Many people who start fitness programs promise themselves that this time, things will be different, especially in terms of improving their body shape and getting fit and healthy.
They're off to a flying start after some preparation, like buying new trainers and a gym kit.
Things go well initially for a few weeks, and they seem to get some traction, but somewhere after a couple of months, something breaks their routine, so they may find themselves stopping. The culprits usually are less time for each session, boredom, results that come too slowly, or a change in enjoyment.
If you ever started a fitness program and then quit, you're not alone.
As you already know, it is essential to exercise regularly and integrate fitness into your lifestyle (i.e. have a plan for life). Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done.
Getting accustomed to a regular exercise schedule, a sensible strategy and simply implemented systems are some of your best ways to stay motivated.
Here are seven tips to ACHIEVE your fitness goals:
1. Set SMART Goals
Start with short-term goals and answer your why. Why do you want this goal? Why is it important to you?
Then set a long-term goal of who you want to be. This should get you digging deep down at the identity level.
Remember to make your goals SMART.
Specific: Are you hoping to lose weight? Boost your energy? Sleep better? Manage a chronic condition?
Measurable: “I resolve to lose 30 lbs of fat” or “I will gain 10 lbs of lean muscle.”
Attainable: “I will lose 2 lbs per week” or “I will gain 1 lb of weight per month.”
Realistic:
- fat loss - aim to lose weight at a rate of 0.5 to 1% of body weight per week to minimize muscle and strength loss
- muscle building - aim for a gain of 1% of body weight per month
Time-Bound: Chose your time frame for achieving your goal - have a start and end date to accomplish your first goal
Write them down.
Writing your goals down lets you monitor your improvements and is a good review when your motivation wanes.
Set a timetable to accomplish them. Book your training time as you would do with a work meeting.
Remember, physical activity is for life. Review these tips whenever you feel your motivation slipping.
Be flexible with your goals. If something is not working as planned, check how it can be changed or tweaked to get you back on track.
2. Choose a Workout You Enjoy
Aim to incorporate strength training exercises of all the major muscle groups into your fitness routine at least two times a week. A sweet spot would be 3-5 sessions a week.
If you don’t like resistance training, try running, swimming, or cycling. A variety of classes can also work, and if you like to work out solo, jump on the elliptical machine or stair climber.
Find activities you enjoy, stick with them for a while, and give yourself time to notice progress.
Remember, exercise doesn't have to be boring, and you're more likely to stick with a fitness program if you're having fun.
Focus on the emotion and happiness it brings and the sentiment of achieving overall fitness. Look at how you feel after the workout; that reward is enough in its own way.
If you’re a beginner or haven't exercised in a while, use the FITT principles to help you understand how long and how hard you should exercise.
FITT is an acronym that stands for Frequency, Intensity, Time, and Type. It can be applied to exercise in general or to specific components of exercise.
Frequency: Daily moderate exercise is ideal, but try to exercise at least 3-5 days per week.
Intensity: Moderate to vigorous intensity exercise is recommended for adults.
Time: 30-60 minutes per day.
Type: To maintain a well-balanced fitness level, perform various exercises, including strength, cardio and flexibility training.
Exercise is more about quality than quantity, and training hard every day is just as detrimental as not exercising at all. Listen to your body; if you are having an off day, rest easy.
Keep an exercise diary. Record what you do during each exercise session, how long you exercise, and how you feel afterwards. Strive for improvement next time. Recording your efforts can help you work toward your goals and remind you that you're progressing.
3. Nutrition Boost
Not taking care of your nutrition is like wanting to climb a ladder with one hand tied behind your back and both feet taped together.
You might make it to the top of the ladder, but with more significant effort, and if you are lucky, not to fall off on your way up.
Think about it.
You work out just for a few hours each week (anywhere from 3 to 5), and hopefully, you’re doing it with enough intensity so you can see a consistent improvement in your coordination of movement (which is the first sign of progress, by the way) and sport-specific skills (being more efficient at an exercise or activity).
This will be followed shortly by an increase in energy and strength and, after a while, by an increase in muscle tissue.
Muscle tissue is highly metabolic, meaning it uses a lot of energy (calories) to repair, build, or simply maintain itself.
Building and shaping your muscles will improve your physical appearance and body shape. It will also increase your metabolism, which will allow you to enjoy a bit more food and burn more calories.
This increase will only be possible if you stick to a nutrition strategy that you can actually sustain during the other hours of your day throughout each week, one that is built around the foods you enjoy in amounts that serve your goals.
