What’s My Motivation?
Fitness | Karla Mercado | March 31, 2010 at 8:00 am
Photo by Ed Yourdon.
If you asked me to name the biggest challenge to living a healthy and balanced life I’d say it’s exercising regularly. At least, I would have said that before. I’ve just realized that when I get motivated, I can do anything!
Of course, motivation is different for everyone. My friend started working out regularly when she realized that she wanted to check off “bikini competition” from her bucket list! Another friend of mine hired a trainer when she almost ran out of breath hiking in a beginner’s trail one weekend. For me, running and intense yoga always leave me feeling energetic and healthy. It makes me feel so good, I call it my emotional upper! That’s my motivation.
The psychology of exercise is universal and you can always find a motivating factor. In the February 2006 issue of the IDEA Fitness Journal, they listed a few:
- Improve health. For lots of people, simply being healthy is enough reason to get up, be active and stay active–not to lose weight or look good but to maintain overall health.
- Competition. According to the article, men are most motivated when there is competition involved. Guys, you should try activities that involve challenging other people, or even just yourself and your personal limits. Marathons, martial arts, rock climbing, or boxing are just a few. Hire a trainer if you can, or work out with someone who pushes you to go the extra mile.
- Flexibility. Women, listen up: most of female participants in the survey said that they are most motivated doing exercises that involve balance and flexibility. Obviously, yoga was a favorite. Yoga satisfies because it targets everything that needs attention: body, mind and spirit. And ladies, you know how great we are at multi-tasking!
- The social factor. The support coming from family, friends and mentors is very valuable. Human beings are first and foremost social beings. They function well with other people around and they function best with moral support.
Keep in mind that just 10 minutes of moderate to intense physical activity elevates one’s energy levels, and 30 minutes elevates happiness so to achieve long term motivating effects, take short but high intensity work outs. Also, those who squeeze in walking 5 to 7 times a week with moderate intensity are more likely to stick with their current exercise programs (and I’m a big believer in walking).
Have you found your motivation? Then let’s get physical!
Karla Mercado lives in New Mexico and is the author of Balancing Tenderfoot. She is passionate about human medicine, nutrition, and writing.
Tags: brain, exercise
One big motivating factor for me when I started strength training was my logbook. I recorded every work out; time spent, order of exercises, number of repetitions, how much weight I used etc.
This allowed me to track progress, and it ended up being hugely rewarding to check from the logbook that a week ago I did 10 reps with 60kg weight, and this week I managed to push for 11… Having something tangible that proves you’re progressing gives tons of motivation to keep doing it!
//sami
What you said is very, very true, Sami. I couldn’t have said it better: “Having something tangible that proves you’re progressing gives tons of motivation to keep doing it!” Well said.
I’m with ya Sam. When it’s lifting weights, meditation, yoga, breathing exercises or all of the above I often end up with a spreadsheet with a million checks, numbers, symbols, colors and notes.
It’s a nice pat on the back to see the page get darker and the numbers get higher as I fill everything in month after month.
Devin
I agree. I just started logging all types of physical activity I engage in daily on http://www.strands.com, you guys might want to use it too, it’s pretty neat.
I think that the social factor is vary important. i know that a part of my lack of motivation is that i don’t have a social context for exercise. the competition component is interesting thing to think about.
Hey Zad! Glad to see you here. Thanks for the shout out! You’re right, it took me a while to realize that working out with family or friends, or even just random people around, is a real booster. Individuals really function better with other people, and the social factor in exercise is definitely a must.
hope you’re enjoying school!
I have a 22 month old but am finding it hard to be motivated to get on the eliptical.. Any ideas?
Hi Mel! Nice to see you here. What are the things that you enjoy doing that you think you can also do while running the elliptical? I for one, watch tv and listen to music, and the entertainment factor does not only boost my energy, but it also keeps my mind off of the difficulty or monotony of the exercise! Having a 22-month old is a great thing too, and you can get some exercise by just playing with your child! It’s all about incorporating the things that you already enjoy to the work out routine. Good luck and tell me how it goes!
I try to workout when shes asleep in the morning. We live in oregon so the weather isnt good out yet. No tv in the basement.. just an ipod. I suppose a tv and a mount is in order? I am trying to get motivated to even get down to the basement. Its hard when your time is limited.
I would love to breakout the stroller but she doesnt sit still.. and walking with her is slooooooooooow. I try to use her as my resistance and weights as much as she will let me. LOL.