When you are considering a new piece of workout equipment, do you first consider how well you will be able to hang clothes on it? Elliptical machine… excellent. Rowing machine…. not so much. Rebounder… not a chance. Well, the answer is “of course not!” We all start a new fitness routine or purchase a new piece of fitness equipment with all the best intentions of hitting it hard several times a week, but how often do you see a $500 exercise bike covered with this week’s laundry? Probably too often. The problem becomes one of motivation that you are going to need to overcome in order to get in the shape you want to be.
We had a reader sent us a link to the article below with three great tips to keep yourself motivated and keep you going.
Find the Right Motivation
Some guys are just no good at sticking to a workout or diet plan on their own. Unfortunately for those guys there is no fitness or diet strategy that will produce the desired results if it isn’t adhered to, regardless of how good of a plan it may be.
For those of you who just can’t seem to make it stick regardless how bad you’d like to build that better body, here are some suggestions for commitments that might help you find the motivation to stick with your routine long enough to hit your goal.
1. Join a Team
Find an intramural activity or local men’s league that sounds like it would be fun and sign up. The key is to find an activity that will actually help you to burn some calories or build some muscle, so avoid the beer pong, darts and bowling leagues.
Once you’ve gotten a few games under your belt your competitive spirit should kick in and that, coupled with the fact that your teammates will be counting on you to show up, should provide enough motivation to keep you going. Between practice and games, participation in a team sport could provide a decent workout on two to three nights a week for the duration of the season.
2. Enter a Race
Find ways to trick yourself into staying committed
Even if you aren’t really a team sports kind of guy, it doesn’t mean that signing up for a sporting event is out of the realm of possibility. Hit up a site like Active.com to find upcoming sporting events like running, cycling, mountain biking or swimming races that have open registrations.
Make sure to choose your event wisely – if you haven’t walked more than a block at a time in the past six months, don’t sign up for a full marathon next month, pick an event that’s within the realm of possibility. There are plenty of free “couch to 5K†style programs available online that will give you a road map to successful completion of your first race in about two months. It may be the money that you already paid for your registration that gets you to the starting line, but it will be crossing the finish line that gives you the motivation to sign up and train for your next race.
3. Hire a Good Trainer
There are a lot of things that you can learn about diet and exercise on your own, but that knowledge won’t do a whole hell of a lot if you don’t actually use it. Hiring a trainer can be pretty expensive, but laying down that extra cash can provide exactly the motivation that some guys need to get up off their butts and head to the gym.
A trainer will also use their knowledge to structure the most appropriate program for achieving your desired goal. Having that well designed program to follow will likely give your results a huge boost compared to a program that may have only included a few sets of bench press, a few crunches and lots of wandering around the gym waiting for machines to be free.
Some people absolutely live for working out and need virtually no motivation at all to get into the gym and blast out a wickedly intense training session, other’s need a bit more of a helping hand to get their workout on. If you’ve had trouble sticking to a workout plan or specific diet in the past it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are doomed to never reach your fitness goals. You might be able to find all the motivation that you need to hit the weights or stick to your diet by making a simple commitment to competition or by signing up for professional training.
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