The importance of motivation on the road to fitness and persistent exercise has been statistically proven time and time again. Whether you’re starting your journey or looking to get things back on track after a wobble, learning to stay motivated is an essential asset.
But how do you stay motivated on your fitness journey? Ultimately, everyone is unique and must find their own path to motivation. However, the following tips and strategies should help.
Story Stages
Turn Fitness Into a Career
Spoiler alert: we are all motivated by money.
So, if you’re looking for a way to stay motivated on your fitness journey, turning a love of exercise into a career is the perfect solution. With accredited PT courses, you can launch a career or side hustle in very little time. Whether you plan to teach others online or offline, the motivation to help others will naturally influence your personal endeavours.
Once you start cashing the cheques, it will give you an extra motivation to keep going. In addition to motivation, it will lead to increased consistency. Your increased knowledge will help you stay engaged with exercise. Showing clients how to complete workouts will boost your physical activity levels while you’ll also fit small workouts in throughout the day. Perfect.
Or Get a Personal Trainer for Yourself
You don’t have to become a PT to reap the benefits of their experience and expertise.
A great personal trainer doesn’t only build training plans that fit your schedule, budget, goals, and current fitness levels. Perhaps more importantly, they take accountability to keep clients motivated. So, if finding intrinsic motivation has proven to be difficult, embracing the support of a PT could make all the difference. It will bring immediate progress and lasting results.
When you hire a PT, the financial elements also provide an extra source of motivation. You will want to get value for money, and the only way to achieve this is by following their instructions and getting the results you deserve. PTs will use an array of motivational tactics and, over time, find the strategies that work best for you.
Set Fitness Based Goals
It’s hard to find a winning path if you don’t first know your intended destination.
Goal-setting is an essential skill that improves virtually every aspect of life. When thinking about your fitness journey, the easy option is to set your targets by the scales. In truth, it is far healthier to focus on a fitness-based goal. This could mean running a half marathon, bench pressing a certain weight, or developing your athletic talent.
When you have a fitness-based goal, you won’t become disillusioned by the fact that the scales say you are one pound over your target. In turn, you will learn to enjoy the journey rather than just the destination, which will transform your approach to fitness. Set little milestones along the way, and each one will deliver an extra boost of confidence.
Find a Workout Buddy
If you’re struggling to find motivation for yourself, let someone else provide it.
Having a workout buddy will keep you on the right path for several reasons. Firstly, having someone to hit the gym means that you will be less likely to skip sessions because you’re not feeling 100%. Secondly, you will find that there is a healthy level of competitiveness that will establish a mutually beneficial friendship.
Moreover, you will want to share information and insights with your workout buddy. This is particularly noteworthy if you complete PT courses. In turn, fitness becomes a bigger part of your life and identity, which will translate to greater motivation. Whether it’s a real-life workout buddy or a virtual buddy, the social element is sure to aid your fitness journey.
Choose Exercises That You Enjoy
When you want to exercise, you will. Fact.
Finding motivation to exercise when you don’t enjoy it is tough, especially after a long day at work. However, playing sports or finding great exercise in unconventional settings will turn the chore into a hobby. It is a particularly rewarding step when you introduce the social element of exercising with friends or using exercise to meet new people.
It may be tempting to focus on the workouts that you feel will deliver the biggest progress. However, you won’t see any results if you give up after a few weeks. Opting for enjoyable exercise while also mixing things up to prevent boredom will serve you far better in the long run. After all, it will help you make a lifestyle change rather than simply follow a short plan.
Reward Yourself
Finally, the point of your fitness plan is to enjoy a better life. Make sure you do.
Over one-in-three UK adults are not active enough. For many, it’s because there is no real incentive. While improved health and body image should be enough of a reward, it might not keep you motivated. So, dangling a proverbial carrot in front of your eyes could be necessary to keep you motivated.
Whether it’s treating yourself to new clothes, a spa day or the fitness watch you’ve always wanted doesn’t matter. Giving yourself an extra reward will make the hard work feel worthwhile. As a psychological tool, its potential impact is huge. Better still, the rewards are aligned with your desires. And when you’re motivated, the journey will be a success.
