You’ve been loyal to your fitness regimen for weeks/months/years, but you’ve noticed you’re starting to lose your motivation. As you drag yourself to your workout, you wonder why that activity you used to love just isn’t doing it for you anymore.
If your workout is starting to feel stale, shaking it up will re-energize you and may even improve your results! Here’s why…
The key to staying motivated = FUN!
While most of us work out to get fit or lose weight, you may need to re-train your brain when it comes to why you’re breaking a sweat. Because the truth is, the best motivator isn’t losing weight or feeling great—it’s having fun. If that doesn’t sound scientific enough, let us explain. An activity needs to be intrinsically rewarding in order for you to see enough value to forge on (especially if it gets hard!). Studies show that if you truly enjoy the activity you are engaging in, that in itself is enough motivation to continue. But if you’re simply enduring a hated workout to lose weight, for example, at some point this reward isn’t going to be enough—perhaps when you’ve hit your goal or when you stop seeing drastic results.
Are you bored?
While regular exercise is certainly good for you, switching things up is even better—for both your brain and your body. Think about it, if you keep repeating the same routine over and over, things start to get boring, fast. But if you truly enjoy your activity of choice, and if you look forward to it each day, there’s a much greater chance that you will spend more time working out, burning more calories as you go.
Insert something new and fun into your fitness by trying out one of these cool, new trends for 2018:
- Let out your inner boxer to burn calories and crush your stress with boutique boxing.
- Exercise in 3D by taking part in a cool, new way to work out, called immersive fitness.
- Incorporate playful periods into your fitness routine. Power-walk/race your friends to the coffee shop, climb a jungle gym on your route home, hold a dance-off, throw a frisbee. Or want to shake up your cardio routine? Enter a race… maybe even a zombie race?
Pro Tip! Cross-training has been around for years and has proven results.
Not seeing the same results?
Another thing to consider is whether or not you are challenging your muscles… and your mind. If you notice yourself going into autopilot during your workouts, it’s likely because your routine has become so easy that you’re able to just zone out—which inevitably means you’ll start to plateau. Not seeing the same results? No wonder your motivation is dwindling! The good news is, you can enhance your results by adding some variety into your workout (going faster, going longer, upping your resistance) or better yet: by trying something entirely new.
If you’re looking to branch out, consider one of these trending fitness ideas:
- Functional fitness, or “training for life” is a form of strength training that works on the areas of your body you need to perform optimally in daily life—from improving your balance to boosting your endurance, focusing on different areas each time you train will ensure you aren’t working out the same muscles over and over again.
- Group training comes with the added support, encouragement and camaraderie of like-minded exercise buffs. Not only that, but working in groups tends to fuel a little bit of healthy competition, which is the perfect way to keep upping your game (and avoid plateauing).
- Consider engaging in “mindful movement,” and even meditating pre- and post-workout to enhance results.
The only constant is change
Ask yourself this: When you think of waking up before sunrise to get a workout in, or when you imagine heading to the gym straight after work, what do you feel… excitement or dread? If you’re counting the seconds until that workout is finished, something’s got to give.
The best way to get the most out of your workout is by changing it up when things start to feel stale. So now that you’ve discovered having fun is the best way to get in shape, get creative about how and where you’re doing it. Take a break from the treadmill, grab a pair of snowshoes and find some deep snow for your weekend walk. Skip your regular Zumba class, blast some music from your youth and have a dance party by yourself. Rally some colleagues to join you in a group training session at a nearby gym. There are many ways to take your usual routine and ‘fun it up’ a little.
