99 PROBLEMS BUT MOTIVATION AIN'T ONE

Keep finding excuses not to workout? When it comes to motivation, we all have periods when we’re lacking it. In these times the same old excuses seem to pop up – too busy, too tired, or you just simply can’t be bothered! It’s time to get real and get rid of those old games, you get out what you put in and we’re all about prioritising our health and living our best life.

With an aim to help you stay committed to a healthy, active life the below pointers should help you get your motivation on track and keep you feeling like a motivational champ!

Find your WHY and don’t lose focus

Identifying your ‘why’ and core reason for doing something is crucial to helping keep you motivated to actually do it. Why is staying fit and healthy important to you? Don’t go thinking that your ‘why’ has to be some big, unique and inspirational reason. Your ‘why’ can simply be to feel better, more energised, to help you sleep or because you want to start prioritising taking more care of yourself and give back to your body the love it deserves. Try to identify an internal reason as opposed to an external one, this will help you feel more attached to it and more likely be sustainable. Once you’ve identified it, don’t let anything or anyone make you feel like it isn’t right or you need to change it. Your ’why’ is personal to you and you alone.

When you forget this core reason, it’s easy to let the excuses come into play and fall back into poor habits, so once you establish it, keep it at the forefront of your mind and refer back to it at times of need.

Get organised and set yourself a plan

Just like you schedule in other events you have in the diary, get organised about your exercise regime. Treat your workout times with the same respect and get those appointments with your body scheduled in. On Sunday, set aside a few minutes to come up with a (realistic) workout plan for the week ahead. Look at how your week is panning out and block out time to fit in (and smash out!) your workouts. 15-20 minutes is all you need for a Boxx class so it doesn’t need to be a big slot! Think about what classes you will want to do, for example if it’s a morning slot, maybe an energising BoxxHIIT or BoxxCARDIO class is a good idea, whereas if it is an evening slot, you may be more in the mood for a slower class then give any of our FLOW classes a go. Keep it varied and put a good mix of workouts in your plan depending on your current goals or priorities.

When you give yourself a plan, you give yourself more control which means you’ll be less likely to let excuses or other events take over and will be more likely to stick to it. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you miss a planned workout, be flexible and know that as long as you get in some time each week to move your body, you’re doing amazing!

Remind yourself of that after feeling

No one can argue it, post-workout feels are real! We all have them and we all know they are guaranteed not only because you completed your workout but also because you stuck to your schedule and made yourself a priority.

Always take note and bathe in that feeling after exercising, because not only do you deserve it and because those feelings make you feel so damn GOOD, but because you can then remind yourself of that feeling to help you smash your next workout and get you started when you motivation is at a minimum. Getting started is always the hardest part, so use it to focus on that and the endorphins that exercise stimulates will help you get to the end.

Give yourself a reward after

As much as we don’t believe that exercise should be used as a way of ‘earning’ certain foods, sometimes you do just need an extra incentive to get you going. If your ‘why’ isn’t enough for you at that pre-workout moment, allowing yourself some sort of reward (whether that be food related or not) to look forward to after can be a great final push.

You can also give yourself longer term rewards! How about looking at it as, if you do all your scheduled workouts that week/month, you’ll treat yourself to a massage or some new clothes? If you have something to look forward to and are strict with yourself about it, motivation will be easier. Why not also team up with a friend and hold each other accountable? Make a deal with each other that if you both stick to the workout schedule you have that week/month (well at least 90% of it!), that you will do something or go somewhere that you both love one evening as a treat! Getting others involved in your health and fitness journey will make you more likely to stick to it to avoid not only letting yourself, but others down too!

Make a commitment to yourself

Finally and a very important motivation should be the commitment you have with yourself to looking after not only your body but also your mind, and to living a lifestyle which makes you feel your best. Working out should be for no one else but you. Set yourself personal intentions, not milestones and don’t stress yourself with big, physical transformation goals which are next to impossible. 

This commitment should be never ending though, you only get one body and one mind, stop the excuses and start making your workouts more of a priority, you owe it to yourself!

And if you need a helping hand, why not try Marc's Motivation Yoga Flow, to give your motivation a reboot!