Your Fitness Goals heading into the new decade. Alot of time we get hype up in the beginning of the year with our fitness goals.. but then after a few weeks.. if we are really motivated maybe months and then it usually fade… now we are back at square one, with little to no motivation and we end up giving back in to our laziness. We come up with reasons why we didn’t stick to our fitness goal. Either we don’t have the time, it’s too expensive, or down play how important that fitness goal is to us in the first place.. some of it’s all legit and real reasons, but in the end we did not accomplish what we set out to do and we fell short, year after year.
I want to share with you what I’ve done to stick to fitness.. I’ve been a fitness/martial arts instructor for over a decade now.. so I know how it is.. I see the patterns over and over again with myself and later my students.. I want to share some quick tips on how I stick with my fitness goals and help others to theirs for more than a decade. Hopefully this will help you as well!
First of all do not make your fitness goal a goal.. change it in your mind as something you need to do. A goal is something you want to reach.. but it’s not necessarily something you need! So what you want to do is train yourself to think… for example, make it going to your workout like you would with showering.. you wouldn’t miss a shower would you?? Even if you do one day.. I guarantee you jump into it the next day.. when you start feeling dirty you won’t wait long..get the point?? So how do you get to that, where you just do it, with out giving in?
That comes down to my next tip.. Make it a routine.. just like showing the reason why you don’t think twice is because it’s in your routine to do so.. but at first you need to rely on your self discipline.. stick with it for 3 weeks.. the reason why? The first 3 weeks will be tough.. your body is not used to working out yet.. you have to let your body catch up to your mental self.. it take the human body about 3 weeks to get use to an activity.. after 3 weeks you will notice that it gets alot easier.. your not in too much physical pains..like body ache, sore and etc.. your body will adapt to your new routine. Just be patient and it will! Your energy level, your strength, and your tolerance to physical pains.. will improve. all you have to do is let your body go through some struggle to get it even stronger then what you can imagine! Don’t under estimate what your body can do.. just give it time.
Ok, you stick with it for 3 weeks.. so a decade is a long time.. how do you even get there? Don’t think of a decade.. just go through it day by day.. week by week.. and year by year.. get the picture? Now along the way you will feel unmotivated about a routine.. or and activities that you’ve been doing.. it’s ok to change it and shakes it up. Change routine, change sports or activities but whatever you do, don’t stop.. just change.. its easier to change routines then to completely stop and start all over again.. get the momentum going its a whole lot easier! But that does not mean you can’t take a break.. of course you can.. just make sure you don’t go over two weeks.. that’s the maximum time you can stay off of it. Keep at it, once you go pass 6 months it will get easier, I promise.. once you get hook to your fitness habits it will almost seem effortless.. Thats how you stay on fitness path for along period of time that’s how you make it beyond a decade.. change it into a journey not a fitness goal or destination that you’re reaching. If you change your mindset that way.. rather then reaching your goals and then stop.. you make it into a life style and can continue through the next decade and beyond!
So how comes I hadn’t mention what activities is best for fitness? Or what exercises to do? Well, because that’s not as important.. the important thing is pick an activities that are interesting to you.. it can be weight lifting, yoga, hiking, cycling, group fitness, walking, running.. martial arts.. it does not matters as long as you moves. The fitness industry tries to hype certain excercise programs.. at the end of the day if you can’t stick to it, does it matter? Most excercise program out there works as long as you do it.. but an even better question to asks yourself is do you enjoy doing them?? Can you stick to it? If you don’t enjoy doing and having a tough time in the first week.. what make you think you can last for at least a month? The truth is..You won’t. so get into something that makes you want to move!
Reward, reward! Reward, your accomplishments! When you hit certain area of your fitness journey that you are proud of, reward yourself. Celebrate, You’ve earned it! After all, our brain are wired to do things when we have an award waiting on the finish line. Either concisely or unconsciously that’s what our motivations is running on..use that to help fuel you on your fitness adventure! Another thing I would do to trick my brian into wanting to workout..that really help.. For me, One thing I loves to do is read and write.. I would get into those things and I really enjoy it.. so everytime between sets when I workout.. I read or write something. Do that everytimes and eventually you will end up wanting to workout! Matter of fact I wrote this article at the gym between sets! That’s why I can’t wait to go to the gym so I can read or write. But for other it could easily be any kind of social media, or anything you can do while working out..you get my the point.
Many people think of fitness as all about physical.. that they are not born into. The truth is anybody if you are human.. your body can change and adapt depend on how you use it.. but what you need to over comes is not just your physical self.. but your mental..you need to conquer what’s in your head first. The excuses that you kept feeding yourself and all the negatives stories that stop you from achieving your fitness goals. If you can conquer what’s in your head your physical body will follow! So go out there find something that challenges you and makes you want to work out! After all we human are made to move! That’s when we really feel most alive!
Fitness | Health Insight 