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Spring into Sports
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This spring is a great time to revitalise your fitness schedule and get back on track after months of winter hibernation.
Try these tips to boost your motivation as the days get longer...
1. Test yourself
Go into your local gym for a fitness test - whether you’re a gym-goer or not. Find out about your body fat percentage, your lean muscle mass and your vital statistics like heart rate and blood pressure. Then book yourself in for another test in two months' time. The idea of improving those numbers will help to get you moving on even the coldest days. The other great motivator is that - unlike the scales - these measurements will really show if you have been working hard. Even if your scales refuse to move, you could find that the quantifiable differences in your health are inspirational.
2. Burn it up
Use your computer to create a fantastic playlist of all your most beloved tunes. They’ll keep you moving when times get tough - studies have shown that you’ll pedal longer and with more intensely on a stationery bike when you’re listening to your favourite music. Pick tunes with a strong beat, an adrenaline-boosting chorus and uplifting lyrics. Avoid those drum-and-bass tracks which are relentless in rhythm, since they don’t give you any break or crescendo - vital for an enjoyable workout. Experiment with your favourites, and don’t be afraid to go cheesy. It’s impossible not to move to some of those 1970s disco classics.
 3. Plan ahead
Increase your chances of working out by a whopping 40 percent! That’s the big claim about strategy from exercise scientist Dr Rod Dishman. His advice for creating strategies for fitness: Plan your month’s workouts in advance. Book them into your calendar or write a specific programme and stick it somewhere prominent. Have a ‘plan A’ and a ‘plan B’ for each workout. Plan A is the ideal workout - the run in the sunshine, the swim at the local beach. Plan B is the contingency - the one-off indoor gym workout, the at-home workout DVD or the skipping-rope in the driveway.
Organise a back-up for each time you miss a session because of a last-minute work or family commitment. This could be a lunchtime walk or an extra weekend session with the weights. By having a bag of sports gear at work and/or in the car, you can be ready for anything. You’re about 40 percent more likely to work out if you have strategies to help you overcome these obstacles.
Article reproduced courtesy of DASH magazine, click here to check out their website and find out more about the mag
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