10 Ways To Establish Positive Fitness Habits
While many of us will start the year planning our resolutions, by a few months in we often find our fitness goals going out the window. But no fear, we here at M2 are going to keep you motivated to develop positive habits and stick to them. We spoke to Rhys Jolly from Playground Fitness who gave us his top tips for keeping to your goals this year.
1. Enjoyment
Find things that you enjoy doing when you exercise. Exercise comes in all forms so don’t think you need to just go for a run to reach your health and fitness goals.
Find that stimulating enjoyable exercise or workout that will make you want to do it, rather than seeing it as a chore.
2. Focus on the positive response
The more you focus on the positive response you get from exercise or eating the right food, the more you will crave to continue your healthy lifestyle.
3. Keep your goal front of mind
What you focus on your attention on will grow, so keep your goal front of mind. Have reminders on your phone; this could be a picture of your kids (to motivate you to exercise to have more energy to enjoy activities with your kids), or it could be a picture of a location where you are holidaying in the kitchen or lounge. Whatever your goal is, make sure you keep it front of mind in order to stay focused on that specific goal.
4. Add accountability
Bring in a friend or buddy to help add accountability into your training; someone that will turn up to your afternoon walk or gym session with you. Make sure it’s someone who you cannot cancel on or holds you accountable that the workouts are being done.
5. Plan
Like our parents use to embed into us when we were kids – “if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” It’s no different with planning out your week and making sure to have time where you are out getting sweaty and giving back to your body, but most importantly making you feel good.
6. Note changes
Note the changes in your mood, energy and body. Paying attention to your changes will keep you motivated and drive you to keep pushing and enjoying your active lifestyle or the new positive habits.
7. Mix it up
Keep variety in your workouts. This again will keep you motivated, stimulated and your body guessing at what is coming next.
8. Don’t stress
If you miss a workout for some uncontrollable reason, then don’t stress about it and just get on with your positive habits or routine the next day. This is very important over the Christmas period where our “norm” goes a little out the window.
9. Routine
With anything, we need routine to get one of the fundamentals in reaching your goals – consistency.
10. Don’t make excuses
Don’t make up stories in your head. Accept you have to do what you have to do and don’t spend all your time coming up with reasons as to why you can’t reach your goals or why your can’t train today.