Eliminate Your Exercise Roadblocks With These Five Tips

At the start of the year, did you make some New Year resolutions? Was one of them to start exercising to become healthier? And if yes, how are you measuring up to it? I don’t think it would be any surprise if I told you that although this is one of the most common New Year resolutions, the number of people who stick to it will rapidly drop like flies.

With that being said, I feel it is better not to have a New Year resolution at all, because you are not serious about it. What I would prefer is for you to have some set goals and work your way gradually towards them. If you keep yourself accountable and allow for some mistakes to be made along the way, your chances of succeeding are higher. Today’s blog post looks at five things you can do to eliminate those exercise-related roadblocks.

One: Recognise the things that motivate you!

When you start a fitness regime, you must understand why you want to do it. If you don’t know why, you’ll find excuses to quit sooner or later. I cover quite a lot of this in the Winning Psychology Manual. Identify what you value and link that to a healthier lifestyle. One example would be to live at least long enough to attend your children’s graduation and wedding. Once you know the reasons, you will be psychologically prepared to make the required sacrifice to hit those objectives.

Two: Make an action plan

Making detailed plans are something that applies to everyday life, so why shouldn’t you apply it to fitness as well? Imagine if the creative team of Apple or Samsung had an idea which they discussed excitedly but did not take any action to producing it. We might still be in the stone age of phone technology then, right? So rather than just aiming to do “some exercise”, put it in your calendar and commit to it. And yes, you are allowed to start with modest goals, as long as you get started!

Three: Get your exercise clothes, socks and shoes sorted

My rationale for this is simple – the more you have prepared, the more likely you will stick to the plan. I’m not saying you should spare no expense and get the top-of-the-line gear, but you should at least get something comfortable in colours that you like in order to motivate you to get going! It might sound like a piece of strange psychology, but when I first started working out, one of my motivators was getting into that comfortable breathable fabric and the nice pair of sneakers.

Four: When picking something you like, think of the environmental challenges

Before I continue, I advise you to select activities that you like as your cardio exercise. This is important for you to keep your motivation strong. And once you do, expect there to be tough times. For example, if you love running, be aware that sometimes the weather might not be good for that activity, so you can opt to go indoors and run on a treadmill instead, or have an indoor activity as a back-up plan instead.

Five: Don’t let injury completely sideline you

On the note of having a back-up plan, you really should have one in times of injury. That being said, you should try and protect yourself from injuries in the first place. Some things you can do would be to warm up before exercise and not over-exert.  However, when an injury does strike, don’t make it the end of your fitness journey. Use the time wisely and “quarantine” that time slot so that when you have recovered, you can get straight back into it….gradually of course.

How did you find these tips? If you don’t know them already, give them a shot. In case you’re curious, they came from the books that I have written on the topics of psychology, nutrition and exercise, all of which are available with the Granite Fitness Solution or Granite Fitness Masterclass. Hope this helps. And feel free to share these tips with whoever might benefit from them.

Mark

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