It’s now summertime, and your gym membership pass stares accusingly at you from on top of the dresser; unused and neglected.
All the admirable intentions that you had at the new year are now distant memories as you suck in your gut and strain to zip up your skinny jeans. Unfortunately, this scenario is all too common. It’s not that we don’t have the best intentions. It’s just that between work, partners, kids and our busy social lives, there’s barely any time or energy left for meeting your exercise goals. So this begs the question, how can you motivate yourself to go that extra mile and give your body the time and attention it needs in order to keep you healthy? Here are a few ideas:
5 Simple Ideas to Reignite Your Passion for Health and Fitness
#1. Martial Law
Martial arts offer a fantastic way to keep fit and learn useful self-defense skills at the same time. Many modern styles, such as Krav Maga, MMA and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu place heavy emphasis on fitness (strength and conditioning) as a part of the training, so they are always good options to research and consider when looking for a new fitness challenge.
#2. Buddy System
One of the greatest enemies of any fitness program is boredom. Sometimes, the thought of dragging our butts out onto the street to pound the pavement is both lonely and a lackluster proposition. Make a regular time to exercise with a friend or group of friends and presto; you’ve turned it into a social occasion. Whether it’s a walk around the park, run along the beach or group yoga practice, it's less important than having that social element to make your workout something fun to look forward to.
#3. This Time, It’s Personal
They might be a bit on the pricey side, but a skilled personal trainer will not only know how to get you looking and feeling great, but most are expert at motivating clients whose get up and go may have gotten up and left. Most PTs are incredibly passionate about what they and this can be infectious. Depending on your circumstances, you might find that it is well worth the extra expense to see real results.
#4. Active PLAY time
A good friend of mine is a GP and is constantly saying that the secret to weight loss is deceptively simple: eat less and move more. The truth is that he is onto something. Even if you’re not jogging or in the gym, you can still get that heart rate up and burn calories by replacing your sedentary activities with something active.
Rather than taking the kids to the movies or playing video games, why not put the console down and enjoy a hike or nature walk? Meeting friends for coffee? Grab it to go and take a walk along the beach or lake, rather than sitting around trying unsuccessfully not to give in to the temptation of that chocolate Danish in the display counter.
#5. Stand and Deliver
It may come as a surprise to know that simply standing can help you burn significant calories by moderately elevating your heart rate. A 2013 study in the UK found that the difference in the number of calories burned by standing as compared to sitting was 0.7 calories per minute. That might not sound like much, but if you stand for 3 hours a day at work, that adds up to the equivalent of running ten marathons over the course of a year! That’s some serious power!
If you stand for 3 hours a day at work, that adds up to the equivalent of running ten marathons over the course of a year!
Click to tweetWhatever your weight loss or fitness goals, there are so many ways that you can get yourself back on the right track to healthy awesomeness. Try implementing some one of these 5 ideas and rid yourself of the workout doldrums.
from Dai Manuel: Your Lifestyle Mentor http://ift.tt/2tOpozP
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