1. Create a plan. One of the biggest excuses people give for not exercising is “time”. So do not waste your time by aimlessly walking around the gym or sitting around deciding what exercise you are going to do next! Go to the gym or start a workout at home with a plan. A great tip is to spend 10-15 minutes on Sunday to plan your workouts for the whole week. Being prepared will save you time and keep you on the path to fitness success!
2. Get an exercise partner. There are so many benefits to partnering up for workouts. An exercise partner creates accountability, challenges you, and keeps you motivated. If you know that you have a plan to meet your friend for a workout at 5 pm tonight you are less likely to skip. This will also help to keep workouts fun because you will be encouraging and supporting one another!
3. Set goals. Goals are very important to creating effective workouts and continuing to challenge and motivate yourself. Develop long-term and short-term goals and write them down. Do not forget to continue to remember and revisit these goals. Keep them in a spot that you see daily!
4. Variety is key. Repeating the same workout day in and day out will cause boredom and eventually a plateau in your progress. You can change up your workout in many different ways. Try an exercise class, a new piece of equipment, or even a home workout to add variety to your routine. There are new fitness trends and styles of workouts developing all the time so do not be afraid to try something new!
5. Make a new workout playlist. Create a playlist of music that gets you motivated to exercise. Pick songs that are upbeat and make you want to keep moving! Research has shown that music does help you work out harder so the playlist will keep workouts intense and help to push you through those tough sweat sessions.
6. Warm Up. A lot of people skip the warm up. The warm-up prepares your body for the work ahead by getting your blood pumping and increasing the amount of oxygen being supplied to the muscles. That is why skipping the warm up can lead to injuries and lackluster performance. Perform a dynamic full body warm up before all workout sessions!
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