How to overcome workout procrastination?
Finding the motivation to begin or consistently maintain a healthy workout regime can be one of the biggest barriers to lifelong fitness. With our busy modern-day schedules, it can be a challenge to find the time to fit in a workout. To prioritise your wellbeing you need to overcome the toxic habit of procrastination.
Procrastination is essentially an emotional reaction. The more boring, ambiguous, and unstructured a task is, the more likely you are to ‘put it off’. [1]Most people recognise the importance of regular exercise and understand further the detrimental effects of sedentary lifestyles and how this impacts both your physical and mental health.
So how can you build structure and meaning within your workout regime and overcome the burden procrastination?
Try these few simple tips:
1. Be Realistic
Don’t kick off your new exercise regime with impractical expectations. By being realistic and setting achievable goals you’ll build the right mindset to keep you motivated.
2. Start Small
Don’t take on too much when working out! Start small and build up to longer and more advanced exercises over time. If you bite off more than you can chew you’ll lose enthusiasm quickly!
3. Make it Fun
Choose exercise that you enjoy. Bringing a friend or joining a group of other like-minded individuals breaks up repetitiveness and helps you to look forward to your workouts each week.
4. Build a Habit
Schedule a specific time each week when you’ll work out or attend a class. Routine will help you break the ‘I’ll get to it tomorrow’ mentality and assist in building a healthy exercise habit.
5. Commit to a Short Term Plan
Join a class that runs over a month. Committing to a specific short term plan with measurable outcomes and goals will kick start your work out motivation. After a month you can re-assess what works for you.
6. Acknowledge your Progress
Celebrate your victories, however small! Be kind to yourself and give credit where credit is due. Reward yourself with a treat that compliments your goals like new workout gear or a massage.
We welcome you to come and join any of our classes and see for yourself how Pilates can help you feel great and maintain lifelong fitness.
[1] http://alifeofproductivity.com/why-you-procrastinate-10-tactics-to-help-you-stop/