My Monday workouts are everything to me because Monday sets the tone of the week! Monday starts the week off with a bang and set you up with good intentions for the whole week. Skip your workout on Monday and it is easy to skip Tuesday. By the time Wednesday rolls around you think to yourself, “already missed Monday and Tuesday may as well wait until Monday!” Start eating bad, same thing, start eating bad on Monday may give you a whole week of eating poorly.
Regardless of what you do or want to do, Monday is the starting line for the week and sets the tone for how it will go. I can’t remember where I read it, but I remember someone saying that using energy creates energy. So when you expend energy during exercise that in turn creates energy, leaving you feeling fresh, invigorated, and ready to face the day. I know we’re all struggling with having to be inside all the time during this social distancing thing; it feels like the days are starting to blend into one. However, it’s more important than ever to try and get some exercise in every day, even if it’s just a brisk walk around the block. Here are my top tips for motivating yourself to work out during quarantine…
1. Do it first thing in the morning
You get it done right away and the longer the day goes on, the longer you have to talk yourself out of it, and that’s certainly what happens when I put it off and tell myself that I’ll go later. I just don’t end up going. My advice is to get up, have a cup of tea or coffee first if you like, and then get up and go.
2. Remember how good you’ll feel afterwards
Taking that first step out the door or pressing play on that workout video is always the hardest part. However, like I’ve talked about above, you just have to remind yourself how amazing you’ll feel afterwards. You’ll feel more awake, alert, energised and ready to get on with the rest of your day.
3. Save different workout videos on your phone
Some days I’ll bounce out of bed and be perfectly happy to do a 5km run and other days its feels like a struggle to get up at all. That’s why I have a number of different workouts I can choose from all bookmarked on my phone. On those days when I’m really not feeling it I do a five minute arm workout video, which seems a lot more manageable when I’m trying to get myself up. Although trust me, you can still sweat in five minutes! If you want to do more then you can just do it twice, right?
4. Have a good podcast series on the go
I’m pretty new to podcasts and I’m even newer to having them as an accompaniment to running. What I’ve found, though, is that they take your mind of what you’re actually doing even more so than music.
