I must admit that I am running out of excuses every time my eldest son asks me, “When are you coming with me to the gym?”. Sometimes I say I have a Zoom meeting or need to complete a report, but we both know these are not valid reasons to skip exercising.
Maintaining motivation to sustain physical activities is a challenge for most people and a topic of interest for psychologists and sports specialists.
Recent scientific studies showed that physical inactivity is estimated to affect a third of the global adult population and is linked to the onset and worsening of physical conditions such as diabetes and heart disease, as well as mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.
On the other hand, increasing physical activity is associated with improvement in physical and mental health. Unfortunately, scientists were unable to study the long-term effects of physical activities because of the lack of motivation experienced by people who participated in such studies.
Despite the above information, many of us still struggle with staying motivated to start exercising, and those who do start have difficulty continuing. So, what can you do to motivate yourself to exercise?
Psychologists suggest that you start by defining why you are exercising. Do you want to live a healthy lifestyle, or do you mainly want to lose weight for a wedding or an upcoming holiday? This step will give you a personal or emotional investment in your goals. Sometimes you may have busy schedules at work, and by the time you get home, you are too exhausted to change and drive back to the gym. So, keep a bag in your car with a change of workout clothes and a pair of shoes so you don't have to go home to get them.
I am not a big fan of people who post their gym photos on social media, but it was interesting to learn about a study that reported that posting gym selfies can provide support, accountability, and even healthy competition in online groups, which can eventually help adhere to an exercise routine.
Signing up with a personal trainer can boost your motivation and provide you with a personalised work-up plan that is appropriate for your age and body and can give you results.
Some trainers can recommend a diet plan that is suitable for your workouts, however, such a trainer comes with extra cost and may not be flexible to accommodate your preferred exercising time. Fortunately, there are fitness apps that can design workouts that focus on different fitness goals.
For example, cardio on Monday, strength training on Wednesday, and so on. These apps can also track your progress and give you feedback. From a psychological perspective, talking to like-minded people can be a huge motivating factor, which is why having a 'gym buddy' who can help you stay on track and exchange tips from their personal experience can be of help.
Finally, there will be days when you don’t feel like exercising because you are physically tired or have work to do. You may take it as a break to boost your energy to get back on track.
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