When it comes to exercise, you need to take getting fit seriously. Often, getting started is not the problem, but the real issue is maintaining physical activity and working out every day. As an adult, you will want to do 150 minutes of moderate and 75 minutes of high-intensity workouts in a week.
If you are like most people, then you might struggle with sticking to a dedicated workout routine. The following pieces of advice will ensure that you keep moving – even when your motivation slips.
Establish Your Why
The underlying reason why you are working out should be strong enough to push you to keep going – even when you might not feel like it. To make the most of exercising, you will want to avoid falling into the trap of short-term motivation; otherwise, you might spiral into guilt and shame.
After the early 20s, you might need a bigger reason why instead of focusing on your appearance. You will want to ensure that your why is truly compelling and induces positive feelings, such as making new friends, energy boost, and reducing stress.
Instead of working out merely for the sake of working out, you will want to establish a valuable and compelling why. This way, you will be looking forward to your daily workout session.
You Need More than Willpower
If you need to focus on your willpower to get things done, then you don’t really want to do it. Instead of looking for ways to collect willpower, you will want to think rationally, such as why you are working out and what your goal is. You will also want to think about how you can benefit from working out and how you will feel after moving your body.
You see – if you will be relying on willpower alone, you will find it impossible to do the things that you need to do, as you will be struggling a lot.
Get Down to the Purpose
Working out and exercising should be an essential part of your daily routine. You will want to include anything that allows you to exercise while ticking off other goals from your list of daily tasks. This way, you will get a sense of gratification.
For instance, instead of driving to work or the grocery store, you will want to cycle or run to walk to your job and grocery store. Also, by joining a gym, such as one of the gyms in el paso, that is, if you reside in El Paso, you will get to make workout buddies. Your goal might be to spend more time in nature, and cycling or jogging might help you achieve that.
When it comes to establishing a purpose, your best bet is to combine physical activity with some other goal. While you are at it, you might want to focus on the smaller daily things too, such as using the stairs instead of the lift, and instead of emailing your colleagues, you might want to walk over to their desks and talk to them.
Try to include as much physical activity in meaningful tasks as you can.
Make Working Out a Habit
Habits are thigs that you do on autopilot without putting much thought into it and without seeing the tasks as “things that you have to do.” You will want to transform working out as a sustainable behavior so that you don’t have to put much thought into it and instead have it follow naturally.
Initially, you might feel some strain when you take up running. Everything can appear tiresome in the beginning, as you will wonder about where your water bottle is and where your running shoes are. Even the simplest tasks of deciding the running route will feel tiring.
With the passage of time, the daily physical activity of running will turn into a habit, and it will become your sustainable behavior.
Prioritize Exercise
Life is all about prioritizing things. You will want to plan and prioritize exercise in your daily tasks. There will be days when you won’t have time to exercise. You might be working two jobs and a family to look after – but – you will need to set the priorities for yourself.
So, the first thing you need to focus on is establishing an action plan. The thing about an action plan is that you will want to establish what, where, and when you are going to exercise and how you will stick to the exercise.
Once you have established the action plan, you will want to establish the coping plan and include the things that can potentially get in the way and what you can do to work out and feel motivated. The worst you can do is to allow self-care behaviors, such as exercise and sleep hygiene, to slip when your schedule is full.