HOW TO STAY MOTIVATED - MY TOP TIPS

A question that I get asked very regularly is; How do you stay motivated for the gym/training? Motivation is one of the most difficult things to find to get yourself focused and committed on anything in life; work, fitness, relationships, anything! In this blog post I'm going to give you some advice on how to stay motivated :)

Quite commonly what I see in the fitness world is people beginning by diving into exercising and getting on really well initially. However it's quite often followed by a drastic decrease in motivation and a gradual lack of interest and energy. What can you do to prevent this?

1. SET YOURSELF A GOAL

Setting goals is an obvious one I know, but there is more to it than simply saying, I want to lose weight. Through high school and college I was taught that goals needed/should follow the acronym S.M.A.R.T ; meaning targets are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time Based. The goals you set need to be REALISTIC above all else if you don't want to go overly in-depth. You should ideally show your "milestones" to show your progression. Decide on an overall goal for 8-9+ weeks time (long term), then decide on a goal you'd like to achieve after 5-6+ weeks (medium term) and then decide on a goal you like to achieve after 2-3 weeks (short term). These time scales are obviously just an example, but I think they're are good as you can tailor your training in weekly phases to adjust to progression.

 Why should you do this? Not only will it motivate you, but seeing results regularly and aiming to track your process will encourage you to keep going, and can also highlight strengths and areas of weakness, allowing for adaptation to accelerate towards your long term goals quicker. 

2. SCHEDULE A REGULAR WORKOUT TIME

I 100% recommend setting aside time out of your day which you can dedicate to when you are going to workout. Doing this will help you be more prepared to actually doing the exercise; whether it be you setting out your clothes, packing your bag, eating and drinking the right foods before/after your session (I personally find this motivates me more, but obviously that's personal preference). Setting out a dedicated time, especially if you're going with someone else, will stop you from waiting until you can be "bothered", which will most probably lead to you running out of time, procrastinating and just not going. You will soon see from persistence that dedicating this time, you will not only learn to organize your workouts, but your day to day life as well. 

3. KEEP YOUR WORKOUTS VARIED & FUN

Believe it or not, there is more than one way to get fit, lose fat, tone up, whatever your goal is! There are so many different exercises which can lead to the same outcome; so it makes sense to try as many as you can to keep your sessions fresh and discover which works best and what works for you, right?

I use various different training methods to achieve my goals! They include; strength training, hypertrophy training, plyometric training, calisthenics training. I am off to uni in a few days, and whats making me look forward to training down there even more is training with my one of my best friends Anwen :)

4. DON'T OVERWHELM YOURSELF 

Whether you are a beginner, or someone trying to get back into fitness, it is sensible to gradually inject this lifestyle change, rather than jump into it head first. In your first  few weeks of exercise/activity, aim for 2/3 sessions per week just so your mind and body to get used to this new tradition. Then gradually, as your progress and the weeks go by, you can increase from 2/3 day per week to 3/4 or 4/5, whichever works best for you. But remember your rest days!

5. WORKOUT WITH SOMEONE

Quite an obvious one, but for me it was one of the best ways for me to stay motivated at the start of me "fitness journey". My "gym partner" would drag me to the gym if I ever changed my mind/got lazy, we also had the same goals, and luckily they would also show me different exercises and the correct form for each. I love training with someone, I think it's really beneficial for you to be motivated by someone else and for you to push each-other to keep going; which is something you wouldn't get training alone. 

6. MOTIVATIONAL PLAYLIST

There's nothing worse for me when I get to the gym and realize I've forgotten my headphones (not being dramatic at all I promise;) ) But music is something that is VERY important for my sessions; it can help me push through a session if I'm not feeling 100% that day for whatever reason. With the music I listen to when I train, i tend not to listen to outside of the gym, so that whenever I hear these songs they help me get in the right mental frame of mind to complete the exercises I have planned. 

If you're unsure of what songs to listen to when working out, look at the Gym/Workout genre on Spotify, they have a playlist for pretty much everything and I can guarantee you will find something you like.

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I hope the information in this post is helpful to some of you! If you're interested in my posts and what keep up to date with my page, please subscribe to the blog! If you have any further questions about keeping motivated, anything fitness related, or if you have general requests for future posts, please get in contact and let me know via my email, or my Instagram; @shxrt_arse

Liv xx