired So You Can Inspire Others
Follow Inspirational Stories: Read success stories, watch motivational videos, or listen to podcasts that reinforce your commitment. There are so many individuals out there that have overcome hardship to get what they want- some of the most powerful stories are not even from anyone famous. Listening to others allows you to gain their collective experience that you can possibly relate to your own challenges and help you course correct before having to backtrack too far. Sometimes a feel good story is what you need to bring yourself up to a higher frequency. Use these stories to your advantage and to avoid possible mistakes! You may very well find yourself telling your story that will inspire the next one in line.
Reward Yourself: Set up a reward system for hitting milestones—be it a massage, a new workout outfit, or a favorite treat. Keeping in mind that the road you are on is long, you should consider putting in some strategic rest stops along the way. Positive reinforcement may be an old concept but that does not take away from its effectiveness in keeping you in line to reach your goal. So go ahead, treat yourself!
Remember! If you are still on the fitness journey that you started at the beginning of the year, you are already ahead of most others! Keeping motivated is all about variety, accountability, and a positive mindset. By integrating these strategies into your routine, you’re more likely to stick with your exercise plan even when the initial excitement fades. Having the right mindset will help you get to your goal even faster and more enjoyably that simply going through the motions. Be sure to tell yourself, “This is a decision that I’ve made for myself, not anyone else.” You are in the driver’s seat- just remember to take in the sights and plan for some stops along the way. There is a whole lot to see and learn if you allow yourself to! In our final post, we’ll tackle common obstacles and how to adjust your routine to keep it engaging and effective for the long haul. See you then!
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