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Winter means darker and colder mornings, so it’s a lot more tempting to stay in bed in the morning or go straight home from work than it is to exercise.
If you want to feel fit, healthy and keep your energy levels up during the cooler months we’ve got five easy tips to help motivate you.
It’s time to start setting some health and fitness goals. Studies have shown that the most effective performance results from specific and challenging goals, so when you’re feeling a little unmotivated, focus back on what you’d like to achieve:
Create short term goals (6-8 weeks to get there)
Be specific in your goal setting (make your goal measurable)
Make sure your goal is achievable (don’t set yourself up to fail)
Keep that goal in mind at all times
A lack of motivation can make you feel tired, depressed and a bit ‘blah’. But you know that when you exercise you feel more energetic, your stress levels reduce, your mood lifts and you feel better about yourself, so use those positive feelings to tip your motivation levels and keep you on track.
If we start to get a little bored of something we are less likely to want to do it. This coupled with a lack of motivation during winter can be our undoing. So challenge yourself to add something different to your exercise routine each week:
Try a new class
Train with a different friend or a personal trainer
Change your style of training
Change your pace or include new exercises in your regime
The challenge of training for a new event - like a triathlon or fun run - can be a huge motivational lift – new goals and a new purpose for getting to your exercise session could be your answer to getting through winter without the blues. Have fun choosing something different or challenge yourself to do better than your previous performance at an event you’ve participated in before.
If being accountable to yourself is not working out for you, it’s time to involve someone else! Buddy up and train with a friend or employ the help of a personal trainer so you can be accountable to them – you won’t want to let them down by now showing up to a training session and you’ll probably find yourself with a new found motivation to train harder and better with a little competition and encouragement.
Written by Emily Boylin - owner of Alive Fitness and accomplished personal trainer, Emily believes that anyone, anywhere, can change their life through exercise. With a passion for educating her clients on how their bodies work and how they can feel energised and alive simply from moving, Emily has worked with athletes, rehab clients and everyone in between to accomplish their health and fitness goals.
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