When you’re trying to get fit, stay fit or train for a sporting event, it can incredibly difficult to stay motivated. Even the most dedicated people have days when they would rather stay in bed or sit on the sofa with a TV dinner than go to the gym or eat a healthy meal. You have to have the strength and willpower to overcome the feelings of laziness, discouragement or even lack of self-esteem. There are many things that can make exercising or training feel like a pointless activity, but luckily there are things you can do to help yourself stay motivated. Some things that can help include training with a friend, setting goals and making sure you have fun.
Work Out with a Friend
Exercising with a friend is an excellent way to stay motivated because you can motivate each other. Whether you both are training for an event or you just go to the gym together, you can pick each other up when one of you is down. You might be motivated by pep talks or perhaps you respond better to tough love, but having a friend on hand to provide them is much better than only relying on yourself. But be careful about convincing each other not to bother. Sometimes you both feel a bit demotivated – just make sure you encourage each other to exercise, not to give up.
Make It Fun and Interesting
If you find your workouts boring, you’re not going to want to do them. You might have to do some things you don’t really like, especially if you’re training for an event, but you don’t want your exercise to be boring and unbearable all the time. Mix up your routine to make sure you’re not getting stuck in a rut. Work on different areas of your body and different types of exercise. If you exercise at home, equip your gym with things to keep you entertained – a sound system or DVD player, for example. And if staying inside isn’t for you, get out into the great outdoors. Go for a run, a bike ride or something else and use the outside world as your entertainment.
Set Goals
There’s nothing worse than putting in a lot of effort and feeling like you’re not really going anywhere. It’s very important to have goals when you’re working out. Otherwise your efforts can feel aimless. Even if you aren’t training for anything in particular, you can still set short-term and long-term goals. You don’t even have to aim to improve. If you’re happy running two miles every day, set yourself a goal of running two miles every day. But big goals can help too, even if they might not be that big to other people. Sign up for you local fun run or commit to joining a cycling group.
The key to staying motivated is knowing how to motivate yourself before you lose the will to carry on. Don’t leave it until you’re ready to give up. Instead, have a plan to keep you going.
