Show of hands if you are sticking to your fitness goals, and crushing your workout plan? No one? Yeah, me neither. It’s so easy for motivational life coaches or social media accountability folks to start shouting, “remember your why” or “you’re in the wrong mindset.” Well you know what? We’re in a pandemic, Karen. It’s hard to maintain a positive fitness mentality when we’re one dice roll away from fire raining from the sky. Am I wrong?
Staying active and healthy is so important. We all know that. But it’s hard right now. We’re struggling, and all the motivational quotes in the world aren’t going to change that. What we need is real, applicable tips for fixing our fitness mentality.
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Workout the Way You Want to Workout
Don’t listen to the chatter of which machine or class you should be taking. Running isn’t for everyone, and the treadmill might be a miserable experience. Understand that, and find an alternative cardio. There will always be a new trendy class, and you may not enjoy it. Don’t let that discouragement dictate your workout. Find what you enjoy, what leaves you feeling worn out but excited to do it again, and choose that. Working out won’t always feel like it isn’t work, but it shouldn’t cause pain. And you shouldn’t be dreading your time at the gym.
Set Goals off the Scale
You are more than a number. Setting goals on the scale is a quick way to feel as though your workouts aren’t working, and that discouragement will ultimately prevent you from continuing. Setting achievement goals will allow you to track your success, which motives you to continue and push those goals harder. My goal this year is unassisted pull-ups.
Tangible goals, more than just “fit into a size 6 jeans”, will motivate you a lot further because you can track your progress. Unassisted pull-ups are hard. Before I can do that, I need to strengthen the muscle with lat pull-downs. Each time I increase the weight, getting closer to my body weight, I can visualize those pull-ups on my horizon. I am also dead hanging for periods at a time, and trying to hang longer than the previous attempt. Each of these mini-goals along the way will motivate to keep pushing towards the ultimate goal.
Remember Fitness is a gift, Not a Punishment
Having a physical disability greatly impacts my physical fitness mentality, because I know first hand how a strong body is to be treated life a gift. There was a time when I struggled to walk effectively, and now I can run. This is a huge motivation in my desire to keep a happy, healthy lifestyle. Don’t let diet culture and societal body images dictate your views on fitness. Your body is yours, and the ability to strengthen it through movement should be cherished. Even if your journey looks different from mine, or your partner’s, or professional athletes, it’s a valid journey. Accept the fact that you are working on your body, because you can and you want to. Love your body. Cherish your gains. Take time to point out your strengths and positive features. Ask your spouse to hype you up and drop complements like confetti. You need them. Eat them up and use them as fuel to keep going. Do not go into fitness with the plan to fix what is damaged, or to punish yourself for the state of your body. Be proud that you are able to go to the gym and build a better body.
It seems easy enough, because it is. Focus on these three applicable tips, and you can do it. Feel free to DM me any time on Instagram to chat accountabilty. I’ve been there, I’m still there, and we can do it.
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