Mikey Meechan is a gym instructor with Edinburgh Leisure. Knowing that it is easy to start a fitness campaign but hard to keep it going he shared some tips with us. We hope they help.
How to stick to your fitness goals
It’s easy to talk yourself out of activity. The number of excuses are endless. It’s too cold, I’ve lost my card or this sofa is much more inviting.
Here’s a few tips from Mikey Meechan, Gym Instructor at the Royal Commonwealth Pool on how you can stick to your fitness goals even after the month is well underway.
Be realistic and don’t run before you can walk – Build up gradually with bouts / intervals of intensity and rest. Get a feel from your first few sessions then gauge what can be increased or maintained. Initially, set yourself small goals such as weekly targets, before progressing on to monthly goals. Or sign up to an event or a challenge and set a realistic training programme to work towards.
Do it for you. It is you who will get the results and the health and mental benefits of physical activity.
Variety is the spice of life – Take part in different activities like swim, aerobics / circuit class, Yoga / Pilates, weights class or an indoor cycle class. This will help work different muscles in different ways, and stave off boredom caused from doing the same thing each week.
Save the date. Diary your exercise to know when you plan to be active and keep to it as you would other appointments – make this your time.
Buddy up and make it social – Share the experience with a friend, member of family or colleague. This creates an accountability to you as well as your training partner. Exercising in groups can also be more inspiring and motivating as well as social.
Use an app, exercise tracker such as MyZone or diary to monitor. Recording what you have done can motivate you especially when you see the improvements in the number of repetitions, distance travelled or how close you are to achieving the World Health Organization’s guide for physical activity (150mins of moderate intensity or 75 mins of high intensity per week).
Don’t be afraid to ask for help – Ask gym staff to help you plan a programme, to support you on a 1-1 basis.
Reward and review – When you reach your initial goal, set yourself a new challenge by reviewing your programme with one of the helpful gym staff. Change is good and will ensure you still to your goals.
