Get Fit Quick Tip:
Mix up your exercises every 4-6 weeks!
Your muscles will adapt to the load of your workout over time. Mixing up your routine every 4-6 weeks means your muscles have to adapt to a new angle or way of working. This means your muscles continue to change, shape and improve strength. Here are just a few choices for strength training:
Examples: use free-weights, barbells, body weight, cables, bands.
Get Fit Quick Tip:
Ask for Accountability!
Find a workout partner or exercise group to hold you accountable to your fitness. Simply knowing you have to report your progress, means you’re less likely to skip a workout. Here’s how to start:
Talk to your friends, coworkers or family. Ask if they have fitness goals. If so, ask how they stay on track.
Ask for what you need. What exactly are you asking of them? Be specific.
Define your terms. Be clear how you’ll communicate progress, how often and what the ramifications are for falling short.
Follow through. Stick to your agreed upon plan.
To Those Who Inspire Fitness- Thank You!
Some days we are unable to do it for ourselves, but a few simple words of encouragement from someone else (sometimes even a stranger) can give us the energy to keep moving forward in our fitness journey. You never know who you will inspire and those that have inspired you may never know of their impact- here’s your opportunity, and your challenge for the week:
Everyone likes to hear a “THANK YOU- you have made a difference in my life.” A simple word, email, text of “thanks for your fitness/healthy living encouragement, it made a difference for me” just may make their day or week, or even their year. Show gratitude to those who have inspired your fitness and healthy living by paying it forward and passing along your motivation to inspire others. Consider these acts of generosity, just to name a few:
Tell them! Say thank you directly. Give a shout out to your training buddies next time one of them paces your run or thank your boss for offering a corporate wellness program, for example.
Share with them your current activity. Email them a recent race photo, they’ll love it! Let them know you’ve kept it up.
Recommit to your initial goal. Everyone falls off their fitness program every so often, use the energy of how they encouraged you and recommit. No one is perfect and no one can be 100% motivated, 100% of the time. Take one step today to get going again.
Donate equipment you’re no longer using to inspire kids and fitness. Requirements and guidelines vary from district to district so your best bet is to call your local junior high and high school directly. Ask if they’ll accept used gym and fitness equipment.
Offering a Thank You to your fitness mentor never goes out of style! Acknowledge your gratitude and pay your fitness-motivation forward- Who can YOU encourage? If you know someone struggling with their workout goals, offer a few words of encouragement or motivation.
Ask any exerciser and just about every single one will tell you there have been days where they wanted to quit. Give it all up. Forget healthy living entirely. However, something or someone inspired them to keep going.
You want to quit your workout? Here’s why you shouldn’t:
There will be progress. In fact it’s almost a given or guarantee, if you stick with it long enough that is. Many of your body’s systems are trainable. You will become stronger and more efficient with repeated practice. For example, your cardiovascular system, or your heart. Your heart will become stronger when you make it work through exercise. Physical changes from exercise and healthy eating are both externally and internally based. They are based on human biology and physiology, so if you’re not seeing results do an honest inventory. Are you truly following the guidelines on a daily basis? If so, double-check or fine tune your approach. Maybe what you’re doing isn’t right for you or your body. Consult a Fitness Professional to dial in all aspects of your healthy living schedule. Stick with it long enough and you’ll get where you need to be.
Difficult times will pass. Schedules change, demand on our time change, responsibilities will change. Adjust your healthy choices, but keep at it. Just because it’s hard now, doesn’t mean it will always be that way. Focus on getting what you need from your workout. Your needs will change, and they should change. Why give it all up just because you hit a bump on the road? Don’t.
You won’t ever regret your effort. Plain and simply put, you won’t ever regret healthy choices or a healthy lifestyle. Your workout will always be worth your time and effort. When you have a few more years of healthy living behind you, you’ll never say you wish you didn’t do it.
Personal pride. What about the confidence that comes from setting a goal and accomplishing that goal? There is tremendous personal pride that will come from improving your lifestyle, your body and your overall health.
Makes your life easier. Being in good health makes life easier in many ways. You have energy to complete your tasks. You have strength to lift what you need.
Be an inspiration. You never know who you’ll be inspiring with your dedication and discipline. Chances are you were inspired to live healthy from another person, be that person for someone else. If you can’t do it for yourself when times get tough, do it for someone else until you find your groove again.
You never know where your health will take you. Being healthy opens you up travel, adventure, athletic competitions, community events, making new friends and family fitness endeavors. Be open to expanding your fitness.
So, if you want to quit your healthy living, firstly you are not alone. And secondly, don’t. Find what works for you and keep going. Early, late, long, short, high intensity, low intensity, home, gym. Don’t ever quit. Keep after it.
Break through the Mental Plateau
Are you experiencing a mid-year slump in efforts toward your fitness goals? If you’re dreading each workout, bored and uninspired, it’s time to try a few of these mid-year plateau busters to boost inspiration.
Race! That’s right, compete! Some adults think they can’t or shouldn’t be competitive or admit wanting to win. However, striving to be the best or wanting to place in your age group, paying attention to time splits and wanting to pass others on the course is perfectly acceptable in athletic competition. Go ahead; keep time on a stop watch, push hard, announce wanting to finish first or set a personal record! And you’ll discover a secret in the process, competing is a great method how to improve or get better in your sport or activity.
Hone leadership skills. Why not send an evite to your friends, family or co-workers inviting them to a specific location each week for an outing such as a beach walk or neighborhood bike ride. If you’re the leader, organizer or point person for the group, you’ll be guaranteed to show up! With a meager 15-20 minute time investment each week, you could send fun fitness email tips to club members every so often, send links to healthy recipes, offering fun home-made prizes for the most improved or most consistent participant each season or year will also maintain interest. Have some fun, keep it light hearted and on task. Host a wrap up pot luck at the park once a quarter or once a year, invite spouses and others to expand the group. The momentum that builds toward wellness will keep the group (and you) on track, as well as setting new fitness goals.
