6 hacks to keep you motivated this winter
Look we know Winter can be the more challenging of the seasons. It’s colder, darker, gloomier and the sofa with some Netflix and chocolate is all too appealing. Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a real thing! Which is why we have put together our top 6 hacks to keep you motivated this winter. Try one or try them all…either way we hope they help you stay on the health and fitness bandwagon to reach those goals and boost your mood until our friend Summer makes her way back to us.
1. Set a date and commit to it
Treat your exercise as you would an important date or work meeting. Pick something you are genuinely interested in, choose a convenient location, then schedule it in your dairy and stick to it. Investing time in yourself is essential for you to be effective in all other areas of life by improving your energy and mood, and giving you that can do attitude to get you through whatever comes your way at work or home. By sticking to your date, you are honouring yourself and upping your self-worth meter too!
2. Get a workout buddy
No one likes to let a friend, family member or partner down. So as important it is to commit to yourself as mentioned in the point before, it is just as important to commit to a friend and show up. It’s all about partnership – you hold them accountable and they will do the same for you. Having a common interest will also improve your relationship with them! Friends that train together, stay together.
3. Use the 5 minute rule
This little tip right here is life changing and can be used in so many different scenarios. All you need to do is start a workout or class and stay for 5 minutes. If you are still dreading it after 5 minutes, you get to stop, leave or turn back. It’s a simple as that. If you’re resisting that run, put your gear on, lace up your trainers and hit the track. We guarantee that once you get into it and are a little warmed up, you’ll stick to it! The same thing applies to a strength session at the gym. The hardest part is getting there and getting started, so push through the initial resistance for those 5 minutes.
Plus we’ve still never heard anyone say they regretted their workout or run! Let those post-workout happy endorphins flow.
4. All the gear, all the idea
Stumbling around in the dark to get out of those comfy winter trackies and into your training gear can sometimes feel harder than the actual training session itself. And look…we know there are more important things in life than what we wear, but damn some new kit feels good. So treat yo’self to some slick new winter training gear for that extra dose of motivation. It works.
5. Embrace the challenge
We like to think of Winter as a chance to up our resilience meter. As Eric Thomas says, “To get to that next level, you need to learn to get comfortable being uncomfortable”. So be it with gritted teeth, get to your workout, show up for yourself and we bet some movement will turn your frown upside down. Much like your body, your brain and thought processes need to be exercised. So be a rebel and go against the grain, go against what your brain says to teach it new habits and help you reach new levels of success in all areas of life.
6. Switch it up
They say change is as good as a holiday, so if you can’t get on a plane to Bali, try mixing up your workout routine to make things a little more exciting. Join a new class, ask your trainer for a completely new challenge, download a new fitness app or perhaps find a hot yoga studio to really heat things up.
Changing the way you workout also keeps your body guessing and fires up muscles you may have not been focusing on! It’s a win win.
We hope these little hacks get you up off the sofa and into a workout. There’s no time like now to start building healthy habits and make progress towards your goals, as they say, summer bodies are made in winter. Let us know some of your top tips!
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