Modern Health - Reigniting the passion into your fitness routine

Do you need to reignite your passion for fitness? It’s at this time of year when the cold seems to be hanging on and the skies are gray with thick clouds, rain and no sun in sight. Have you ever felt like there is a cloud hanging over your head and pulling you down?

Statistically, if you began a new fitness program at the beginning of January and didn’t set SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time) goals and you don’t have a motivated trainer and, or a workout partner to support you along the way, you may be wavering. It’s so common to fall off the fitness train at this time of year and some never get back on because they lose motivation or think they don’t have time.

Changing your Mindset

Let’s change your mindset or least tweak it a bit to get you reignited with fitness. Try painting a new perspective on fitness. Here’s what I mean. You don’t have the energy to go down and do a workout, but you do love music. Ignite that energy by putting your favourite singer or band on and dancing up a storm. You might see dancing as something you only do in a night club on a Saturday night when you are 20-years-old. But who says that has to be? Who says you can’t push the coffee table out of the way and dance for a half hour and burn off 118-207 calories? In fact, dancing is a great way to unwind, have fun and burn fat and calories. But this isn’t just about dancing, envision what activity is fun for you and just do it.

Variety is the Spice of Life

Sometimes you might need to do something different to reignite your passion, to get your brain and body thinking and moving differently. 

Variety is the spice of life. If you are having trouble getting things into gear, you might need to switch things up. One of the best ways to do this is variety. This will allow you to switch up the type of exercise you do to create some interest. For example, throughout the summer and fall I was falling back on doing a lot of weight training and focusing on working with heavier dumbbells and I hit a wall. I pulled that mindset back and switched to doing band and ball workouts and this really helped me. For the month of February, I did a band workout on Mondays and a ball workout on Wednesdays. It made my workouts fun and brought a different focus to the forefront. This simple switch up, twice a week revived my interest, focused on core stability and back strength and I started to feel so much better. My back felt stronger and more stable, the workouts energized me rather than exhausting me and they were short and sweet. 

Tasks we Fear Get Pushed Aside 

Did you know that the tasks we fear the most often get pushed aside? Do you ever look at your daybook and each day the item that you fear the most is circled and carried over to the next day? If fitness is that word staring back at you, weighing you down and tormenting you, I challenge you with a Call to Action. Do what you fear first thing in the morning. Even if you are not a morning person do it anyway. Beginning next week, challenge yourself to one week of training first thing in the morning. Take note in a journal of how you felt when you began your day with a short workout. If you noticed a change in your positivity and motivation, consider doing it for a second week.

Rethink Your Goals and Adjust them

I challenge you to think about a goal in the future, something you have been wanting to do but haven’t done it. Maybe it is walking the length of your favourite beach this summer, a new hike each weekend, or, having the energy to get down on the floor and play with your grandchildren. Whatever that goal is, decide what you need to do to make that goal a reality. Do you need to go on longer daily walks? Do you need to strengthen your legs for gardening this summer? Or, do you need to work on upper body strength for a canoe trip? Make it happen by reigniting your passion. 

Take some time to go back and look at the SMART goals you set up in January and make sure they make sense, and are aligned with your goals today. 

Today is your day, get moving!

About Kimberly Hicks-Ruttan
I’m the founder of Fit2Move - virtual fitness in your home, on your own time. I am a certified fitness instructor and personal trainer. Connect with me on Facebook where I run a FREE group called Fit Tips with Kimberly.