Obstacles are inevitable when embarking on any fitness journey, whether they’re personal or body related. Luckily, most are short-lived and can easily be overcome with the appropriate mindset.
This article will outline some of the more commonly encountered obstacles and offer tools that will enable you to progress on your fitness journey.
1. Get a Support System
As part of your fitness journey, having an accountability partner and motivation source is critical to reaching your fitness goals. A support system could include friends, family members, fitness coaches or groups of like-minded people working towards similar goals. A support network can keep you accountable and provide motivation when needed most.
Forming a support network can also add an element of fun and motivation to your health and fitness journey. Working out alongside someone gives you a reason to get up from bed and hit the gym; plus it provides an opportunity to socialize and meet new people!
One of the biggest hurdles on your fitness journey may be lack of support from others, making it hard to stay motivated when family and friends don’t understand or embrace your healthy lifestyle choices. If this is an issue for you, try being more open with them about why these changes matter to you – this might help them understand that these lifestyle choices will continue on into the future.
if your family or friends don’t support your health and fitness goals, it may be time to find new people to share your time with. Reaching out to other local fitness enthusiasts could lead to the creation of a group that meets regularly for workouts; or consider joining an online fitness community where like-minded people are working towards similar health and fitness goals as you. Within these groups you may gain inspiration, motivation, accountability from like-minded fitness enthusiasts as well as tips from fellow members that have overcome similar hurdles along their own fitness journeys.
2. Make Exercise a Priority
Exercise can be an enormous commitment and difficult to keep up with, making it hard to stick with over time. To overcome this hurdle, make it a top priority – schedule workouts in your calendar just like any doctor’s appointment and ensure they will take place no matter what else may come up! Exercise is essential to your health and can even prevent disease – be it walking, morning yoga class or working out with friends – do it now!
Unachievable goals may also become challenging when your routine becomes predictable and mundane, so switching up workouts or trying different exercise programs may help to break up the monotony and keep you on track with your fitness plan. Switching things up will keep you engaged with exercise while staying on track with your journey to better health.
If you’re struggling to prioritize exercise, it may be worthwhile finding an accountability partner. Try working out with friends, joining group fitness classes or trying an online workout program; having fitness buddies will motivate and make exercise more fun, while setting a goal will allow you to track progress over time.
Be confident and don’t allow setbacks to derail you. Everyone experiences bad days; each new day provides another chance for renewal.
Exercise should benefit not just your body but also your mind and spirit. Making time to treat your body well will not only enhance its physical strength and health benefits but will make you feel more confident, positive and alive – make the smart choice to live a long, healthy and active life!
3. Make Exercise a Fun Activity
As a beginner or veteran on their fitness journey, it can be easy to convince oneself that exercise is tedious or too difficult for them. They might fear people laughing at them or they won’t be able to keep up – these negative feelings are completely normal – however you can combat these fears by making your workouts fun!
Add variety to your workouts by trying something different and breaking away from routine. Listening to upbeat music may help motivate, exercising with friends can provide extra motivation, or selecting exercises which present challenges without becoming boring can all keep the motivation up and prevent the drop-off in fitness journey.
Your body needs rest and recovery time after every exercise session; taking one day off per week allows your muscles to do just that. On those non-workout days, try getting some movement in by taking the stairs instead of an elevator, walking for 30 minutes or stretching with yoga or stretching exercises.
Don’t forget to celebrate your success! Celebrating is a great way to build up confidence and stay on the right track for fitness journey. Reward yourself with something small such as new sneakers or go big by booking yourself into a massage/pedi/pedicure once reaching certain milestones such as meeting your monthly exercise goal or hitting certain goals for fitness journey. Rewarding yourself will keep your motivation high!
4. Make Exercise a Part of Your Schedule
No matter the source of your fitness difficulties, they can be overcome with concerted effort to include exercise into your schedule. Even small changes like walking on lunch break or adding 15 minutes of stretching after work will eventually yield results and make exercising part of your routine – and once this becomes part of your life, continuing is easier.
Finding time for exercise can be a struggle when your days become overwhelming with meetings, after-school activities for your kids and chores. Make a promise to yourself that you will set aside a specific amount of time each day for exercise; set a reminder on your phone or use a fitness app as needed to stay on track.
One of the primary obstacles to exercise is boredom. To combat this, try listening to lively music or recruiting a friend or family member as workout partners. Also try signing up for yoga or Zumba classes to make workouts fun and interesting!
If work or other commitments have kept you from meeting your fitness goals, hiring a personal fitness coach might be beneficial in keeping on track and maximising exercise time. They will create an individualized plan to get back on track and maximize exercise time while providing support and accountability in keeping with health and fitness goals.
5. Make Exercise a Part of Your Life
As soon as exercise becomes part of your everyday life, it becomes much simpler to stick to a fitness regime. While setbacks may tempt us to give up altogether, remembering why we started can keep your motivation alive while providing accountability can ensure a successful journey.
You may become tired of your exercise routine and require something new or joining a fitness class to shake things up and challenge yourself further. To do this, switch up your workouts or join one of these social groups, providing socialization while exercising while challenging yourself further to improve performance.
Setting yourself a regular schedule can also be very helpful in developing habits that will be hard to break. Planning and scheduling exercise sessions is a good way of helping you meet your fitness goals more successfully, plus using fitness apps such as Fitbit can keep track of progress and motivate.
Avoid competing against others when embarking on fitness journeys. While competition might motivate some individuals, for others it can be discouraging and lead to them giving up before any results have been seen. Instead, focus on celebrating individual success and celebrating small wins along your fitness journey; doing this will build your confidence and help ensure a more productive journey forward.
