100 sats \ 2 replies \ @OC 21 Dec 2023 \ on: Did you achieve your health and fitness goals this year? Fitness
Just finished my yearly distance goal on the bike of 8000km. Not a huge amount but with a young family it was difficult but still achievable. I'll try to add some tips that haven't been mentioned
- Set long term and short term goals. Short term keeps your accountable week to week and long term is your end goal (in my case I made sure I did 150-200km on the bike, which gave my week some structure and set me up to complete the yearly goal)
- Be vocal about your goal(s). Tell others and ask them to keep your accountable.
- Try to create as little friction between you and your health/fitness routine. That might mean putting your workout clothes out the night before, it might mean making sure you've got healthy options in the fridge, it might mean making sure your bike tires are pumped up and water bottles are full. Get organized so you're not faffing around and giving yourself time to make excuses.
Producing friction is a huge thing because getting started is the hardest part.
Like someone mentioned above you won't regret the workouts that you did. It's actually getting started with the workouts That's the problem for most people.
A trick that I use especially when I absolutely do not want to work out is Tell myself to only work out for 5 minutes.
Now sometimes I literally work out for 5 minutes That way I trust my brain when it says okay I'll just do 5 minutes but then other times that'll lead to a full workout but I make that as a choice during the workout.
When I first started going to the gym regularly I was just make it a point to go to the gym after work do one or two sets of my favorite exercise and then I would just walk out
Doing this a few times allowed me to establish a routine and log a few more workouts during the week.
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Yep great idea. I've used it myself when I'm tired/struggling for motivation. I tell myself I'm just going to the gym to stretch. Then after that I tell myself I'm just going to walk on the treadmill for 5min. Usually by then I've got the blood flowing and I get a whole workout done. Sometimes like you said it's only 5min but you've still made the effort, and reinforced the idea that just because you're tired doesn't mean you don't go. The mental strength you build in those times is worth it's weight in gold
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