February can be a tough month and often our New Year’s resolutions start to slowly slip away as we fall back into our usual routines and ‘Happy New Year’ seems a lifetime ago. If you set some fitness goals at the start of the year and don’t know how to keep the momentum going as we delve deeper into 2022, we have a secret to share…
The key to lasting motivation and drive is to fall in love with fitness. Enjoying the process will help massively in turning your resolutions into lifestyle habits.
The quickest and easiest way to fall in love with fitness (or anything for that matter) is to enjoy it. TRULY enjoy it. This means adapting your fitness regime to include things you find fun. You might enjoy weightlifting 10x more than doing cardio, so cut those ties with the treadmill and get yourself in the weights room. You might love being outdoors and going on hikes or revel in the experience that is group exercise. Whatever form of exercise it is that you love – do that! Forget the rest and you’ll soon stop dreading the gym and look forward to getting sweaty. Are you completely new to fitness and not sure what it is that you enjoy? There are loads of different type of exercise out there to try, so have fun in finding your ‘thing’.
Another bonus to loving the type of exercise you do is you may start to see ‘fitness’ differently. Rather than it being a physical representation of what you look like, it may become more about how you FEEL. Seeing fitness in a different light often relieves a lot of pressure to reach your goals and allows you to appreciate the little wins rather than getting caught up in the long-term goal and how quickly or slowly you may be approaching that.
To summarise, falling in love with fitness can help you have a much more positive and enjoyable experience on your way to reaching your goals. After all, goals take time to achieve so you might as well enjoy yourself while you’re at it! Putting in the blood, sweat and tears is half the fun, and you’ll feel so much more accomplished knowing YOU achieved something you only ever dreamed about.
If you need a helping hand to start you off on the right track, please speak to a member of the team at your local Life Leisure centre about our Inspire programme (included FREE with all memberships).