As the weather stays frigid the motivation to exercise seems to diminish. Excuses become ‘it is too cold to put shorts on’ or ‘I don’t want to get in a cold car to go to the gym.’ The list is ongoing….Cut these out by finding something else to get you to the exercise venue and then get started!
Ask yourself, what will get me to the workout? Examples include watching a favorite TV show, a break from kiddos, or meeting a buddy. I struggled with this a few months back. So I picked a tv show I really wanted to watch and said ‘I will only watch this if I am exercising.’ It worked; I get in the mood to watch Parenthood which then makes me start exercising! Remember exercise can take place anywhere; it doesn’t have to be in a gym. Don’t let excuses hold you back!
If you still find yourself making workout excuses, tell yourself you will only move for 10-15 min. Even set a timer! When the timer goes off see if you want to stop. With the endorphins already accelerating, we typically don’t!
Another way to keep the exercise motivation going strong is to choose an activity you love; then make it harder! If you love to walk add in hand weights to pump the arms or wear a weighted vest to increase the abdominal burn.
Let’s face it we can’t look forward to exercise all the time. But we do need to build in a consistent routine. So no matter what the strategy is to get you to the exercise venue and get started put in the effort to do it! Stop thinking about the exercise and just start moving. So what will your strategy be to get started?