How to Stay Motivated

Part of my job as a personal trainer is to help people with their motivation for exercise and eating healthily. Most people know what they should be doing; eating lots of fruit and vegetables, hitting the gym three times a week, drinking plenty of water, cutting down on the sugary snacks, etc. but relatively few people actually do it. Why? Lack of motivation.

Fitness training and eating well is not a quick fix or short term project – it’s a lifestyle commitment. As the saying goes; you can’t store fitness and health. You only get benefits if you maintain your exercise and dietary regimen. As soon as you revert to your old unwholesome habits, your body will start an inevitable decline back to its previously unhealthy state.

As a personal trainer, I can help people stay motivated when they are with me and working out. I can also help my clients stay motivated by sending them uplifting emails, posting informative blogs and talking with them on the phone but ultimately, motivation must come from within – there is only so much that I can do. In the end, exercise adherence comes down to the exerciser and their ability to motivate themselves.

There are a few tricks that personal trainers like me use to help our clients stay in the game and on the road to lasting fitness and health and in this article I’d like to share my top three with you.

Set some goals Every world class sportsman and successful business person sets themselves goals. They don’t wake up one morning and say “I’m going to train today” or “I want to make some money”. Instead, they have very specific goals they want to achieve, e.g. win gold at the next Olympics or make a million dollars in five years. Once they have a goal, they adjust their training or, in the case of the businessman, their business model, to take them towards that ultimate goal. In contrast, many exercisers just turn up at the gym with no real plan and pinball from one exercise to another without any clearly defined purpose. Exercising in such a haphazard and speculative way is like trying to win Olympic gold but not even knowing what event you are going to enter; pointless! Goals can be as simple as lose 30 pounds in six months or lofty, such as running the next New York City marathon. Set some goals and start giving your exercise some purpose and direction.

Train with a friend By getting yourself a workout buddy you are less likely to skip workouts and also have someone there to push and encourage you and who you can push in return. A good training buddy can really make a difference to your workouts but a word of warning; make sure your training buddy is a) as keen as you, b) is exercising for similar reasons, and c) is someone you enjoy spending time with. A good training buddy is great; a bad one can really spoil your workouts.

Set a workout schedule and stick to it As a personal trainer, I tend to see my clients at a set time on a set day each week. We make an appointment and people tend to stick to the appointments they have made. Just because you aren’t going to meet your personal trainer at the gym, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t set fitness appointments. Pick a time, three or more times a week, where you are going to work out and guard those times like your health and fitness depends on them – which it does! Don’t cancel them, move them or otherwise double book yourself. Make these times sacrosanct and set in stone. Setting a schedule like this is much better than simply working out when you get the urge or have a bit of free time. Your health and fitness should be a priority so treat it as such.

Follow these three motivational strategies and you’ll be well on your way to staying motivated and also consider hiring a personal trainer to help you get started on the road to fitness.

Author Bio:

Mark Darco is a certified personal trainer with 15 years experience and has worked with hundreds of clients. He has successfully completed multiple certifications and continues to provide fitness training to clients of all ages in the NYC area.