January and thus the first month of 2023 is over and I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only one who had a new year’s resolution that said something like ‘be more active’, ‘become healthier’ or ‘work out more often’, right? And I’ve had this same resolution for 2022, and 2021, and 2020. While I personally never lacked the motivation to keep up with this goal in the beginning of the year, I often struggled to continue my newly-built habits throughout the rest of the year. Over the years, however, I got some insights into what works for me and what has lead to me stopping to work out regularily. I for sure am no expert in fitness (!!), but here are some tips based on my personal experience of which I hope they may help you to achieve your goals!
- Don’t be too ambitious and give your body time to adjust to your new lifestyle
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Often when we decide to change something in our life, we are very ambitious and motivated in the beginning. While it is certainly important and great to have this motivation, we should not overwhelm ourselves in order to keep on our journey. If you want to work out more regularily and start doing so by doing six hard-core workouts a week, it would be no surprise that you end up being sore and unable to walk to your next class for a couple of days without (believe me, I’ve been there!) Not only can this over-ambition be negative for you physical health but also it can be counter-productive regarding your motivation. You do not want to be in pain after a work out. If you want to continue to exercise in the long-run, take it slow in the beginning and adjust your training’s intensity securely.
- Schedule your workouts in advance
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Life can be stressful and sometimes impossible to plan, especially in college. However, if you schedule your workouts in advance, it gives you time to arrange other responsibilities around your training session so that you don’t have to cancel it. Also, I personally love to use habit-trackers! It’s just a great feeling to check off tasks from your to-do list and also to see what you’ve done at the end of the week.
- Find out what you enjoy doing
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This is probably one of the most important points for me. In order to successfully include exercising in your life, especially, in the long run, it is so important to find a kind of workout that you actually enjoy doing. It will be so much harder for you to find motivation to workout and to take your time for it when you don’t like it. Today, there are so many different kinds of sports and workouts that everybody should find something they enjoy. You don’t have to be on the treadmill for an hour multiple times a week. Maybe you’d rather enjoy a cardio workout in form of a Zumba class, or some fun dance workouts (Pamela Reif has amazing ones on her YouTube channel!). Maybe you enjoy pushing weights, or maybe you’d enjoy to swim more. There are no rules what someone should do and should not do, in my opinion. The main goal should be to be more active! Just have fun!
- Find an environment where you feel comfortable
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Not feeling comfortable in your workout environment can also be trigger to stop working out as you may feel discouraged and also don’t enjoy to exercise as much as you would in a different surrounding. If you don’t feel comfortable in a gym with many people around you, you could try some home workouts with those hundreds of thousands different workouts available on YouTube or you could decide to go for a run outside instead of in a gym. Maybe you would also feel more secure in what you’re doing in one of the group classes available in Carmichael. Same as for the previous point, you just need to find out what works for you! There are many possibilities and I’m sure one will work out for you!
- Listen to your body and don’t be too harsh on yourself
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While it is good and helpful to schedule your workouts ahead and stay on track with a workout plan, it is even more important to listen to your body. If you feel tired or if you’re still very sore from a previous workout it might be a good idea to decide to do a more chill and relax workout, even though you may have planned something different. In the end it is about feeling good and it is much better to do a stretching or yoga session rather than not mving your body at all.
Moreover, sometimes plans change and you have to skip a workout. That happens and it is fine!! Always be proud of what you have already done instead of stressing yourself out because you didn’t workout. It is important to have a positive view towards exercising to continue doing it and thus it should always be seen as a fun part in your every day life and balance to stress, instead of another factor contributing to stress!
- Get yourself a workout buddy (If you want to!)
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This is definitely a point which may differ from person to person, but sometimes it can be great to have a workout buddy. Together you can motivate each other even if one of you might get discouraged, you may feel more comfortable being together in your chosen training environment and it also gives exercising a social aspect.
Nevertheless, as mentioned manyyy times before, design your workouts the way you enjoy them the most! I personally rather workout alone. It gives me the opportunity to clear my head and I can better focus on myself. Also I feel more flexible in my choice of workout when I’m exercising alone. Thus, if working out together isn’t for you, don’t feel bad to say so!