How To Stay Motivated
As much as I love working out, I admit, I struggle with my workouts at times. But because of accountability to friends, family, and loved ones, I manage to push through and stay motivated. However, it causes me to think about the challenge of staying motivated to workout day in and day out. If I at times lack motivation, I know many of you do too. So here are my top 4 tips for staying motivated:
- Pick a form of exercise or a fitness program you love and look forward to. Your workouts have to be challenging and interesting or you won’t stick with it. As Tony Horton mentions in the article below, your workouts have to be challenging and interesting or you won’t stick with it.
- Set new goals. I’ve surpassed my weight loss goal and by all standards am considered fit. To stay committed to working out, I continually set new goals – 6 pack abs (Project 6 pack baby!), reduce body fat, build my quad and hamstring muscles, etc. That way I’m not just working – but working towards something – a goal. I don’t like Insanity as much as I LOVE TurboFire, but for me, it’s a means to an end – 6 pack abs and reduced body fat – so I press on.
- Find an accountability partner. For me, accountability has been the key to sticking to my workout plan for over 8 months now. I sometimes struggle with my Insanity workouts and have seriously thought about stopping mid workout several times. But knowing that I had to report back to all my accountability buddies on Facebook and the Team Beachbody message boards encourages me to finish. Online sites like Facebook and the Team Beachbody Community are great places to find accountability partners. For most people to succeed in fitness, you have to be accountable to someone other than yourself.
- Your health. I don’t need to regurgitate the alarming statistics on obesity in this country, which has reached such epic proportions it’s now deemed a crisis. Everyone from First Lady Michelle Obama to Surgeon General Regina Benjamin have implemented ongoing initiatives and have asked Americans to pledge their support in combating the growing obesity epidemic. Your health and well being should be the primary motivating factor to exercise and live a more active, fulfilling and healthier lifestyle.
How Do I Keep Going?
by Tony Horton, creator of P90X
Here’s a question people ask me: “I’m finding that my exercise routine is very intense and I’m seeing the benefits on day 1, so what can I do to stay motivated and keep going?”
Most folks struggle with motivation every day. I’m one of them. Motivation can be broken down into a few subcategories. My fifth Law of Health and Fitness is “Loving It.” Progress and motivation are possible if you look forward to your workouts. They have to be challenging and interesting to you. If you despise them before you start them, you’re not going to survive them for very long. If your reasons why are meaningful to you, then staying motivated is easier. I’m always promoting health, fitness, quality of life, and feeling good as reasons to get and stay motivated. Not to say that a person’s goal to lose weight or fit into smaller clothes isn’t motivating—it’s just that when these goals are obtained then new ones need to come into play.
When the numbers on your scale and measuring tape are low enough to make you happy then it’s important to start to explore some new numbers. I’m talking about numbers that relate to ability, improvement, and achievement. Your physical appearance will improve at a more rapid rate if you can start to exercise with your focus on power, speed, and strength. This mind set applies to both men and women. This means that your motivation comes from your desire to “Bring It” during exercise at home and out in the world. Let your P90X® or Chalean Extreme workouts trigger something new and bigger than anything you’ve done before. For me it’s skiing and gymnastics. For you it could be anything that pushes you beyond the confines of repeating the same workouts the same way, day after day.
At the end of the day, we are all human and we are all imperfect. Family, work, stress, commitments, and LIFE sometimes get in the way. But if you take anything away from this article, the one take away I hope to give is that your body is your temple and it’s the only one you get. You have to love, cherish and take care of it FIRST to be able to handle the stresses and distractions life will inevitably deal you. Now go get your WORKOUT on!
#GetFit&Fabulous
Coach MaShelle
