Getting Motivated to Exercise

What stage of exercise motivation are you in?

We know that exercise can transform our lives by improving every part of our physical and mental health.  More active people feel better, sleep better, have more energy, are leaner and fall less often so why aren't we all exercising every day? The answer that our 50+ personal training clients give is MOTIVATION.  Improving your motivation to exercise is a complicated challenge without a quick fix.  I will explore exercise and motivation over the next couple of blogs based on scientific research in the area and 14 years of running a personal training business for people over 50.

For a new exercise program to work in the long term to need to ensure that you are motivated to stick with it.  In the book “Motivating people to be physically active” (Marcus and Forsyth) the stages of motivational readiness for change are outlined:

If you are in stages 1-2 take time to:

• Increase your knowledge about the benefits of exercise in your life
• Understand the risks to your health of staying sedentary
• Pay attention to your everyday habits and look for opportunities to become more active

If you are in stages 3-5 think about:

• Use exercise to manage stressors in your life instead of numbing them with food or alcohol
• Find support for your new exercise habits with a personal trainer or friend. (Vintage Fitness does in home personal training for people over 50 in Toronto and our number is 416-951-7978)
• Reward yourself for being active
• Plan for barriers such as weather, travel and injury- how can you modify your exercise plan?
• Commit and prioritize exercise in your life

Good Luck!

Erin

Vintage Fitness

Click to Call    416-951-7978

Vintage Fitness is an in home personal training company in Toronto, Canada.  We specialize in energizing the lives of people over 50 with exercise.