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5 top tips for keeping on track with fitness
4th May 2017
Staying dedicated and committed to a fitness routine is no easy task. On an early morning or a weekend, working out is often the last thing anyone wants to do. However, our job at MPCT is to motivate our learners to keep on track and reach their ultimate fitness goals. To help, we’ve put together our top 5 tips for goal setting, and easy ways to keep on track of your fitness.
- Have a goal and make it SMART
Having a goal that’s unrealistic can be detrimental to any fitness plan. It can be incredibly disheartening to put so much work into something, yet you don’t get any closer to where you want to be, which can often make you feel unmotivated. In order to avoid striving for the impossible, have a goal and make it SMART.
S – Specific – Having just one goal at a time can make it easier to keep on track.
M – Measurable – Tracking your improvements along the way can be a huge motivation booster. Whether it’s measuring your running time, or what weight you can lift, any advancement you can see being made will make you want to keep going.
A – Achievable – It’s important to have a target that’s not too far out of your way, but at the same time, not too easy so you’ll get bored. Remember, you can always make a new goal once you’ve reached one, so take it in achievable steps.
R – Realistic – You know your body and what it can do. Make your personal challenge hard, but not unrealistic.
T – Time-Bound – Set a time that you want to reach your goal in. It could be weeks, months or even years, but having an end in sight is hugely beneficial.
- Get into a routine
If you make fitness part of your daily routine, it will soon become habit. Fit it around your life and you also won’t feel that you have to sacrifice anything in order to get fit.
Here’s 5 simple exercises that you can add to your daily routine.
- Try and make it social
Training with friends can really help: it makes fitness training more enjoyable and makes you work harder due to natural competitiveness.
If none of your friends have the same fitness goals as you, you can always join fitness classes at your local gym. They offer a wide range of classes so you can find something that fits what you want to achieve.
- Reward yourself when you hit a target
It’s important to reward yourself when you achieve something great.
If you’ve just made a new personal best, why not buy those trainers you’ve been looking at for ages? Or if you haven’t missed one workout since you started your plan, then treat yourself to a night off.
These can be small rewards, but something that will make the hard work worth it.
- Educate yourself
It’s important to understand the body and how it works before setting a goal – you don’t want to put hard work in if it’s not going to pay off.
If you want a stronger core, then research the best exercises to achieve this. If you want to improve your stamina, then learn how to do so.
Likewise, it’s important to understand what foods are best for fitness – as what you eat can have a huge impact on how you perform. Check out our 5 top nutrition tips for healthy lifestyles.