Getting fit can be difficult. If you’re unfit, whether it’s down to the fact that you’ve been unfit for a while or if you’re just coming back from injury, it can be very hard to get yourself back into fitness. Getting back into the routine can be a difficult task within itself so we’ve put together a list of things that will help you get back on track with your fitness.
1. Getting plenty of exercise.
This can seem like a very obvious choice at first but, if you think about it, getting the right amount of exercise can be quite difficult, especially if you’re attempting to get fit for the first time in a while, it can be a daunting task that is easy to ignore.
On the whole, it’s recommended that the average adult needs to get roughly around 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week. If you lead a busy life, getting time to go and train can be tricky, but it’s always worth it in the end. Although it’s better if you spread it as evenly as you can (21 mins a day roughly!) you could, in fact, do two stints of 75 minutes of moderate activity per week. Suddenly this figure becomes a lot more manageable and you find that you can fit it in your packed week!
Alternatively, if you prefer your training to be more incense, you can always try to do 75 minutes of intense training per week. This roughly equates to the same amount of progress made!
You also need to try and fit in 2 strength building session in a week as well! Although, like the others, it’s best that you spread them out evenly for the best results, you can fit them in at the weekend!
2. Doing something that you love
Keep it interesting! If you find running the same streets every day boring, or you really hate the static bikes at the gym, try and mix it up a little. It’s much easier to motivate us to partake in activities that we love to do rather than those that we view as something we have to do. You may be worried that the workout that you’re currently doing, or the sport that you’re taking part in, isn’t quite doing it for you. In that case, try something new each week until you find something that sparks an interest. This will also help your overall fitness as, likelihood is, if you’re doing something completely different each week, you’ll be giving different parts of your body a workout.
3. Lead an active life
As we mentioned earlier, it can be hard to get your exercise in if you’re living a busy life. In this case, it’s best to try and keep in motion throughout the day as much as possible. There can be serious health problems with being sat down at a desk for hours on end on top of the fact that it’s not doing your stamina much good.
To combat this, try and stay moving. Even if it’s just little things during the day, this can really do you a lot of good if you need to be at your desk throughout the working day. Making small lifestyle changes like walking to work and taking time out of your day to go for a run, can really make all the difference in regards to this too. A way of tracking your progress throughout the day, if you’re concerned that you might not be doing well with being active daily, is to wear a pedometer. When you’re wearing one of these, try to aim for about 10,000 steps a day. This may be hard at first, but it will make a difference!
4. Involve others
Sometimes, self motivation in training can be what’s really holding you back when you’re attempting to get back into routine. Whether you’re finding other things that suddenly need doing or just deciding that your sofa is just far too comfy to be moving right now, getting someone else on board can really help motivate you to actually go and do some exercise. Even if it’s the dog, taking someone who will happily partake in some exercise can really push you to work just that little bit harder that will help you in the long run.
Overall, go out and push yourself. It won’t be easy, but you’ll begin to feel much better for the exercise and you might just find something that you enjoy doing along the way!
