Five Tips For Keeping Your Health And Fitness Goals When Life Gets Busy!

Getting fit seems to be the craze right now, and for all the good reasons. Not only is it a great way to improve your health, but also to stay happy and lead an active lifestyle. However, it’s easy to talk yourself out of exercising. Even when you have the best intentions to work out, excuses are so easy to find -- “I’m too tired,” or “I’m busy,” or “The weather is bad.” But, the right attitude and a few tricks can help keep your fitness routine on track. If you’re trying to commit to a healthy lifestyle, here are five tips for keeping your health and fitness goals when life gets busy!

Tip #1: Know your why, not just your workout
Staying in touch with your why is essential in your longevity and commitment to anything! And this one also applies to working out. Knowing and remembering why you started will absolutely help you keep going. So focus on the reason why you started to stay motivated. Also, concentrate on the immediate positive reactions or feelings you get after a workout. This can really help you push yourself when you don’t feel like working out.

Tip #2: Be kind to yourself - even when times get tough
There are so many factors that affect your motivation on a day-to-day basis, and sometimes you can’t give your workout or diet your all! When you feel like life is getting in the way, know that you don’t always need to work out every day, five times a week, or even three times a week. Whatever your current routine is, it can always be changed according to life, how you’re feeling, and what is going on around you. Being aware of your current mind and physical state will help you gear your training around your peak times and prevent injury. You can try talking to yourself like you would talk to someone else you love. This can help you feel loved and encouraged to keep going.

Tip #3: Keep it under sixty - a workout doesn’t have to be an hour
We have this idea that a workout has to last for an hour to count or work. Sometimes that’s just not in the cards, or it may not be good for you. Thirty minutes of exercise a day has been shown to be as effective for losing weight as sixty minutes of exercise. A study done in Copenhagen on sixty participants over thirteen weeks found that thirty minutes of exercise per day resulted in 3.6 kg of weight loss in thirteen weeks, compared to 2.7 kg weight lost for sixty minutes of exercise. Exercise that lasted sixty minutes made people eat more and also have less desire and energy for exercise. A half-hour workout seems so much more doable mentally and physically, so it actually energizes us to do more even after a workout! We say keep it under sixty, take your focus off the time, and put it towards the quality of the workout.

Tip #4: Take it slow and steady
Sometimes, even trainers lose motivation. They don’t feel like working out and don’t work out. This is completely fine for anyone! If you have this expectation in your head of what a workout is going to look like or should look like, sometimes it is easier to convince yourself completely out of it. At times, all you need to do is take a step back and slow things down. Focus on the exercise your doing, think about where you want to feel it, what muscles you are working on, and make it count. The mind-muscle connection is what makes an exercise more intense and more valuable. So keep it simple, take it slow, and your goals will stay steady (even when the things around you seem chaotic)!

Tip #5: Follow the three-day rule
Don’t let more than three days go by before doing another workout. Your workout is whatever you want it to be, but it should challenge you in some way mentally or physically and should at least push you outside of your comfort zone just a touch. Challenge yourself to a workout every third day, so you don’t let too many days accumulate in between. The more time away, the more difficult it is to come back! With this in mind, even when you feel like you may not have the time, this challenge will be at the back of your mind, and you’ll find a way to make time for a quick sweat!

If you’re looking for a personal trainer in Burlington, ON, reach out to Bar None Fitness Studio. Our mission is to optimize your life through exercise, nutrition, and positive energy! Our facility is one that is dedicated to welcoming EVERYBODY - regardless of your age or fitness level! Our friendly studio setting offers private one-on-one training sessions that work with YOUR schedule, with none of the crowds, wait times, and intimidation often associated with “big box” gyms! We are passionate about health and fitness and have a contagiously enthusiastic attitude when it comes to helping you think positively, feel confident, and achieve your goals! We offer services like personal training, online personal training, and holistic nutritional planning and coaching to clients across Burlington, Brampton, Brantford, Cambridge, Guelph, Halton Hills, Hamilton, Mississauga, Milton, and Oakville, ON. To learn more about the services we offer, please click here. To get in touch with us, please click here.