2 Weeks Off Exercise .... How To Regain Motivation

We all know how hard it is to get into a regular routine of exercising and we’ve probably all experienced how much easier it is to slip out of the routine and get into a habit of doing nothing.

The great benefits that exercise offer are explained throughout many of the articles on this website so I don’t need to explain them in depth again.

So you have been going really well with your exercise program, you’ve been getting up first thing in the morning and attending your local boot camp, you’ve seen the physical benefits and you’ve felt the psychological benefits, you’ve also improved your diet and you feel good! Then ..... BAMM!!! You go on a night out, drink excess amounts of alcohol, treat yourself to a kebab at the end of the night.

Wake up the next morning feeling awful, bad head, feeling sick so you take the day off. Lack of sleep from the previous night means you sleep through/”can’t” get up in the morning for boot camp, all of a sudden you are starting to slowly slip out of your routine.

You haven’t forgotten why you exercise but the motivation to exercise is starting to deteriorate; now you’ve missed three sessions in a row. Before you know it two weeks have passed by and you’ve gone back to all of your bad habits which made you take up exercise and attend boot camp on the first place ... Clearly a problem! You are now in the DANGER ZONE! It’s not the end of the world, and by following a few simple steps we can get you out of the danger zone and back into the training zone which made you feel so good.

1. Positive self talk – Tell yourself why you started exercising and how it makes you feel good. Maybe look at an old photo of yourself and tell yourself you don’t want to return to looking like that again. Use motivational quotes and images to get yourself motivated to exercise again.

2. Set new goals – As you’ve temporarily slipped away from regular exercise it’s best to set new very achievable short term goals. The first goal can be something like having a healthy meal after work, second goal the first bout of low intensity easy exercise after the first few goals are achieved you can then start to slowly build up until you are getting back into the swing of things .. Don’t stop there though! Important to continue setting yourself goals to maintain motivation and keep you striving for new positive things.

3. Exercising with a partner/group – If you have a friend you exercise with and attend boot camp with literally tell them ‘Drag me to boot camp tomorrow morning’ exercise with a partner/group of friends can have a tremendous effect over your durability to adhere to exercise.

So get your sleeping pattern back on track, if you WANT it enough you’ve got sacrifice the nights out follow these few simple steps and before you know it you’ll be back on track and heading in a direction in which you want to go.

Afraid to say you’ve got to start now! No pain no gain!

Good Luck