The look you want is within reach if you give yourself enough time to progress and eat the required amount of nutritious foods.
It’s a simple equation: calories in have to be less than calories out to lose weight.
You'd want to be around maintenance calories to maintain weight while losing body fat and slightly increasing muscle mass.
For muscle building, calories in have to be more than calories out, so you’d need to have a surplus.
4. Friends, Family and Support Group
Meet up and join forces with a friend, neighbour or family member to exercise.
If you have someone relying on you to go to the gym or go for a run, you’ll be less likely to cancel. Plus, when both of you have a goal to chase, you’ll push and support each other during your sessions.
You can enjoy it more when you have an energetic mate accompanying you. Find someone who can motivate you and vice-versa. Nothing can beat having a training partner working at a fitness level like yours.
Also, join a club if you like to bike, run, swim, or take classes. The social component makes it fun, and the group will provide accountability.
You're not in this alone. Invite friends or colleagues to join you when you exercise. Work out with your spouse or other loved ones.
Keep your house free of foods that don’t support your goals, and have them only on some social occasions until you understand your nutrition habits.
Communicate with your family what you are doing and why you are doing it. Basically, educate them on the best ways to offer support and why this is important to you.
5. Professional Help and Accountability
Enlist the help of a personal trainer or fitness coach.
Not only will they be able to show you the best exercises with the proper technique for you, but they’ll also present the best way to structure your whole routine for success:
set up your daily and weekly action steps
progressive overload-focused training plan (detailed description of exercises/training days, ways to progress safely and location/training equipment)
activity and steps outside workouts
nutrition plan (nutrition goals, meal plans, meal prepping and the right way of tracking your intake)
a night out and social events strategies
daily/weekly accountability to your goals.
Your progress will be monitored from the exercises used in each workout to the agreed-upon nutrition plan, whether using an online journal or a notebook.
Keep communicating with your coach throughout the process and provide pertinent information as best as possible. The more you give, the more he can give back to support your progress and improve your coaching experience.
This allows him to review your performance up to that point in time. Being aware of simple milestones such as running faster, doing more reps or increasing the intensity of an exercise will let the coach know where you are in your fitness journey.
Depending on your rate of progress or the feedback you provide, he may decide to make some tweaks to your plan, which will help set the tone for the upcoming week(s) and bring you closer to your goals.
Planning is important. Without a plan, you're planning to fail. If you don't have one,, consult a professional or service with time/experience in the game and a proven track record of results.
6. Rewards and Playlists
After each exercise session, take a few minutes to savour the good feelings that exercise gives you. This type of internal reward can help you make a long-term commitment to regular exercise.
We can also use more than one external reward for motivation.
There are so many tools to help you achieve your fitness goals.
Heart rate monitors, pedometers, calorie trackers, etc., make exercise more exciting because you can see the results of your efforts. For example, if you set a goal of 10,000+ steps a day, your pedometer will tell you if you have been negligent.
We all have a list of these fitness gadgets we want. Gift one of them to yourself every time you achieve a part of your goal. This can be an extra push that will help you get closer to your goal.
Every time you achieve a big goal, treat yourself to a trip or some goods that you want to buy. If you want to treat your taste buds, go light on calories, but don’t deprive yourself of anything.
And speaking of rewards. There are those on the auditorium side - like a good pair of headphones.
Studies have found that men and women who exercise to music work out longer and at a higher intensity than those who exercise in silence.
Make a workout playlist with your favourite upbeat songs. This will make you feel all decked out for an intense workout session.
Music helps the person working out not to concentrate on the discomforts of the exercises and get into a flow state.
7. Results
Simply put, results give you motivation.
What is the best way to make sure you get to see results?
Staking wins during and after your fitness routine.
These wins can be anything from lifting a bit heavier from one week to the next or better nutrition options so it can sustain your goal. Even adding an extra rep to specific exercises or improving your form can count and will help you progress.
These things give you motivation to move forward.
Set up challenges to improve your fitness. Try exercises that you enjoy doing regularly, and make sure to track your progress.
Chase that feeling of accomplishment.
You are doing something to make your mind believe that you can achieve. You are keeping your word and setting higher standards for yourself.
As you reach checkpoint after checkpoint, you can think back about the things you have achieved, which will give you strength and extra motivation for the things that are ahead.
Now …..GET GOING! or GET IN TOUCH!
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