Let’s face it; we all had that down slide of motivation at some point in our fitness journey, and there is no defamation in admitting it. You do not need to feel hopeless if you are researching this topic and have landed on this article. We all went through this phase at some point.
We all searched for the drive that may motivate us because we did not know how to deal with the situation after enthusiastically starting our fitness journey.
There can be many reasons why your enthusiasm might deplete over time. The most common reasons are:
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- Doing the same exercises over and over can become very dull.
- Not seeing any significant change in the weighing machine.
- Sticking to a fitness commitment becomes more challenging day by day, and so on.
There might be many reasons, but there is always some easy way out. Daily Fitnest will not disappoint you as we will discuss briefly how you can overcome this situation by making minor tweaks. Give them a try, and trust us, you will be amazed how these little tweaks can increase your clarity of thoughts and help you to stick to your fitness journey:
Define the reason to yourself
Yes, it might seem cliché, but try to define to yourself why you wanted to start a fitness journey in the first place.
A clear answer to this “why” question can solve most of your thoughts. Suppose you started to go to the gym because other peers were going, and you just followed along without purpose. In that case, you will not sustain simply because when you start working out and find out that it is not easy to stick to it, you will quit as you have no clear defying goal on your mind. If that is the case, take a step back and ask yourself if you want to achieve anything by working out or not. If no is the answer, then you should not waste your time and instead do something productive that can impact your life.
On the other hand, if you have a purpose, like losing weight, improving body composition, or maintaining good health, then you should take small steps and set realistic goals. We have discussed this previously: how to set small, realistic goals.
If you can clarify your mind, you just won 80% of the war.
Find your gym bro
A partner on training can work like wonder if both of you even have a little drive towards our goal.
Working with a partner can make the workout enjoyable, and you can push each other. Lack of motivation will never be a limiting factor when working with a buddy.
What can you do if you do not have any friends who are willing to join the gym or do exercise?
The answer is simple. When you do a certain thing, you will find many like-minded people. For example, if you get a gym membership, you will find many people like you who just started their fitness journey. You can talk to them for some days and then approach them if they want to train together. In most cases, everyone agrees. Just ensure you do not creep them out by asking it on the first day.
Go to the nearest gym
People already make irrelevant excuses for not going to the gym, and if your gym is far away, your mind will find the ultimate excuse.
Always get a membership at the nearest gym. It would be ideal if the gym is within walking distance or a maximum of 10 to 15 minutes drive away.
If the gym is near you, it is also very convenient, as you will have the flexibility to train at your convenience. You can overcome many obstacles, and even if it rains or snows, you will certainly be able to hit the gym in most cases.
Take progress photo
Even if you make progress, you cannot always track it with your bare eyes most of the time.
Taking a progress photo each day will show you your progress each week. Seeing your progress over two to three months hits like dopamine.
That progression is good enough to boost your motivation. Please take a photo in the morning in the same place and let us know about your progress over the course.
Be flexible and make some variation on exercises
Doing the same exercise over and over again triggers boredom, especially if you do not like it. For example, if you do not like deadlifts, you should do other back exercises that train similar back muscles.
Making minor tweaks can make exercise sessions very interesting. I had been doing dumbbell lateral raises for a long time, and at some point, I felt discouraged. Then, I shifted to cable Y-raises and cable lateral raises, and it felt so refreshing.
However, do not change your exercise session to session. Do an exercise for at least 2 to 3 months and then switch to a similar muscle-targeting exercise unless you hate doing that exercise.
Making small changes boosts motivation like crazy; just give it a try.
Celebrate Milestones
Incentive is a significant driver for motivation. We all can relate to that from our childhood. We all used to get gifts as a reward for doing well in academics or sports, and it always motivated us to push ourselves even further in most cases.
The same applies to your training motivation. If you reach a milestone, you can reward yourself. It may feel childish, but it works.
Enjoy a cheat meal with friends or do something you like if you achieve any milestone, even a small one.
However, be honest with yourself in that regard and only reward yourself after achieving the milestone. It will push you unconsciously towards your next goal.
Do not get fixated on motivation all the time
It is true that we need a drive to push ourselves, and motivation acts as a drive.
However, if you always want to lay onto motivation to push you through, chances are you will fall in some cases. Sometimes, you must push yourself through and break the shackles yourself.
If you can push yourself in a situation like this, then what will stop you from achieving your end goal?
The simple and the only answer is nothing. You may not realize that we are the biggest obstacle to ourselves.
There were many times when I felt like quitting my goal as it was becoming hard for me to maintain different aspects of my life, but I just shut down the thought process and went all in. Trust me, I did not need any motivation to hit the gym now.
It might seem superficial, but you won’t know unless you do it.
We would love to hear from you and your tips and tricks on how you keep yourself motivated.
You can leave a reply or contact us.