By Praveen & Maahek Nair
Have you found yourself in a rut lately, unable to find a way to stick to the gym either due to not being able to fix a proper time section for a workout in your schedule, or maybe the reasons are you feel unsatisfied with not attaining the goals you had in mind?
Celebrity trainers Praveen & Maahek Nair, @bodyprocoachtransformations share smart ways to bust out of the Workout Rut & get back on the right track.
Start slow with lower numbers
Some people make goals, which is good but they usually make goals that will take a really long time to accomplish inevitably leading to failure. So start slow, keep goals like going 2 days to the gym this week instead of planning regular gym visits. Keep the reps low, the sets low and even the overall time a little lower than what your excitement wants you to keep. Yes, you won’t feel like you worked out much but at least this way you will be able to focus on the bigger goal of being regular. Lower numbers also mean being able to fit a workout into your tightly packed schedule of work & ‘Me’ time.
Get some accountability
Joining a program with other people with you can help keep you accountable as you make friends within the group. You will feel yourself wanting to go as you don’t want to disappoint your new friends. A lot of HIIT-based programs have popped up with benefits in stamina, a refresh to your mental health and overall high energy are some of the reasons people join these things. Not to mention your new friends & trainer will help keep you accountable, some even have a marking system wherein they keep track of how many days you attended.
Make a Schedule
Using a schedule to divide up the exercise routine to suit various muscle groups and mixing it up with 1 different variation for each muscle group every week can help you stay organized and have something new to look forward to every week. This means deciding a new variation for your chest the next time you hit that muscle, repeat this for all the muscle groups and you have yourself a novel low effort workout plan for each week.
Consistency
Workout is actually a great activity not something you have to grind through all the way. It doesn’t just strengthen the body but has several mental benefits which in order to experience you will have to show consistency. Trust me it is a rewarding activity in itself, you don’t have to force yourself to do it just for the physical goals. Stay consistent and find out just how amazing working out can feel if you stay with it long enough.
Forming a Habit
Habit formation requires a certain time, while it may not always work as it takes a while to get new habits to form. With the above steps, if tracking your daily visits to the gym, you will see some good consistency over longer periods. Don’t get discouraged over the small number of days you missed, and stop feeling bad every time you missed one day, it’s just a small number compared to the larger efforts you put towards staying consistent.
Add some fun to your workouts
With Cross-training and High-intensity workouts, while most workouts focused on weights and resistance, mixing a bit of high-intensity endurance training can freshen up your routine. Cross-train adds variety and functional training in the mix so that you can have something new to look forward to but I would advise hiring a trainer or joining a program for this as doing it on your own requires some time investment and know-how about what to mix with what.
