It’s easy to start eating healthy and hitting the gym daily. The motivation at the start of your fitness journey is impeccable, with no mishaps. However, nobody is perfect; there comes a time when your fitness motivation is at its lowest. You find yourself procrastinating during your workout sessions. You promise you’ll work out tomorrow, but tomorrow becomes a week, and a week becomes a month until you cannot resume your regular workouts.
Maintaining fitness motivation isn’t as easy as fitness models make it seem. There is no single method that will keep you motivated in the gym indefinitely. However, a few tips can boost your mental awareness and help you stay consistent with your fitness goals.
Table of Contents
1. Hire A Personal Trainer
One of the key traits of a successful personal trainer is the ability to boost a client’s workout motivation. Therefore, a trainer can help you achieve your fitness goals if you’re a beginner or an expert that lacks enough motivation. A trainer not only helps you become active but will also help you change lifestyle habits and train with you until you reach your peak performance.
Hiring a trainer offers various advantages, including enhanced accountability. You’re more inclined to skip a day or two at the gym when you train alone. However, this isn’t the case when someone is waiting for you in the gym. You’ll also find yourself training harder with a trainer than when you were training alone. Furthermore, a trainer will teach you about health, fitness, and exercises that suit your body type. They’ll teach you how to execute different workout routines properly, use specialized equipment, and what meals will benefit your body. Lastly, a personal trainer can assist you in setting realistic and attainable goals.
2. Set Your Fitness Goals
If you’ve decided to improve your health and fitness but don’t know where to begin, establishing fitness goals is a great place for motivation and success. Goal setting allows you to plan ahead of time to achieve your objective. Setting fitness goals entails identifying areas for improvement and making the required efforts to accomplish them. However, the goals you set at the beginning of your fitness journey will determine the outcome. With that, you should note that setting unrealistic goals will set you up for failure even before you start working out.
The goals you set should be realistic and attainable within the stipulated time. Generally, the goals you set should be:
- Specific: To set effective fitness goals, you must have more than a general notion of what you want; you must be specific. For example, ‘I want to lose weight’ is not a precise aim. The objective should specify how much weight you wish to lose over what time frame. ‘I want to lose 50 pounds in 6 months is an excellent example of a precise objective.
- Measurable: You able to track your progress toward your goals to determine if you’re going in the right direction. An example of a measurable goal is to perform 50 push-ups at once.
- Attainable: The goals you set should be realistic; set a goal you’ll be able to achieve. For instance, setting a goal to bench 150 pounds within three weeks may be unrealistic if you’re a beginner.
- Relevant: Ensure that your goals are consistent with your general lifestyle.
- Time Conscious: When setting your goals, setting a time frame or deadline is essential. Having a deadline encourages consistency so you can reach your objective by a set date.
3. Incorporate Physical Activity Into Your Daily Schedule
Without setting a precise time for your workouts, you’ll always find a reason to skip them. However, devoting dedicated time to your workouts elevates it to the level of typical and essential activity. If you can’t attend a session, substitute it with other physical exercises. For instance, you can walk during work breaks and take the stairs rather than the elevator. Additionally, suppose you usually sit for long hours at work. In that case, you should always take walks during breaks, since sitting for extended periods can negatively impact your health and capacity to exercise.
4. Start Slow And Progress Gradually
A common mistake individuals make in their fitness journey is going too hard in their workouts. While it’s okay to challenge yourself, pushing yourself too hard might result in injuries, making you lose motivation. If you’ve not been training consistently, your body is still inactive, and strenuous activity causes it to strain. A good practice is starting with light exercises for short periods and gradually increasing the intensity and workout time. This allows your body and mind to adjust to the routine. Doing so consistently builds morale and encourages you to attend your sessions to achieve the next milestone.
Conclusion
Staying motivated throughout your fitness journey isn’t as easy as it seems. You need to be mentally and physically prepared for anything that causes you to lose your fitness motivation. Consider integrating the tips mentioned above, and with a bit of perseverance, you’ll see changes in your motivation and physical abilities.