10 Tips for getting active and staying active.
- Find something you enjoy – and that fits in with your lifestyle.
If you love being outdoors, don’t join the gym as you will soon tire of being cooped up indoors and stop going. If you enjoy swimming, but your nearest pool is more than 20 minutes away you might find it hard to find enough time to go very frequently. Your best bet is to find something that requires little financial outlay and that can be fitted into your week without too many sacrifices. The less effort required to fit it into your normal routine the more likely you are to stick to it. - Exercise at the right time.
Find the time that suits you. If you’re an early bird, or find your levels of motivation slide as the day goes on then set the alarm early and try completing your workout first thing in the morning, or grab sometime at lunchtime. Many people find that exercising first thing really helps to set them up for the day, increasing their energy levels and leaving them feeling motivated and more likely to stick to healthy habits throughout the rest of the day. If you can’t face the early start or simply can’t fit it into your morning routine then find a slot that works for you – just beware of coming home in the evening and sitting on the sofa with the intention of exercising ‘later’. Once you get settled it is hard to find the motivation, so take your kit to work, or leave it laid out ready at home and get out and moving as soon as you’ve finished work. You will feel better for it. - Set SMART GOALS – Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timely
Use the SMART principles to give yourself a purpose and something to aim for. Having goals can really help maintain your motivation, just make sure you keep it realistic. Goals need to be attainable, so don’t set out to achieve running a marathon if you’ve only just started jogging. Instead set yourself interim goals, broken down into measurable slices. Perhaps a 5k in 2 months, progressing onto a 10K or half marathon in 6-12 months. Setting yourself too big a challenge or trying to progress too quickly can leave you feeling disappointed and despondent if you fail to achieve it. - Reward yourself for each new goal reached.
Find motivating and hopefully healthy ways of rewarding your achievements. Buy article of clothing, book a sports massage or other therapy treatment or find something else that you enjoy. (Avoid rewarding yourself with food â?? this will only undo your hard work!) - Vary or change your routine.
Over time your workout routine can start to get stale, so keep it interesting by adding variety. Try adding new routes to your walk, run, or cycle, perhaps including some additional hills to increase the challenge. Or why not add another activity for a change, cross training and doing a variety of activities will use different muscle groups adding to your fitness as well as preventing boredom from setting in. - Record your progress.
Monitor your progress and keep a journal to provide a visible record of your improvements. Note your feelings about your exercise program, as well as your accomplishments. Progress takes time, but seeing it in black and white can really help to encourage you to keep it up. - Don’t push yourself too hard too soon or you’ll risk failure â?? or injury.
Progress takes time and effort, but make sure you allow yourself adequate time to reach each new level. Pushing too hard to soon can lead to injury or failure and damage your long-term progress. - Research and read more about exercise and fitness.
Learning more about fitness and health will help to re-enforce your reasons for undertaking your new exercise routine. Learning more about the science behind health and fitness may also help you to avoid potential pitfalls and improve the quality of your training. - Get the support of others.
Don’t go it alone, enlisting the help of your family, spouse, or friends can really encourage you to stick with it. Joining an organised group is also a great way of staying motivated. Take a look on-line to find your local running or cycling club, or aerobics class. Don’t worry if you’re not an elite athlete, people of all levels belong to clubs and you’re bound to find someone at your level. Research has shown that you’re much more likely to continue with a routine if you have the support of a group or friend. By arranging to meet up with a friend for a run or workout session you’re much more likely to keep to the arrangement than going it alone. - All is not lost if you miss a session or two.
Realise that just because you’ve missed a morning or two of exercise your hard work hasn’t been wasted. Don’t give up and stop just because you’ve had a few days off. There will always be times when holidays, illness, or work get in the way of our exercise routines. Don’t use them as an excuse to quit, just get straight back in there and carry on. You really won’t have lost as much fitness as you think and within a few sessions will be back where you left off.
So what are you waiting for?
Time to get out there and get moving!
by Hannah Rosborough