Here are my top four tips for exercise success.
1. Make sure you have a good plan to follow! If you have a plan you are much more likely to stick to it and sticking to it is when the results will come. The best way to go would be to have a training program written up for you, by someone who knows what they are doing. Take the pressure off of yourself and get a professional to do all of the thinking for you. A good program, will plan out your exercises, how many reps / sets to do on each exercise and what days you will be doing them. That way you can just get in and get the work done. Alternatively, you can create a simple plan for yourself, decide what days you can dedicate to exercise and get into the gym and join some group sessions.
2. Have someone hold you accountable! It is much easier to skip a workout if there is no one holding you accountable to your plan. You could hire yourself a Personal Trainer whose sole job is to make sure you are exercising regularly and working towards your goals. Or you could join a Group Training Program, where the team of trainers check in on you when you skip your sessions. Lastly, you can find yourself a workout buddy who will train with you. That way when one of you starts coming up with excuses you can hold each other accountable.
3. Educate yourself about nutrition and adopt good habits! If you don’t have your nutrition in check, you are going to make it that much harder to get results. The best way to get long lasting results is to get educated about nutrition. Too often I see people jumping from diet to diet with no understanding of the basic principles of nutrition and eating for weight loss. Book yourself in and go see a Nutritionist, speak to a professional who can help you get to where you want to go. Another great tool, is to download an app that helps you track your daily caloric intake. Getting an idea on how many calories are in certain food types will help you make better food choices. Lastly, read quality sources of information around nutrition. A great place to start is to Google the Australian Dietary Guidelines. There is plenty of practical useful information in there that will educate you on the topic.
4. Make use of technology! There are so many great pieces of technology now that you can use to keep you accountable with your exercise or just make your training more enjoyable. There are apps where you can connect with friends to monitor your runs or cycles. You could buy one of the endless types watches that give you daily exercise goals or track your movement for the day keeping you accountable. As well as many heart rate monitors which track your intensity during your workouts and motivate you to push that little bit harder. If you aren’t making use of these technologies you are missing out.
Whatever your goals are the key is consistency, exercise and eat well more days than you don’t and I guarantee you the results will come. If you have an “off” day don’t sweat it, just get straight back on track the next day and you will be fine. Reach out if you need any help with nutrition or training adam@repetitionspt.com.au
Adam Simpson is lead trainer and founder at Repetitions Group fitness and Personal Training. Visit: www.repetitionspt.com.au
