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We hope that reading this post will encourage you to move ๐
So here are some tips we’ve come up with:
1. Bring back good memories
If a new acquaintance evokes pleasant emotions, you are likely to be glad to see him again. The same rule is true for sports. Those who, before training, recalled successful past workouts, visited the gym more often and with pleasure.
If a happy picture doesn’t pop into your head, try creating one yourself. Headphones with your favorite music in your ears, sneakers on your feet – and go ahead, create a memory!
2. Don’t try to be professional. Have fun!
We often look at sports as a way to get in shape. And it is right. But it can also be a source of joy. Those who speak of sport as a game are more likely to use the words “pleasure”, “challenge”, “excitement”. Those for whom sport is primarily exercise focus on appearance, weight and stress management. Research shows that intrinsic motivation works best when we need to learn and reinforce a new habit.
Love to fight one on one? Sign up for the fight. Prefer noisy companies? Play frisbee with your friends more often. Or just set yourself up for the fact that from next Sunday you are preparing for cyclocross.
3. Don’t train next to the fittest person in the gym
Fitness club ads lure us in with pictures of models and athletes with perfect muscles. But meeting such a person in the hall will not add motivation. On the contrary, you are more likely to do less and go home with an unpleasant feeling.
A few years ago, psychologists conducted a study on how the appearance of the desired body affects our motivation. The first participant worked out on a treadmill next to an athlete who wore a tight top and short shorts. The second was engaged in the company of the same woman, but in a shapeless tracksuit. In the first case, the participant spent less time in the gym, and her self-esteem worsened. The second, on the contrary, trained longer and in the end did not feel dissatisfied with herself.
4. Do not be too critical of your body
The frequency of exercise is related to three things:
- Being satisfied with your body,
- Attention to the needs of your body,
- The joy of knowing what your body is capable of.
5. Customize your workout routine
You found a program on the Web that promises a dream body in X months. But the first half hour of exercise squeezed you out like a lemon. The thought of repeating this nightmare terrifies you. โMaybe this is not for me,โ you decide. And you are wrong. Those who stick to a rigid program without taking into account their condition achieve less effect than those who select exercises based on their capabilities. Do not be slaves to the program and do not set records. Listen to your body and review the order and intensity of exercises, the number of sets and other parameters from time to time.
6. Stop Focusing on Your Laziness
Our psyche strives to ensure that reality matches our idea of โโourselves. If we build an internal image of ourselves from negative traits – “I’m a lazy lazy person, I have absolutely no willpower” – our brain will interpret what is happening in such a way as to confirm this image. Did you oversleep your workout? Well, of course, what else can you expect from such a bumpkin? Instead, try to think of yourself as a healthy person. You are a busy person, you need to recuperate. An important point: this does not mean that you need to justify your weaknesses. Just don’t let them define who you are. If we stumble, that’s no reason not to move forward at all, right?
7. ย Use modern technologies
There are numerous apps you can use to make this process fun. Moreover, you can use several of them so that every time you will have a different thing to do. This can be even more interesting! Have you heard of move-to-earn projects? For instance, STEPN is an app designed to reward users for walking, jogging and running. It aspires to motivate millions of people to move everyday. It is not a competition with one another (at least yet) but you get a reward if you fulfill the task. And this reward is crypto money. Don’t get too excited, this is not an investment. You have to buy NFT first which might be quite expensive (and this is actually a great motivation to get your money back!).
Check out their website here.
