Picture this: a dark early morning and you're half awake after putting your alarm clock in snooze mode. "5 more minutes" you say to yourself. 5 more minutes passed and the alarm disturbs you again.
What do you do?
Taking a break from work out or training; athletes and normal people face the same temptations every day. While the former have a passion at what they do, and a mandatory hunger for success, and for constant improvement at their craft, what drives a normal person to work out?
Here are a few techniques that may temporarily boost your motivation to work out:
1. Set goals and plan towards them
A planned and scheduled work out always works better than work outs vaguely scheduled on free time. When we were in high school we learned that goals must be SMART, specific, measurable, attainable, and realistic/resource oriented and time bound. All of which contributes to the goal's fulfillment. The desire for consistency and fulfilling a personal commitment in pursuing your goals will motivate you to take those early morning runs.
2. Find a work out buddy
The next time a friend or a family member is psyched up into working out, join him or her. Have some of his or her motivational boost brush off on you. This kind of attitude can be contagious. Work out buddies work well especially when both parties are interested in fitness. Anyone can become your work out buddy; your wife or husband, your son or daughter, your best friend, a co-worker or your neighbor. Find a person with a good chemistry with you and a shared interest in fitness and start on the road to improvement together. You get to bond and get fit at the same time.
3. Train for a sport
Have a friendly game of basketball, football, tennis, etc. Almost all sports provide a full body work out. The competitive nature of sports coupled with the fun factor can motivate you to get up on the first ring of your alarm clock. So start training like an athlete today and feel like your worth a million dollars.
4. Try a new fitness gadget
Technology can be a great motivator. Posting reminders in your mobile phone can keep you on track in fulfilling your fitness goals. Heart rate monitors also very useful in measuring if you've done enough work out for the day. Start small with 60-70% of your maximum heart rate and move up as you become more fit until you reach your safety limit as you become more fit. Ask advice from a physician before starting this program.
5. Reap the non-physical benefits
A real estate agent friend of mine looks for houses for sale while jogging at a different neighborhood every week. Another friend takes pictures for his blogs while traveling for an afternoon swim. You can blend your work out plan with your job or the things your love to do. Your creativity is your limit.
6. Work out to have a better sex life
FYI, having an athletic physique do improve your chances with the opposite or the same sex, plus you might find improved endurance and strength handy in your performance. So get motivated and explore the skills you never knew you had.
All these may help you boost your eagerness to work out for a while , but in the end internalized principle of continued self improvement is still the time tested method that will keep you going. Develop this principle and make it a part of you. But for the mean time use these quick fix motivational boosters
Thursday, December 30, 2010
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