1. Exercise Every Monday

The body thrives on routine.  In fact, if you continuously exercise on any specific day of the week, a psychological and physiological pattern will be developed. The psychological part is pretty neat, in that you will be more motivated and willing to get up, as it is part of your routine.  Though the real kicker comes from the physiological habit being formed. The body will actually start producing more energy so that you can workout on that day.  You may notice if you ever miss working out that day for some reason an immense amount of pent up energy.

 

2. Never Go More Than One Day Without Working Out

Rest days are fine, and in some cases more beneficial than not.  However, you should never allow yourself to go more than one day without exercise.  This is to prevent you from falling into the deadly grasps of indolence.  It is the same mentality that comes with cigarettes or alcohol, “once you have one what is the harm of one more?” Do not allow yourself to fall victim to such thoughts. Stay adamant in your resolve, and workout out every other day at least no matter how inconvenient it gets.

 

3. Do It First Thing When Waking Up

Here are three reasons to do it first thing in the morning.

• It sets the pace for the rest of the day
• It stimulates metabolism, exciting weight loss.
• It is easiest to get your exercise routine checked of the list first thing.

 

4. Don’t Kid Yourself

Be realistic about your goals.  Even though Beyonce lost 60 pounds in 4 months, you will probably want a goal a little easier than that.  It is possible to burn an extra 2,000 calories a day, but that requires hours on a treadmill and diet specifically limited to salads.  So instead of trying to copy the methods of a super star, who has unlimited resources, private chefs, and presonal trainers.  Why don’t you aim for say 1,000 calories a day.  That is still 30 pounds in 4 months. Whatever your goal is, make it something that you know you can see through, and then stick to it.

 

5. Make it Part of Your Preparation

This is a great tip that helps me to stay motivated.  I try to imagine what I am training for.  And for me that is easy, I want to look good with my shirt off.  You can never be too sure when someone is going to need you to take of your shirt.  Though, if you are into sports, athletic activities or if you have a special event coming up, think about that. Just imagine your workouts as part of the preparation.  Try to visualize the reward.

 

6. Aim For Better, Not Perfect

No body is perfect, so quite beating yourself up about it. Never let perfection get in the way of getting better.  Do not for one second think that it is not worth it if you cannot run for 3 miles.  The whole point of exercise is becoming a better ‘you’, so do what ‘you’ can do.

 

7. Make it Affordable

This is a good tip because it helps to keep people grounded and down to earth about their exercise routines.  There is no need to invest hundreds of dollars into a ‘total gym’ or a ‘state of the art treadmill’. Not to say that those things will not make it easier to exercise, because they certainly will.  Just, they are not really necessary. In an earlier post about INSANITY we talked about a workout routine that was all  based on body weight resistance. Point is, you do not need special equipment or even a gym membership to start exercising.