The secrets of exercise motivation

To overcome this you need to think about exercise benefits, decide what is important and spend some time converting this into your exercise objective. Benefits include:

Changing your body shape (e.g. lose weight)

• Relieving health problems (e.g. lowering blood pressure) and reducing the risk of future problems (e.g. diabetes)

• Reversing the symptoms of ageing (e.g. reducing cellulite)

• Enhancing your mood and self esteem

• Improving daily activity and sport performance (e.g. golf)

An example of an objective is “ I want to achieve a weight of 70 Kg before the end of the year and maintain this to avoid developing diabetes like my mother ”. There is a clear target, timeline and underlying emotional purpose. Pin up your objective in your home where you can view it every day and spend a few minutes each week visualising how it will be when you achieve it. Create an imaginary short colour film, listen to how your friends complement you and feel your emotional reaction.

The second step is to convert your objective into achievable and measurable steps (goals). For example, you might decide to lose 5 Kg after 1 month and 10 Kg after 2 months.

The third step is to schedule a period of time each week (at least twice) to exercise and get started ! As you reach each goal review you simply weigh yourself, decide if you are making enough progress and if not, change your exercise schedule or lifestyle to make more progress.

If you still find that it is difficult to maintain your motivation you can rethink your objective and/or consider how you can develop a more positive attitude. The latter will allow you to focus your energy on achieving and not failing !

Take care,