So I've been think about doing this for a while now and I've only finally got around to it. I'm basically just going to go through my best gym and fitness tips, it won't be long until Summer is here and so I think its always best to start early. Plus I'm always interested in how other people stay fit and motivated:)
1. Find a routine that suits you!
My friends absolutely love the treadmill at the gym, however me on the other hand, I hate it, with a passion! I absolutely loathe running and I would never be able to sustain going to the gym and going on the treadmill regularly. So instead I focus most of my time on the cross trainer and usually finish with 15 minutes on the bike. I think its really important to find out what you enjoy, or trust me, you'll never make it to the gym regularly!
2. Mix it up, or you'll get bored!
I tend to stick to the same routine when I am doing cardio, however I only do cardio twice a week at most, a couple of other days a week I do either pilates or power yoga. I'm really lucky that my gym offers exercise classes free but if your gym doesn't then I would really suggest finding a gym with maybe a pool attached to it so you could possibly go swimming sometimes, etc. If you just go to the gym and go on the machines all the time, its going to get monotonous and if you're anything like me, you'll be bored silly in no time. bored = unmotivated
3. Distract yourself!
This may sound like a strange one but I really don't understand how people can go to the gym and not listen to music or watch the TVs there. I always take my iPhone and listen to some upbeat music, I find that I end up doing my workout in time to the beat of the song I'm listening to and trust me its so much easier. I also love watching the TVs at the gym with subtitles; music + tv = double distraction!
My favourite workout song has to be 'Sleaze (feat. Mistajam) by Knife Party' not my usual type of music but boy does that song get me moving aha! If you don't like listening to music then maybe try make virtual lists in your head, plan out your blog posts for the next week or something, the time will go so much faster.
4. Don't watch other people!
Not as in staring at other people (although don't do that aha) but as in try not to glance over at other people. They may be going twice as fast as you but that doesn't matter, concentrate on yourself because chances are they may be making it look easy but they'll probably be dying inside. Just ignore everything around you!
5. Pace yourself!
Following on from last tip, don't try and do everything at once. If you go to the gym for your first time and do a high resistance at a high speed, you honestly won't last long and plus you'll make it really unenjoyable for yourself. I suggest starting at a low resistance and then every 5 mins, turn the resistance up a little and so on. You'll find that you can workout for much longer and you'll feel so much better at the end of it.
6. Set yourself a goal!
I want to put emphasis on the 'a goal', I wouldn't advise setting more than a couple of goals purely because if you spread yourself over too many goals then because you are focusing on lots of goals you'll feel like your not getting anywhere whereas if you set one/two goal(s) you can put all your attention and focus into that. When you achieve the goal it'll be more motivating and you can make a next goal. For me personally my goal is to get a six pack (a nice womans six-pack aha) and so I do a mixture of cardio to get rid of fat and pilates (sometimes kickboxing) to harden the core. Of course there are other areas I want to focus on but once I've achieved this, I can get throw all my energy into my next goal.
AND FINALLY... Don't give up!!
I know how easy it is just to give up but those are just bad days, you are never going to feel great about the gym everytime you go, there'll be really bad days, bad days and good days. At least if you've attempted the gym on your bad days you'll feel ten times better than if you just didn't bother!
(If you haven't joined a gym, then I would highly recommend getting Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred if you want to tone up, its a beast but if you want a proper workout at home then this is it)
I hope this post wasn't too long and rambly and that you enjoyed it. Obviously these are just my personal opinions and things that have helped me get up off my backside and go to the gym, I'm definitely no fitness expert so please keep that in mind. Let me know if you'd like any other fitness style posts!!
