So, how many times have you said to yourself “Tomorrow I’ll get up early and workout” and when morning comes, you reach for the snooze button…3 times? Or maybe you’ve said “When I get home from work I’ll head to the gym” and once you get home you end up in your jammies instead of your workout clothes. It happens to all of us more than we’d like to admit! Here are a few tips that have worked for me…
- Before I get dressed in the morning I take 5 or 10 minutes and do some sit-ups, planks, push-ups, bicep curls, basically anything I can do with minimal equipment (I keep a set of free weights next to my bed). I will often do a couple of sets in the morning and then again before I go to bed at night. It’s never a huge workout but every little bit adds up and I haven’t taken a huge chunk out of my day.
- Use a fitness tracker. It doesn’t have to be anything expensive or fancy, you can download a fitness app onto your phone that will count your steps. Personally, I use a Suunto (my review of Suunto is here) watch but it’s also my gps running watch. All you really want is a way to see how many steps you’ve taken in a given day. A good goal is 10000. Since I’ve started wearing my watch everyday I’ve become more aware of how much I move and when my steps are on the low side, I’m more motivated to take the stairs or go for a walk, anything to get those numbers up. Having that daily goal is a real motivator!
- Buddy up! Find a work buddy to walk with over lunch or a buddy in your neighbourhood to meet up with after work for a quick stroll. Teaming up with another person not only makes the workout more fun but it helps keep you accountable if you know someone else is depending on you.
- If you’re a member of a gym, sign up for a class. If you have something specifically scheduled you are more likely to follow through. A friend of mine does this a couple times a week and she makes sure that the classes are timed right after work. She always goes straight to the gym instead of going home first because if she went home then, as mentioned earlier, the jammies would be coming out instead of the workout gear;)
- Don’t beat yourself up if you miss a workout! Life happens to all of us. The best thing to do is put it behind you and focus on tomorrow 😀