Take in a change of scenery. For example, pack up your bike and head to a neighboring town or city for your regular Saturday ride will eliminate exercise staleness. Carpool with friends to a different area of town for your long run is also a fun option to mix up the mundane same old running route. Conduct a search online for information pertaining to the specific activity, including roads, and safety notes, then invite some friends and embark on a fitness focused road-trip. Having to refer to a map or notes on the new area, along with new and different scenery will keep you engaged and interested.
Daydream! Bring back the daydreaming days of childhood. Ask yourself, if you could undertake any physical activity, what would it be? Whether you dreamed of being a prima ballerina or the greatest baseball player of all time, why not take action to participate in that activity now. Look up adult ballet classes at the city recreation center or check out city league baseball teams. Instead of worrying how you’ll find the time, motivation or fitness level to achieve your daydream, start from the goal and work backwards. Ask for help, ask to be held accountable and start!
Let go of the structure that usually governs your day as adults, and embrace the freedom and creativity that sport and being active brings. Thinking about what moves you, will lead to figuring out what will make you want to move more. Everyone in your surroundings will benefit as your mood will improve, focus on tasks will increase due to be just generally happier and you’ll inspire many others in the process! So head on out to a race, organize an activity focused group, take a fitness field trip or simply daydream. Find what works and the mental fitness plateau won’t stand a chance!
Not seeing workout results? Give your workouts a boost by implementing these three habits into your workout routine. There are actions you can take (outside of the gym) that will enable you a more effective, efficient and enjoyable workout. Here are three to get you started:
Keep a written log of your progress. Keeping a log of your workout takes the guess work out of training. You’ll no longer need to remember every detail of duration and intensity, sets, reps and circuits to plan your next workout. Every workout will be high quality because progression will be timely and concise.
Revive your focus. Pick up about ten index-size note cards. Write down your goal, and paste any related pictures or colorful images that you can find. Post the cards in locations you’ll see often. Pasting the note cards around your office, the kitchen, bathroom, family room and car works well. Seeing your goal in written form along with images will evoke emotions of having already accomplished your goal, increasing motivation and commitment. Every slight glance helps reinforce your goal to your mind.
Break it down. Break your main fitness goal into smaller steps of monthly, weekly and daily actions to take. Use your calendar to write down mini-goals on the date you’ll complete them, also include specific steps how you will accomplish the task. If you’re feeling overwhelmed when looking at your main goal¬ tackle it step by step. There are two great systems to breaking down your fitness goals:
Firstly, finding an accountability partner will help you stick with each outlined step. Agree on a schedule when you will check in with one another. Weekly or monthly via in person or online. The accomplishments along the way will empower you and fuel your enthusiasm.
Secondly, scheduling a race or organized event is a great way to break down your goals into manageable steps. You’ll be less likely to miss completing a mini-goal when your fitness (and maybe your ego) is on the line. Scheduling a little friendly competition is also an effective method to giving your motivation a quick pick-me-up.
Not all fitness improvements happen in the gym. Establishing a few healthy supportive fitness-habits outside of the gym will enable you to complete successful workouts.
Get Fit Quick Tip
Change it up! If your workout results have slowed, you may be on a fitness plateau. A fitness plateau simply means your body has adapted to your current workout. Mix up your routine by: change the number of sets, change the number of reps, or change out a specific exercise.
Check back often for our Get Fit Quick Tip. A fitness and healthy lifestyle tip that you’ll easily remember and be able to implement the very same day.
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Five Keys to Fitness Motivation! Written by Bob Choat
Many people will struggle in getting motivated to exercise or do any kind of fitness routine. Finding the motivation is the key to getting going. It’s not about getting going in doing the hardcore, sweating to the max workouts either. Each one of us has to find what will motivate us. To begin, true motivation in any endeavor comes from inside, described as intrinsic. In this article I am going to describe five keys that will help you discover your personal motivation.
Here are the Five Keys to Fitness Motivation:
Key #1: Begin with YOUR ‘Reason Why.’ Why is it that you want to get fit and healthy? Begin by writing down the top 10 reasons that you can think of and then narrow it down to 5 and finally to 3. Now, look at each of the three. Does any one of them feel powerful inside of you? When you imagine it, how does it really feel? When you discover “the one” then use it as your reason why.
Key #2: Set Fitness Goals. I’m sure that you’ve heard this many times. The truth is that it is not a goal when you don’t commit it to paper, prepare a plan of action and then take action. Make sure that each goal is: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely (S.M.A.R.T.)
Key #3: Associate with Fitness-Minded People. We are the sum average of the five people we associate with the most. We are influenced by many people and those we hang with are our biggest influencers at that moment. It is about “trying to fit in” when we make choices, good or bad.
Key #4: Use a Journal. This will help you to record your progress, keep you on track and let you know which specific emotional triggers result in certain behaviors.
Key #5: Make Fitness Fun! Don’t just go to the gym. Take your fitness outdoors. Make it play time. Change up your routines. Go for a hike. Take a martial arts or boxing class. Consider a dance class! Anything that gets you off the sofa and moving consistently can be considered a form of exercise, including gardening.
You may find that simply one of the keys or a combination of the keys will increase your motivation. I wish you a motivated fitness life!
This article is written by Bob Choat. As America’s #1 Mind-Body Transformation Expert and author of ‘Mind Your Own Fitness’ Bob is dedicated to help transform the mind-body fitness of the nation and beyond. He can be contacted via email: bobchoat@gmail.com and via his blog: www.bobchoat.com
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