Tips to Stay Motivated and Meet Fitness Goals

Stay Motivated & Meet Your Goals with These Practical Tips

You’ve probably heard about all the great things that happen when you exercise regularly. It lowers your blood pressure, improves your mental health, lowers your risk of getting sick, and helps you lose weight and live a longer, happier life, too.

Why, therefore, is it so difficult to get up and go for exercise? Have thoughts like “I’m so weary,” “I’m stressed out,” “It’s too cold outside,” and “I’d rather curl up on the couch” crushed your motivation to work out?

Motivational quotes and music can help you get back into the swing of things regarding your exercise routines. However, there are scientific reasons why you should not make excuses and not work out next time.

Read on to learn ways to motivate yourself to exercise daily and meet your fitness goals.

1. Set Realistic Goals 

Begin with small goals and work your way up to larger ones. Remember to set goals that are both attainable and reasonable. If your plans are unrealistic, feeling discouraged and giving up is simple.

If you haven’t been working out in a while, you can set short-term goals like walking 10 minutes a day, five days a week. However, even a few minutes of exercise can have positive effects.

Taking a 30-minute stroll every day for five days a week could be an intermediate objective. A long-term goal could be to walk a 5-kilometer distance.

2. Treat Yourself to A Real Reward 

‘Weight control or better health’ may motivate some people to exercise daily. But if that doesn’t work for you, reward yourself with a smoothie or an episode of your favorite serial after completing some goals.

Getting an extrinsic reward is powerful because it allows your brain to grasp it and form the connection that the behavior is valuable. That makes it more likely that the habit will stick.

3. Make A Commitment Contract to Exercise Every Day

In studies, it has been found that people are more likely to stick to their commitments if they make them in the presence of others.

Signing contracts with friends or online websites is another simple way to keep yourself motivated to exercise daily. If, for example, I state that I will exercise for 30 minutes three times a week for 12 weeks, I am committing to this. If I don’t do that, I’ll have to pay some price, whether it’s money or the embarrassment of having my friends know I didn’t keep my promise.

Researchers observed that participants who consented to lengthier contracts exercised more than those who committed to shorter contracts.

4. Don’t Exercise every day to Change Your Look.

You probably want to lose 10 pounds or tone your arms, right? However, astudy found that persons who set a process goal, such as the number of times per week they want to exercise, were much more likely to stick with it than those who only had a short-term goal in mind, such as losing weight. Therefore, you should aim to work out every Monday and Thursday at 11 am instead of losing 10 pounds.

5. Become A Morning Person

As advised by scientists, we have a limited quantity of daily willpower, which is depleted by the decisions and activities we make during the day. You can offset it by exercising in the morning when your will is fresh and life hasn’t yet improved. Furthermore, it’s easier to form a new healthy habit in the morning when your cortisol levels are higher because it gives you that “get-up-and-go” sensation.

6. Engage in Physical Activity Throughout the Day

Don’t use lame excuses like “I don’t have enough time.” Prepare for your exercises just like you would for any other significant event.

You can also do some exercise during the day. For example, take the stairs instead of the elevator or park farther away from the store. Watch the kids play sports as you walk along the sidelines. Take a break from work and go for a walk. Sometimes your job requires you to sit for an extended period, but you can do some exercise to compensate for the day of sitting.

Research shows that even if you get the appropriate amount of exercise each week, sitting for long periods might have a harmful impact on your health.

Make sure to take regular pauses to get up and move around during the day, such as taking a short stroll to get a glass of water or standing during phone calls or video conferencing.

7. Make A Note of The Precise Time and Place of Your Exercise

In one seminal study, researchers divided volunteers who planned to start exercising into three groups: The first group received no information, the second received materials regarding the health advantages of exercise, and the third completed a form identifying the specific day, time, and place in which they vowed to exercise strenuously for at least 20 minutes. After two weeks, the results surprised the researchers. For example, 91% of the third group followed through, compared to less than 40% of the other two groups.

8. Consider Convenience First

Your surroundings can make a big difference in your life. Before you sleep, put your workout clothes next to your bed and keep your exercise equipment nearby. In addition, first-floor treadmills and bikes are twice as likely to be used as those in the basement.

A study found that the closer the gym was to people, the more likely they would go there. Another research also shows that people who live in areas with sidewalks are 47 percent more likely to take part in physical activity for at least 39 minutes a day than those who live in neighborhoods without sidewalks.

9. If You Fail, Don’t Feel Bad

Many individuals beat themselves up if they don’t go to the gym on a particular day. Keep your fitness goals on track by keeping in mind that even professional athletes sometimes take a day off.

Therefore, don’t feel bad about it if you miss a workout or fall off your routine. This will affect your motivation and morale. Rather than that, commit to mounting the horse the following day.

Benefits of Regular Exercise on Overall Health and Well-being

Regular exercise is one of the critical components of a healthy lifestyle, and it has a number of benefits for overall health and well-being. Some of these benefits are:

Decreased stress levels

According to Riverview Community Mental Health Center [1], regular exercise helps decrease stress levels and improve overall well-being. For example, increasing the heart rate through training can reverse stress-induced damage to the brain, resulting in improved mood, cognition, and thinking processes. Regular exercise can also lead to better sleep.

Improved lung health

Regular exercise can help prevent chronic lung disease by improving lung capacity and increasing blood flow to the lungs, allowing for greater oxygen delivery into the bloodstream [2.]

Better heart health

Regular exercise has been shown to improve cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart attacks and heart disease, and improve heart health overall [3].

Improved brain health and memory

Exercise has been shown to improve brain function and protect memory and thinking skills [4].

Prevention and management of health problems

 Regular exercise can help prevent or manage many health problems and concerns, including stroke, metabolic syndrome, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, depression, anxiety, and various types of cancer. It can also improve cognitive function and mood and lower the risk of death from all causes 5.

Potential Drawbacks of Exercise Every Day and How to Overcome Them

Potential drawbacks of exercising every day include physical limitations and injuries such as muscle tweaks or pulls that could be a sign of not giving the body enough rest and recovery [3]. Another challenge could be a lack of time to set aside for exercise [4].

To overcome these challenges, the Heart Foundation suggests slowly and gradually increasing physical activity levels and mixing up exercise routines by doing different aerobic activities such as walking, dancing, and tennis [1]. To make the most out of limited time, short spurts of exercise can be done throughout the day, such as 10 minutes of walking spaced out [4].

Other challenges that may prevent people from exercising include lack of support from family, extreme weather conditions, and an awkward feeling when exercising [2]. To overcome these challenges, creativity can be used to make exercise an enjoyable and routine part of daily life.

It’s also important to note that education level could play a role in exercise habits, with those with higher education more likely to exercise regularly [5]. To overcome the challenges of a sedentary lifestyle, it’s important to find ways to incorporate physical activity into daily life, such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator or going for a walk during lunch breaks.

The Bottom Line

Besides improving your physical health, regular exercise also improves your mental health and well-being. Staying motivated to exercise every day will be easier if you follow these tips to motivate yourself to exercise every day. Don’t forget that becoming in shape is a long-term process, not a quick fix. Take your time, and you’ll eventually reach your goal.