Everyone has different needs and preferences in every area of life. This extends to our fitness and health regimes. Now, it’s important that everyone does what they can to build their fitness and remain as fit as possible for as long as possible. But this is also an area where we can let our guard down and quickly find that it’s been months since we had a proper workout. We let work get in the way. We let the school run and house chores get in the way. We let socialising get in the way. We let laziness and procrastination get in the way. Instead, it’s now time to make sure you’re getting your recommended 150 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise a week on a regular basis. Here are some steps you can take to help yourself achieve this.
Know Your Goals
First, you need to know what you’re aiming for with your fitness plan. This will give you a goal to strive towards and will also mean you can create milestones, track and measure your progress and ultimately do what you set out to achieve. Whether this is simply hitting your recommended 150 minutes of exercise a week, losing a set amount of weight, building a set amount of muscle, increasing your stamina, maximising your flexibility or building a specific physical skill, you need to know what you’re aiming for in order to get there.
Use a Personal Trainer
Using a personal trainer can be a great first step. An in-person trainer or Online Coach Andy Griffiths can help you to know what you need to do to hit your goals. Your personal trainer will consider your goals and come up with a tailored plan to guide you through the process of achieving them. This could involve telling you what forms of exercise to rpactice, how to practice them, how to use machinery or equipment that can help and so much more. Having a personal trainer on board also encourages you to actually turn up to your workouts. After all, you’ll be wasting your money if you don’t.
Team Up
Hate working out alone? Team up with someone else who is of a similar ability and who also wants to lead a healthier lifestyle. This will give you a workout buddy and you’re much more likely to turn up if you know you’re letting someone down by giving your workout a miss. Having a social element to exercise also helps to make it more enjoyable. Whether you join a sports team, go for a weekly walk with friends where you can chat en route or anything else, teaming up really can help your journey.
Consider Different Types of Exercise
It’s important to remember that there are countless types of exercise out there for you to engage with. Sure, the gym may be the first port of call that jumps to people’s minds – and there are great benefits from using the gym. When you attend the gym, you’re in a temperature controlled environment, away from other people outside of the gym and with direct access to all of the machinery and equipment you need for a good, full body workout. But there are alternatives for those who don’t enjoy this kind of environment. Enjoy the outdoors? Why not walk, jog or hike? Enjoy the wind in your hair? Try cycling (with a helmet, of course). Like to feel the rhythm? Dance classes could be better suited to you. Want to spend time in the water? Swimming could suit your needs. Rollerskating, fencing, martial arts, ball games, pole fitness… the potential is endless.
Go Easy On Yourself
When you dive back into exercise, you can quickly become all or nothing with your efforts. But things don’t have to be this way. It’s much better to do some exercise regularly than to stick to a rigorous workout plan for a couple of weeks, burn out and not return to your plan for months.
Keep Up the Effort
Fitness isn’t something you can achieve and tick off your to-do list. It’s going to be an ongoing effort for the rest of your life. There isn’t a point when someone no longer needs exercise. So, even when you hit your goal, set new goals and keep up the effort! You don’t necessarily need to up the ante every time. As long as you’re being consistent, everything should be positive.
Hopefully, some of the steps outlined above will really help you when it comes to managing your fitness journey and keeping the ball rolling in the right direction.
This is a commissioned post.