In today’s PT Intel, personal trainer Aimee Borda shares three tips for developing our own motivation. Aimee is a fitness expert in Boston, specializing in Zumba Fitness, Boot Camp Training, Personal Training, and Nutrition. Visit her home page to get some more powerful fitness tips for women.
Having a clear and realistic motivation will help you reach your fitness goal. Below are 3 steps to help you get the right motivation:
1) Write down on a piece of paper why you want to lose weight or get in shape.
Make it clear and realistic. For example, your motivation might be to lose weight so you can fit into your old jeans, or maybe to get in shape so you won’t lose your breath going up and down the stairs, or maybe it’s for health reasons (ex: to help control your diabetes). Take me for example, I’m in my late 40s and I became a mother for the first time at the prime age of 44 . So my motivation to work out is to be in shape and healthy to keep up with my very active toddler.
2) Avoid setting up yourself for failure.
Not having a realistic motivation is a one way ticket to failure. For example if you’re over weight and your motivation is to look like the models in the fitness magazine you’re surely setting yourself up for failure. To look like those models actually requires a lot of hard work, dedication and a very strict diet. When that person wakes up and realizes that, it might cause that person to quit. So keep it simple. Start with a small goal (example lose 5 lbs in a month instead of 25lbs in a month) and gradually work your way up as you start seeing results.
3) Revert back to your motivation when you feel like quitting.
When you feel like quitting or you have no desire to workout, remember why you are exercising and taking care of your health. That will always give you that little push to stay the course. For example, I love sweets and when I get a craving for junk food or I get tempted to skip a training session, I always think about my toddler and that’s what inspires me, motivates me to stay healthy and focused on my fitness goal.
So what is your motivation? What is it that going to push you and help you stay the course?
