Keep It Up! How To Stay Motivated And Build The Body Of Your Dreams!
November 22nd, 2008

Overall Fitness is Key: Try and keep your overall fitness in mind rather than just one aspect of it. Most believe that there are four major aspects that one should aim for, aerobic fitness, endurance and muscle strength, body composition and flexibility. Try and work on all of these with each workout.

Be true to your sport: Try and focus on the parts of the body in which you will be using to do the activity. For example, if you are playing basketball you would want to work on endurance, and if you are playing football you might rather focus on strength training.

Buddy up: It is so much easier to stay motivated for a fitness goal when you are working with someone. Misery loves company as they say. You can use your workout buddy's motivation when yours is running low. It is also a good motivator since someone else is depending on you to motivate them. Finding someone who is dedicated is a challenge so look around at your gym. You should try and find someone to workout with who has some of the same types of goals as yourself. This will help tremendously since you will be on the same page with the person you are training with.

Get out the tape: The measuring tape that is! Measure all of yourself including your arms, chest, waist, thighs and wherever else that you are trying to improve. Then make a habit out of re-measuring once a month. This will give you some measurable results, which is a great motivator!

Goals, Goals, Goals: Make attainable short and long term goals for yourself! Don't just make the goals and give yourself a pat on the back if you reach them, really go all out and reward yourself with something special! However, don't make the reward something that will be detrimental to your goals, such as taking a day off or eating fatty foods. Make your goals reachable. Set goals that are challenging but not overwhelming.

Commitment time: Make an appointment with yourself. Don't make excuses as to why you can't workout. Put it on your calendar and stick with it. Make this time for you and let others know about it. If someone asks you out for coffee after work tell them about your scheduled workouts, and ask them to join you. This way people will know that during that time you are unavailable. Changing workout times can lead to procrastination.

Stretch: Stretching and warm up exercises make any workout easier. It is a good idea to not only stretch before a workout but during and afterwards as well. This may not seem like a way to motivate your self but really it is. Stretches are invigorating and gives you some motivation to go on with the workout.

Location, Location, Location: Where you exercise is just as important as what you do. Be sure that you are comfortable in the place that you choose to exercise. Sometimes it is helpful to watch TV or read a magazine while working out. Keep your water within reach. How many times have you used getting water as an excuse to stop cardio? Also be sure that you are wearing clothing that is suitable for the type of exercise that you are doing.

Strike a pose: What is more motivating than those before and after shots of people who have lost weight or built muscle? Nothing I can think of. What if that person in the photo was you? You see yourself everyday and sometimes it is easy to forget the old you. Take before photos and look at them often. Looking at the before photos and looking in the mirror is not enough. Take after photos as well. It is nice to be able to compare side by side the progress you have made and highly motivating.

Who's got the answers: Make sure that if you have questions about your workout plan or routine that you find a qualified person to answer your questions. You can ask the trainer at the gym or even go online to find the answers. It is also a good idea to ask your doctor. He will most likely have some feedback for you about your plan or routine

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