10 Top Tips For Springing Into Fitness
April 7th, 2008 | by Jeniffer |Spring is definitely in the air.
The snow is finally melting, grass is visible among the ruins of a long winter.
Birds are singing, people are sitting outside on their porches.
Ah, there goes another jogger, spritely skipping over the puddles in the road as they cheerily go along their way.
If only you or I had been as good about keeping our New Years’ Resolutions, this years’ or last, as they seem to have been able to do!
But have no fear! It is not too late.
With the warm weather finally upon us, there could not be a better time to step up your spring get-fit program.
Here are some ideas as to how:
1) Mind Your Motivation
Keep whatever motivates you foremost in mind, and make certain that that motivation is for you, not for anyone else.
Wanting to take up jogging because the cute guy three doors down does it isn’t enough. You have to want to do it for you.
For your health, for your happiness. Not to impress others or to obey a perfectionist spouse.
Do it for yourself.
2) Picture It
Literally.
Find photos which represent what your goal is–rock climbing, dancing with the stars, a marathon finish, hiking in the mountains–whatever it is you want to accomplish, find pictures of it, and place them where you will see them often.
These pictures serve as reminders of where it is you want to be going.
3) Be A S.M.A.R.T. Cookie
Goals in any area of your life need to be S.M.A.R..T.–specific, motivating, attainable, reasonable, and track-able.
This goes for fitness goals as much as for any other.
Specific: Don’t think “I want to lose weight”.
How much weight, by what date, and how will you go about doing so?
Motivating: Will this goal bring about some change in your life that you desire?
Will getting fit improve your health, allow you to have more fun with your kids, prolong your life, ward off disease, and help you look great for your ten year reunion?
Attainable: Is it something you can do?
Can you workout the required number of times per week, plus monitor your eating as your plan requires?
Can you stick with it, and if you do, will the plan work for you?
Do you want to look like the best you possible, which is attainable, or is it your goal to look like Pamela Anderson or Twiggy, which may not be so much so?
Reasonable: Is your goal reasonable?
Losing ten pounds of fat in two days is not reasonable.
Getting more fit and losing ten pounds in six to eight weeks is.
Track-able: Can you track your goal?
With getting fit or losing weight, the numbers are where tracking comes in.
Number of reps, weights lifted, measurements of abs and weight loss achieved, all over a period of time you can take satisfaction from tracking in whatever form you choose.
4) Expect That You Will Fall Off The Wagon On Occasion
Every single one of us slips up sometimes.
This is natural and to be expected.
The thing is, making sure you get right back on again.
One slip up does not make you a failure.
5) Positive Feedback
Positive feedback is a marvelous thing for helping us to stay motivated.
If others around you have not yet noticed the two pounds you lost, give that positive feedback to yourself.
Getting fit and/or losing weight is a lot of work, and it’s important to realize how incredible you are when you are working at it.
Tell yourself about it, every day.
Then soon, when others begin to notice the change in your physique, and hopefully the new energetic, positive person you are becoming, you can acknowledge that yes, they are correct. You really are making an incredible change!
6) Write this Down!
When you first begin, write down your starting point.
Note the date, your weight, measurements, number of reps of various exercises–anything that will help you track your progress and encourage you on your way.
As well, write what you eat, when you eat it, how you felt–anything that can help you uncover hidden motivations if your eating goes awry, or help you proudly record positive progress in your nutritional program.
7) Reward Yourself–But Not With Food
Your reward could be anything which will reasonably fit your budget and make you feel good.
I love to read, so I tend to reward myself with books.
Some prefer DVDs or music or time spent browsing through shops without actually buying something.
Whatever feels like a reward to you.
How about a bubble bath, or a pedicure for those hard working feet?
8 ) Remember the F.I.T.T Prescription:
F.-Frequency
Ideally, this should be 3-5 times per week
I.-Intensity
You have to work out at a high enough intensity, with your doctor’s approval, to raise your heart rate.
T.-Time
Each aerobics session should be between 20 and 60 minutes long, depending on your level of fitness and health factors.
T.-Type
Vary the kinds of exercise you do, to keep yourself interested, and to work different muscles in your body.
9) Working For Benefits
Fitness benefits include an improved appearance, fitting into your clothes better, being more healthy, being able to do more, and therefore enjoy more, being generally more relaxed and less anxious, and in general being happier.
You are also likely to live longer.
10) General tips:
-if you do slip up, and you will sooner or later, chalk it up to experience. Then get right back at the program.
-moderation in everything is the key to success. When you are first starting out, the tendency is to do too much too soon. This leads to burnout, and lack of instant success can make you see yourself as a failure. Take it easy, work up to longer, harder workouts, keep at it through plateaus. Small successes, regularly repeated and built upon, lead to long term changes, improvements in lifestyle and body tone, and the mental edge to keep going. Success builds success.
-keep in mind your past successes, to remind yourself that you have done it, you can do it, and you will do it.
Now get out there and sweat a little!
Got some tips or experience in this matter? Have a success story you’d like to share? Comments and suggestions are always most welcome!
