Lost: Motivation; Found: Excuses

I think it's important to point out to people who are not fitness professionals, that we sometimes lose motivation as well. There are days that I feel like skipping the gym. I know this is a common occurrence in the #fitfam, and the first step to taking the power out of it, is admitting that this will happen, then creating a plan. Let's look at some of the reasons this happens, along with active ways to go about combatting those excuses. We'll also get into general things you can do to find your motivation. Barrier 1: "Time" I hear you on this. You work, you go to school, you have kids, you have a partner, you're helping the family, you're volunteering. These are all really important things, and I will not dispute it. However, I have recently learned a strategy to help hold yourself more accountable for what you're pouring time into. THE FIX: Instead of saying, "I don't have time" switch the narrative to, "It's not a priority." If the latter comes out, it may sound a bit bitter in your mouth. Now is an important time to think: Why? If you're uncomfortable with saying out loud that your fitness is not a priority, it likely is one. You are aware that health comes above basically all else, but it's easy to push it to the wayside. If The Rock has time to wake up at 4am and work out for a couple hours, shoot films in 12 hour days, and give time to The Make A Wish foundation - I believe in your ability to get on that elliptical for 45 minutes. Barrier 2: "Money" This is a valid point. Not everyone can afford a membership at their local swanky fitness clu. The good news is: fitness does not equal membership fees. Gyms have a number of modalities that can prove very useful for anyone interested in exercise. However, your body is designed to be able to withstand tremendous amounts of stress, and even more so in a trained body. **A relevant note here that many fitness professionals believe is that you can either spend a few bucks here and there for gyms/trainers, or spend the money later on prescriptions/doctor visits related to the health issues that may have been avoided with regular exercise in the first place. THE FIX: Hit your local park or beach, kick the shoes off, and do some squats, running, and push-ups. I personally have fitness programs on hand if my clients do not have access to a gym. Your trainer should always be able to use bodyweight to create a challenging, effective workout. Barrier 3: "Energy/Laziness" This is my favorite one. Mostly, this is because people don't realize that working out actually gives you energy - really! It's one of the reasons that it's recommended you don't work out right before bed, you're likely to have a tough time falling asleep. Not to mention, starting your day with a workout is possibly the best way to get you feeling accomplished and capable, first thing in the morning. THE FIX: You're going to have a create some sort of routine here. If you have a workout the next day, the night before that your alarm should be set, breakfast set up as much as possible, and a great song to jump out of bed to. It's always tough in the beginning. It can even be tough later down the road. If it was easy, everyone would do it. But because it isn't, take ownership of your health, life, and fitness - you're doing this to make a change and these are YOUR workouts. Congratulate yourself. The bottom line: Motivation does not, and never will, fall out of the sky. Tip #1: Surround yourself with positive people. Even if your friends are not on their own fitness journey, they should at least be supporting you in the form of: encouraging you to attend your workout sessions, discouraging unhealthy eating, and being there for you during setbacks. Even if you are the first in your circle to get into fitness, you never know the positive impact you can have on others. Maybe your results will inspire your sister, cousin, or good friend. Tip #2: Surround yourself with positive imagery. You aren't always around your people. That's okay. Are you always scrolling through Instagram, Tumblr, and Twitter? Try looking up motivating pages that are always posting in a way that makes you excited for your next workout, and feel like a part of a big community. My Instagram attempts to do this, for example. I also follow gym meme pages on Instagram and Facebook because, why not? Follow daily inspiration pages, short workout pages - make your social media support you. Even if you're not big into social media, you can make this tip work for you. Put a poster on your wall of your favorite athlete, quote, or workout, somewhere you will see it every day - maybe change it every couple months or so. Tip #3: Make your workouts work for you. Exactly no one in the world needs to do workouts that they hate every day. Need to lose excess fat but hate treadmills more than the DMV? Try HIIT workouts! They are, in contrast to steady-state cardio exhibited by treadmills, circuit exercises that will boost your heart rate and calorie loss. In general and if done correctly, you can lose around 400 calories in about just half an hour. Hate bench presses? Don't do them. Be careful not to fall into a trap of doing things just because everyone else does them. Switch to a dumbell press instead, try a smith machine. Your workouts should vary (not every day, but at least once every few months) and keep you challenged, and engaged. Is your workout getting stale? Talk to a trainer, or a workout buddy. They may know of a workout or two that you haven't yet tried. Tip #4: Be patient with yourself This is usually the hardest one to keep in mind for folks, even myself. The reality is that getting into the shape that you want takes time. That's part of the reason that it's so admirable when people do each their goals: you understand the amount of time and commitment that achieving something like that took. Revel in this. Trust your struggle, trust the process. There are no quick fixes, there are no gimmicks. Keep track of your progress in pictures, journals, weights being moved, weights on the scale, but don't let this get in the way. Look back at a picture of yourself a month ago and you may see the results that everyone else is. You see yourself every day in the mirror, and at that frequency, you may not see anything noteworthy - but everyone around you does.

#motivation #goals #gym #workout #results #inspiration #lift #training #excuses