No matter how many times we promise ourselves that we’ll get back on track in terms of exercise, the new year is always full of empty promises. It’s easy enough to hit the gym for a couple of times, but to stick with it throughout the year and keep a healthy and balanced diet is much harder.
Keep your motivation up!
You can still do it, though, as long as you know about the most important tips when it comes to motivating yourself and making those trips to the gym completely worth it.
Here is a handful of ways to get you started so that you’ll be able to enjoy a fabulously strong and lean body by the end of this year. You might even be surprised over how easy it is once you get started for real.
#1 Starting slow and increasing intensity
Even if you’re ever so eager when you go to the gym for the first time of the year, you’re not going to be equally eager next month – and the best way to handle this is to simply give yourself a break. Not from the gym, though, you’re going there no matter what, but rather a break in terms of slowing down a bit and not expecting too much of yourself.
Your first couple of sessions should be slow, steady, and easy to handle. Start with a fifteen-minute jog, for example, and increase it to twenty minutes after a week or so. After this, you should be ready to proceed to weight-lifting.
A great way to motivate yourself while you’re increasing the intensity is to track your progress. After a couple of weeks, you can look back through your notes and might even realise how far you’ve come – and you’ll be back to the gym in no time.
#2 Rewarding yourself
Rewarding yourself is one of the most important things you can do if you’d like exercising to be a treat rather than a chore and there are, luckily, a lot of great ways to do this. When you get started with a healthy diet, for example, it’s going to be easy to look forward to all the delicious meals you can enjoy afterwards – or you can simply buy yourself some new workout gear.
Looking great is, in general, a powerful motivation booster and you can use this to trick yourself into working out a bit more. Buy yourself one of these cute dresses from Petal and Pup, for example, and you’ll continue to exercise so that you can feel great while wearing them. This would work with any light garment, though, but a dress that shows more skin will undeniably make you run a bit faster.
#3 Get a workout buddy
One of the most recommended exercise tips works for a reason, you know, and you should find yourself a buddy to keep your motivation up and improve your health. When exercising together with someone, you’ll strive to at least be as good as them and will definitely wait a couple of more minutes before you throw in the towel.
It might not be as relaxing as your other workouts, but it’s just the kind of boost you need when you’re over your new year’s resolution and the motivation is about to drop.
