We all know there are many health benefits of physical activity, not only for your body but also for your mind. So, why can it sometimes be so hard to motivate yourself to exercise?
You begin the week with good intentions for your healthy agenda and it starts off well. But within a couple of days reality sets in; work gets busy, life gets in the way and your exercise regime takes a back seat.
Finding the workout motivation to make fitness part of your routine can be tough, but we’re here to help. Read our top tips on how to motivate yourself to exercise:
- Find a friend
Working out with a friend is both motivating and fun. If you schedule work out dates with someone you’re committed to the session and, if you don’t turn up to it, you not only let yourself down, but you let your friend down too. Working out with a friend is enjoyable: set yourselves goals, plan your sessions together and push each other to hit that additional rep or run that extra kilometre.
Alternatively, there are many group exercise options you could get involved in – everything from running clubs to boot camp classes and sports teams, where you’ll get motivation, accountability and group camaraderie.
- Write down how you feel after all your workouts
We all know that once you’ve smashed a workout, endorphins are high, and you feel pretty amazing! What better motivation to know that once you’ve worked out, you’ll feel like that again. Get yourself a workout journal and write down what workout you did and how you felt when you finished it.
The next time you lack motivation to work out, simply open up your journal and remember how great you felt last time – those feel good words are sure to motivate you to work out again!
- Exercise variety
This tip is pretty simple: if you’re someone who gets bored of doing the same thing all the time – don’t repeat your routine. Mix it up and try different things – running, cycling, weights, gym classes, walking, dancing. Not only is variety the spice of life, trying lots of new things will help you find something you really love and are likely to keep up. Just because your friend from work likes squatting and circuits, it doesn’t mean that’s what you need to do. Everybody’s different so find your own best way to exercise!
- Put your workouts in your calendar
If you organised dinner with a friend, you would put it in your calendar and you wouldn’t cancel on them. Why should a workout be different? Each Sunday spend a little time deciding what physical activity you are going to do the following week and put it in your calendar – you wouldn’t cancel that dinner with a friend, so don’t bow out on time you’re putting into yourself.
- Volunteer with the Army Cadets
Volunteering with the Army Cadet Force is a great way to do all of the above! We have over 9,000 adult volunteers helping us run the programmes we offer our cadets and most time is spent being outdoors and active. You’ll lead a range of outdoor Fieldcraft activities and many of our instructors learn to lead activities like hiking, rock climbing, mountain biking, kayaking and abseiling (to name a few!).
Some of our adults also coach cadets in team sports, like football, hockey and rugby which is a great way to exercise and make friends. Your workouts will be in your calendar and you can definitely start writing a post-workout journal!
Volunteering with the Army Cadets is both fun and rewarding, it brings variety to your physical activity and helps keep you motivated to exercise. Find out about some more of the benefits of volunteering.
Explore what other Adult Volunteers have to say and find out more about how to get involved with the ACF.
