August 2017 Newsletter

1. Lay out your clothes the night before

If you wake up and see your running shoes, sports bra, leggings, snack and water bottle all ready to go, you’ll feel like you’re too invested to change your mind. Do you hit the gym after work? Pack your gym bag, including a pre-workout snack, the night before. That way, a rushed morning or low energy levels after work are less likely to be easy excuses.

2. Take a 30-day challenge

Try challenging yourself to work out every day, or every other day, for a month or longer. If you’re not ready to commit to a long-term challenge, working out on the same days each week will help to make fitness seem like a given, rather than an option.

3. Break it down

Push herself to go just a little bit further. Look ahead to the next landmark, a street sign or a hydro pole, and force yourself to continue to that point. Once you get there, running just another 100 feet or so doesn’t seem so bad, so look to the next landmark. When you’re feeling particularly drained, knowing there’s still half an hour left in your workout can make you want to give up. Instead, focus only on the next set of weights, or running the next five minutes and before you know it, you’ll have completed your workout. Keep in mind, however, the difference between wanting to end a workout, and needing to end it. If you’re in pain or your fatigue feels more excessive than it should be, listen to your body and call it quits.

4. Buddy up

Commit to a workout with a friend, join a running group or book a session with a personal trainer. If there is someone waiting for you, you are less likely to cancel.
Another way to make peer pressure work in your favour? Share your fitness schedule with your partner, roommate or family member, and ask them to hold you to it. A good fitness buddy can make you realize that your reason for ditching a workout is kind of lame, or remind you of how good you’ll feel if you go for a run. You can return the favour by keeping the other person accountable, too.

5. Plan it ahead of time

A rookie mistake is to make working out a “maybe.” If you already committed to the decision, it’s not an option not to do it.

6. Lower your expectations

Just because you’re not feeling up to your usual one-hour routine, don’t skip working out altogether. By doing a little exercise, even if it’s just a 20-minute bike ride, you’re keeping your brain programmed to your fitness schedule. On the other hand, if you don’t exercise at all, it won’t seem like a big deal to skip another work out in the future.

Ten minutes is good enough. Commit to doing 10 minutes and either you get a great, de-stressing and energizing mini workout, or once you put 10 minutes into something, it’s likely you’ll want to keep going. It’s a win win.