Great Tips To Keep Your Workouts Consistent
If you find it hard to begin a workout plan or stick to that plan, you’re not alone in this. Many of us struggle to get off your couch, despite our best intentions. Everyone is well aware that there are many great reasons to exercise—from improving energy, mood, sleep, and health to reducing anxiety, stress, and depression. But if knowing how and why to exercise was enough, we’d all be in shape. Making exercise a habit takes more than planning. Just put your workout shirts and pants on and start doing some exercise. The following are some constructive tips that you should follow if you want to make your workout routine consistent and steady:
Find your actual motivation:
Finding your motivation to workout is absolutely essential in ensuring that you remain consistent in your exercise routine. Most people don’t really have clear reasons for their workout habits. You should have an explicit reason why you want to go out for exercise. Maybe consider a workout partner because they can play a substantial role in keeping you motivated all the time.
Start small and build momentum with time:
When you’re trying to establish a new habit, never commit to too much right away. Instead of trying to work out five days a week, cook all your own meals at home, and leave all your best-loved dishes, start small by building one healthy habit at a time. Trying to change too many things at once means you’ll soon be too sore from working out, too energy-deprived, and too bitter about your new lifestyle that your efforts will probably backfire. It’s better to start with easy exercise goals you know you can achieve. As you meet them, you’ll build self-confidence and momentum. Then you can move on to more challenging goals.
Choose activities that make you feel happy and confident:
Don’t get pigeonholed into one type of workout because you will get bored doing one exercise day in, day out. Boredom will make you start skipping your workout routine. It’s better to make your exercises pleasurable. Think outside the gym, do those activities which are joyful for you and incorporate them into an exercise routine. Make your workout a game like dancing, skateboarding, soccer, bowling, or tennis. They can burn at least as many calories as walking on a treadmill.
Commit to your workout for just 30 days:
Another way to create a lifelong exercise habit is to start by committing to just 30 days of consistent workout. Pick out the activity you like to do, then tell yourself you’ll stick to that for an entire month, giving yourself permission that if you don’t like it at the end of the month, you don’t have to continue. It is very likely that at the end of a month, you’ll notice you feel stronger, more energized, and covet to continue the routine. If you get to this point, congratulations — you’ve developed an exercise habit.
Have a relative rest day:
A rest day should be included in your workout plan. It will serve as a reward for exercising consistently all week. Another reason for this, recovery is very important, which is why you need to give your body a chance to rest. If you’re exercising only 20 minutes, it’s best to continue without rest days. But it’s still good to have one day of rest where you’re not doing the same exercises as the other six days. It will save you from getting bored with your workout routine. You don’t want to skip the day completely, because then you’re not being consistent with your habit. You could just do 20 minutes of walking, or even just a session of meditation. The key is to do something every day, preferably something that gets you moving and keeps your habit formation going.
Photos courtesy of Born Tough
