Mentally Transforming your Fitness Mind

Exercise isn’t the most enjoyable thing for a lot of people and because of this , a lot of people fail to stick to a routine for more than a few weeks at a time.  Sticking to a program requires a few mental tricks to keep you moving in the right direction.

Life moves with momentum.  I use the analogy of a broken down car.  You get your buddies to give you a push and then eventually the car will start again and move forward.  It is very hard for a lot of people especially at the beginning of an exercise routine to get the momentum needed.  Objects at rest like to stay at rest.  Once you are “on track” it’s much easier to “stay on track”.

For starters you should set goals.  I am not even talking about goals such as “lose 5 pounds this week.”  Simple goals such as “I will go to the gym 3 times this week, and walk my dog 45 minutes every other day”.  Once you have accomplished these goals, you can gain momentum that will feed into more motivation and energy for the weeks to come.

When you have your mind set for a consistent workout routine then you can give yourself more serious numerical goals.  Such as “lose 4 inches off my waist by June” or “increase my bench press by 75 pounds”.  When these goals are met you will gain even more momentum.   Eventually you will see exercise as a “Habit” rather than a “Chore”.  When this happens exercising becomes 100 times “less painful. “ You will want to go to the gym rather than forcing yourself to go and you will love to eat healthy and keep up with a healthy lifestyle.

In order to stick to a workout plan people need to get something positive out of it.  Mentally preparing yourself with short term goals and achievements will give you this positivity.   By sticking to an exercise program it will boost your self-esteem because it will convince yourself you can accomplish a challenging task.  Exercise will also make you feel better about your self-image which will again feed into this positive feedback loop.

The first 6-8 weeks are similar to a probationary period and by far the most difficult.  People stop exercising because they don’t think it will ever get easier mentally.  Once a client pushes through that objective the positive feedback loop gives them all the motivation, energy and commitment needed to stick to an exercise program long term.  Your challenge is to develop goals for the next 12 weeks, and as stated earlier at about the half way point you will see a mental transformation and attitude towards fitness.

Daniel Tatro,CSCS,NSCA-CPT