January is over and new years resolutions are starting to dwindle. Here are our top ways to keep fitness motivation after the new year hype ends…
New Year New You! January rolls round every year and you promise you’ll finally get into that shape you’ve always wanted. You buy new trainers, sports clothes and a water bottle, you charge up the fit bit you got for Christmas, fill the cupboards with spinach, avocado’s, nuts and seeds and you’re ready to go. The first couple of weeks are great, you feel great, you’re starting to look better and those three gym classes a week are actually quite fun. Fast forward to week three and it’s starting to become a chore. You get home from work, you’re tired and it’s easy to cancel the class. After all, it’s only one right? Then two, then three. The fruit and veg sits forlornly at the back of the fridge and slowly refined carbs and bottles of wine start inching their way back into your fridge. And before you know it, you’ve slipped back into the habits of last year. This is why it’s important to figure out a fitness and wellbeing regime that is easy to maintain throughout the year. Here are our top five ways to keep fitness motivation after the new year hype ends…
Get a Personal Trainer
One of the best ways to keep fitness motivation is with a personal trainer. Your personal trainer will ensure you have a plan that is tailored for you and will ensure you stick to it, helping you to reach your fitness goals. A personal trainer can be from your gym or someone local, who will improve your exercise execution and skill so not only do you get the most out of each activity you do and track your progress, but you also reduce the risk for injury. You could also take part in personal training courses if you are already into your fitness, but also looking for a way to get fit yourself and also get qualified to teach others.
Allow yourself treat days
While you might start your fitness regime with a total diet change, it can be hard to maintain this. If you have totally changed your diet, you need to ensure you give yourself “treat days” so it is attainable but you also lose weight too. Why not try eating healthily all during the week, then giving yourself the weekend off? This way you know that if you are craving a certain food during the week you will be able to have it in a few days time. This will curb cravings and also keep it attainable long term. You can try downloading an app such as My Fitness Pal to track your calories as you go.
Find a gym buddy
Let’s face it, working out is always easier if you’re with someone. Whether you enlist a friend or your other half, you can make it into a way to spend time and see each other regularly, while also getting fit at the same time, making it the ideal way to keep fitness motivation. Having a work out buddy also means you have someone to pick you up and motivate you if you’re feeling tired or like you can’t be bothered to work out – and vice versa. It’s a lot harder to cancel a gym session if you’ll be letting someone else down too!
Find the exercise that’s right for you
Exercise is a lot more fun if you enjoy what you are doing. You might not necessarily enjoy running or generic gym exercises, so why not find something you do enjoy? You could look at the local classes such as yoga, Body Pump or Circuit training, or why not trying something such as squash, football or badminton? There are lots of different classes and exercises to choose from, take the time to find your favourite and you’ll enjoy it a whole lot more.
What’s your favourite in our list of top ways to keep fitness motivation? Let us know below!
