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11 Tips to Stay Motivated During Your Training

By emile

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1. Write down your goals and look at your vision board and that list often.



Writing down and viewing daily of those goals has a powerful effect. It keeps them clearly in the front of your mind's awareness. What I also like is the combined impact of pictures I can see in an instant of a physique I have as the one I’m inspired by.


A vision board is one technique I've used for decades and has become even easier now with social media. Find inspiration daily by keeping that goal or image on your cell phone or desktop as a screensaver.


You will remember.



2. Create a buddy system or a training crew.



Having people as committed to success, as you are, will help with achieving better accountability to meet at a designated time and place for scheduled training sessions.


The guilt of missing appointments with friends that will help “stay on you” with be a powerful motivator to show up.


Nobody likes to have others be disappointed with them once we've made a promise.



3. Plan your workout schedule in advance.



This is a common flaw and along with not knowing enough variation in programming options is the other challenge. When the gym is crowded and there is limited equipment, occasionally this can become frustrating to the point many people will leave the gym without training that day.


Having 2-3 known training movements per scheduled body part can be helpful in eliminating this hurdle.


Also having alternative gyms or training times to avoid the typical overcrowding along with the use of different pieces of equipment one gym may have in limited supply.



4. Have a killer playlist ready to go.



Spotify, Fit Radio, and Itunes have every song every recorded...and that music is a helpful remedy when the gym you go to has a different mindset with regards to your own style of music.


I also recommend audiobooks too. Audible.com has provided me years of quality subjects to not only get in shape but learn new subjects that help me help others with their life goals.


Weight training, cardio and soft tissue work all require a different mindset. Find either the best music or subject of independent study each will allow.



5. Embrace your competitive side, if you've got it.



Set goals for yourself. It doesn't need to be a contest, but at least set an end date to accomplished “x” results in a measured time then place a financial goal or trip around the achievement of that goal.


Sometimes an extrinsic motivator helps us doi more when we have a bigger goal.


Better still...invite five to ten friends and create a fitness pool...like a football pool...each participant contributes $100 dollars to the pot and winner takes all.


Who couldn't use an extra $500-1000 dollars every 12 weeks as a prize:)



6. Plan your gym time around your favorite TV show.



I typically view Youtube videos on training and nutrition strategies, but I’m also a fan of “House of Cards” and “Ray Donovan” so if I’m not listening to audio books or watching something expensive in my domain of interest, I’ll slum it a bit with mindless stuff to escape from my current reality of less desirable cardio occasionally.



7. Tailor your workouts to fit your mood.



Intuitive training is a new term for learning to be mindful of what we are experiencing as we learn to feel what we feel in our body.


Once you learn to train well and understand the specific muscle along with the exercises that strengthen these muscle, you’ll begin to sense after each workout the effectiveness of each training session.


This is understood by the degree of stress placed on the muscle and its reactive recovery ability shown by what's referred to as “delayed onset muscular soreness” post workout. This can occur 24-48 hours after a workout or sometimes not at all.


When you're able to detect a level of soreness then you're also able to manipulate the volume and /or load during each training session to modulate or vary your training session based on a measured quantity of work to aid in healing.


Being constantly too sore isn't fun. Instead, learn to stimulate, not annihilate your body for a lifetime of beautiful changes to your physique with an “easy, moderate and hard” approach.



8. Consider working with a personal trainer every once in awhile to stay accountable.



Many times, from my experience, I’ve seen many trainers have different theories of what the best way is to achieve results for their clients may be.


One area is teaching them to accurately check their own results with food and training log system to record their intake, caloric expenditure and then what to do once they leave a training program,


The whole idea is that eventually client leaves the program and should be capable of writing a program on their own and not left to be totally dependent on the trainer, like a child and their parent.


Once independence is established, then a schedule rotational visit can be maintained over the course of the year or several years...provided the teacher/trainer is available.



9. Wear a fitness tracker (and don't forget to keep it charged!).



I suggest a Polar FT 60 or 80 and the newish A360 version mostly, however, there are other comparable versions of smartwatches to track your heart rate and calories burned each session.


This information is helpful in planning your diet and staying on point with fat loss which can indicate the need to increase or decrease calories or activity intensity or both.



10. Think of training in the morning workout like a ritual.



Morning workouts are a huge benefit for several reasons.


Firstly, they are even better than coffee alone.One cup before training on an empty stomach has been proven top speed up fat loss due to higher heart rates and tapping into stored fat easier with an empty tank.


Secondly, while most need half the morning just to wake up, the morning training sessions accelerates all body functions quickly and improves cognitive skills earlier in the day.


Thirdly, is and they usually do, when a 5 alarm fire of drama starts at work and you can’t get away to the gym...this way it's already done and the night time exerciser is left screaming in the office about falling off the wagon by uncontrollable circumstances.


In the morning...YOU have control of your time.



11. And most importantly, consider it "you" time.



It’s a fantastic way to empty your mind of all the daily life stress and a great way to unwind after a tough day or like the above suggestion, pre-frame another fabulous day in paradise:)


If you like these simple suggestions...I have 47 years worth of training tips to help you get started or help you break through those dreaded plateaus from beginner to advanced athletes


Call and we can discuss your planning process.


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