5 Motivation Hacks To Get Fit Fast
They say actions speak louder than words, and that’s definitely the case when it comes to exercise or living a healthy lifestyle. For most of us, we know that we should be working out, and have the idea and intentions to do so on a regular basis; but often times we lack to motivation to act on those ideas. If you lack the motivation for exercise, then its also probably affecting more than just your health and fitness. Lacking motivation leads to wasting time and underachieving in just about everything you do in life. So get off your ass and we will go over 5 top motivation hacks to get fit fast.
Create Milestones
Create objective goals and timelines for you to achieve them. Once you hit these short term milestones on a regular basis, you will be consistently improving towards your long term goal and will be more motivated to follow through. Regardless of how small the milestone may be, I suggest creating weekly milestones to stay on track. An example of this could be drink 1 gallon a water each day, or simply wake up 30 mins earlier and take a walk before getting ready for work.
Give Yourself Rewards
Sure, some people might be motivated by vague goals such as “better health” or “weight control.” But if that’s not doing it for you, try giving yourself tangible rewards for achieving your goals. An extrinsic reward is powerful because your brain can latch on to it and make the link that the behavior is worthwhile which will increase the odds of making that behavior a habit. An example of this could be buying new spin shoes after attending ten classes successfully.
Over time, the motivation becomes intrinsic, as the brain begins to associate exercise with a surge of endorphin's. Once you’ve trained your brain to recognize that the workout itself is the reward, you won’t need the reward..
Outsource Your Inspiration
One of the biggest motivational tools for many individuals is the inspiration of others to help them out in whatever goal that they may have. Find a friend who will hold you accountable and will check to make sure your staying on track with your fitness and health aspirations. If you don’t have any friends, (cause no one likes you for being an unmotivated loser) I recommend checking out the Pact app for iPhone. Connect your credit card to the app, make a fitness goal and commitment, and if you check in with the app a certain amount of times a day, you will earn money. If not, you will have to pay a set amount. Money to many is a huge motivator for many people and it can get you off your butt and moving.
Track Your Results
Use apps or logs to track your food, monitor your weight, body composition and health vitals. This will allow you to see objective real time results as you progress and can help anyone stay motivated and keep pushing forward to achieve their health and fitness goals. Myfitnesspal, Fitbit, map my run and the IPhone Health app are all great tools to log and track your results.
Make Your Goals Known
If your family and friends know that you are working to achieve a certain fitness or health goal, you are more likely to push through the difficult aspects and succeed. With the support of family and friends you can stay on track and are more likely to resist failure because you wont want to let others down. However, if you ultimately fail in achieving your goal, it can seem a bit tragic to come to the realization that so many people know your goal. This is why it’s smart to share, but not boast or over-share on your new fitness goals. No one is more annoying than the paleo Crossfit guy who talks for hours on end about their WOD and PR they just broke.
