Well hello to you my reader chums! I'm a big fan of working out, I used to love going to the gym after work most days and having that energised feeling once I worked really hard. When the first lockdown hit, the home workouts came into play and I fell in love with them, as it gave me a sense of normality each day.
In the second lockdown, I lost my motivation and really suffered with my mental health that I knew I needed to get back into fitness. Working out is one of those things that really helped my anxiety and keep my mind at bay. I then began utilising the daily walk ruling, and, started creating a workout routine schedule in a bid to get fitter.
Whether you're looking to get fitter or have some sort of routine back, here are 5 motivational tips to get into a fitness routine.
Start off small
You don't have to go from zero to a hundred straight away otherwise, you'll burn yourself out but it'll also deter you from working out. The best thing to do is start small and then increase your workouts in terms of length or intensity, and over time they can get harder/longer.
Everyone has different levels of what's a little amount of working out and what's a lot, and it's down to you how you begin that process. I've been starting with a dance/hit workout, abs, and arms. Each stage of this workout has gradually gotten longer over time, and with the arms, I've increased the strength of resistance bands. As you increase intensity and length, your fitness and stamina will grow, and your motivation too.
Set a time each day to workout
One of the best ways to implement a workout into your day-to-day life is to have it a part of your normal routine. I have a time window in my day when I'm going to do my workout, either an hour or two before dinner or after, depending on what I'm doing that day.
Set a time window and add it to your to-do list each day/most days and then by writing it down and slotting it in, you'll feel more obliged to get on with the workout. And, you'll feel fab afterward.
Have a plan of what area to work on
Fitness and workout routine is a wide spectrum and there are lots of different areas you can focus your routine on, whether it's legs, arms, abs, cardio or more. Similar to how you plan when you do your workout, it's also important to plan the purpose of your workout - and try to change it up most days to keep it entertaining.
I love to start off with cardio and have been really enjoying dance workouts on Youtube. They're usually packed with songs to sing along to so the workouts go really fast and are a lot more enjoyable than cycling on a bike machine. I'll then focus on abs a lot of the time too or arms/legs. If you have a goal of what to get out of each workout then you'll have more motivation to do it. Plus, picking workouts you enjoy will also really help spur you on.
Take progress pictures
We all work out for different reasons; some to lose weight, some to tone up but for a lot of us to build our fitness levels. Whatever it is, I've found taking photos of when I work out to be motivating as over time, whether that's a few weeks or a month, hopefully, I'll be able to see a difference - and then, it'll be so accomplishing seeing the progress. And, feeling that progress too in terms of growing my fitness level.
Buy cute gym wear
Working out is an excuse to treat yourself to a pair or two of gym wear so you can look and feel good when you're working out. Whether it's a new pair of leggings or a sports bra, it'll give you the motivation to continue to keep working out. I love wearing gym stuff as it's so comfy but it also makes me feel motivated to work out more - and will look fab in your progress pictures.
I hope you enjoyed this post. What other motivating tips do you have?
Thank you for reading <3