People like me who are admittedly lazy (or those in denial about their laziness) need to have more than just a goal of losing weight to get myself to work out regularly. In my experience it is important to have not only a long term goal but also short term goals, in order to keep you on pace. I found I am more likely to workout when I make a schedule that allows some flexibility built into the plan. It’s not just about deciding the right goal but also about designing the right plan to get you there.
I’m an expert when it comes to failing at workout plans. In the beginning I get extremely amped up and design a crazy plan. The problem is I design one that is unrealistic for those who are NOT extreme workout nuts. By week two or three I get off track by a day or two, once I skip a day or two, or start doing half-ass workouts it goes all downhill from there, and by week four I quit.
If I don’t make a workout plan I may workout a three to four days a week, at moderate intensity, but I never really push myself. I do my 30 minutes of cardio three to four days a week but after a couple months I get bored and/or lazy. Indeed I am burning extra calories, while getting all the other added health benefits that come along with regular cardio workouts but I’m not really challenging myself to push further and improve.
Working out to simply workout is not something that will get me off the couch continuously. I need a goal. This way, not only am I working towards something, I get some satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment when I get to my goal. In the past I would write out an extreme workout schedule with workout regimen planned to a T, even though I would schedule in a rest day, life would come up, I may be unexpectedly extremely busy on the day I had a long run scheduled or just maybe feel exhausted another. At first I may be able switch around my rest day but after a while I would get burned out from both the extremeness and rigidness of the schedule.
Finding the middle ground between those two designs is the key to both continually improve and to constantly push oneself further. Find a long term goal, one that is about six months to one year out. Once you have the long term goal have two to four short term goals that are steps in achieving your long term goal. For example, if your goal is to run a marathon a year from now and you currently cannot run a block without stopping for a breather have goals of perhaps a 5K by month two, 10k by month five, ½ marathon by month eight or nine building up to your marathon by the year marker. This way the idea of a marathon does not appear so daunting. You are getting there one achievable goal by one achievable goal.
Another important thing to keep in mind is that life happens. One day you’ll be extremely busy and the next you might just need a day off. It’s important to continuously work towards your goal but allow rest and recovery so you do not get burned out. Listening to your body is important and you can’t predict how your body will feel two months from now. Instead, design workout list for X amount of workouts for that week. For example, just say I commit to 5 days a week, with two rest day, each day I ask myself if it is feasible to workout that day, if it is check that workout off my workout list, if not I check off one of my rest days off my schedule. Just try not to use your rest days early in the week, otherwise you may find yourself without a rest day when you could really use it. Also, if you save your rest days for the end of your week if you are feeling good that can throw in an extra workout. Keep in mind it is important to have at least one rest day in your week to let your body recover.
One last thing I would like to mention is not to have a goal of pounds or inches lost or gain. You are not in control these when it comes to a having specific deadline of achievability. You can try your best and hope for the best but because it is not something you can control such as minutes, distance, or lbs lifted you may feel defeated if you are not losing / gaining on schedule.
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