Winter Training Motivation

Winter training motivation – How do we keep it up?

Wake up and its still dark outside…the bed feels so warm and doesn’t wont to let you go.

The intention was of heading to training this morning though it doesn’t seem like that good an idea now.

You make yourself a deal – Sleep in a little longer now and you can train at lunch time…easy fix

Gets to lunch time and you forgot that you are completely snowed under with work. You barely get to finish your lunch let alone hop off to the gym for an hour or more. Its ok though…you can put the problem onto future self again – Let’s go after work.

The desire to go to the gym and do 30 minutes on the stepper and 30 minutes doing some arm weights is not enough of a push when you are on drive home and cross the literal crossroad – gym or onto home.

This plays itself out till the end of the week and you can see yourself slowly getting out of your workout groove. You did so well the first part of the year its like every winter you lose momentum and have to start again.

Well not this winter bucko – We are going to keep up your motivation with 5 simple tips that I use with my Personal Training clients to rev them up and keep their results going.

1.Be Honest With Where You Are Now

Initially have some perspective on where you are now with your training, nutrition and lifestyle right this moment will allow everything else gell together better.

Ask yourself

• How often am I going to the gym?
• Do I prefer the morning or evening?
• Do I have any holidays or big plans coming up?
• What motivates me the best?

As a result by having a realistic look on where your training is at the moment will make the next part easier

2.Set Some Goals

Now that you have a better perspective on where you actually are at the moment lets make some goals that will help you out with a direction for this winter period. In Precision Nutrition coaching we look at goals in two ways

Outcome Goals:

These are the end parts of your a short or long-term journey e.g

• Lift 2x body weight Deadlift,
• Fit into a old dress
• Lose 5cm’s off my waist

Process Goals:

These are goals that make up the road towards your outcome goals

• make training 3 times per week,
• track your food with My Fitness Pal,
• Walk 10,000 steps per day

Write these down or tell you friends as these outcome and process goals can be designed to achieve over the winter period. Make them important to you as this will help with motivation and track so you can keep yourself accountable.

3.Follow A Program

With the knowledge of what you want to achieve and where you are at the moment its now time to set out your plan with a program. Think of a program as the way you get to a destination and without one there is a big chance we will get lost.Here is an example way to set up your program

Monday: Weights

Tuesday: Conditioning (High Intensity)

Wednesday: Weights

Thursday: Conditioning (Low Intensity)

Friday: Weights

Saturday/Sunday: Go For A Walk/ De-Stress/Relax

4.Reward Yourself

First of all your training should not be looked at as a punishment to yourself it should be perceived as a way to help improve yourself. Because when you achieve and start to work through towards your outcome goal this is a really positive thing. In addition each week as you knock off your process goals it will help to think about a reward that will increase your sense of achievement.

Therefore the reward does not have to equal food or booze as we are trying to create a positive habit loop. The reward can be making time to catch up with friends, read a book or just relax and listen to music…you time. Consequently the value we place on things and how we perceive them in our own reward system is totally up to us – use this to your advantage when rewarding yourself for staying on track.

5. Get a Workout Wingman

Most of all having a workout buddy is one of the best ways to make sure that you keep winter training motivation. Having someone to train with whether it be a buddy or Personal Trainer is one of the best options you can take. Whether it is having a set appointment (no more brushing off your session), being pushed harder than you can yourself or being able to make the experience alot more fun.

A workout buddy can tick all of these boxes in helping your winter training motivation.

FINAL THOUGHTS

To keep your winter training motivation thing a little bit more out of the box than just turning up to sessions. Sit down and really think about your intention for training this winter period. An awesome body is made by training all year round – not just training for a summer body.

When you have so much motivation for training in general it can be putting it all together that is the stumbling block for people. Having the correct education in what is important for you to push forward with your results is priceless. Time is a precious thing and you don’t want to be wasting it doing stuff that is not getting you where you want to be – less fat, more tone and stronger.

We work with clients all the time in coming up with a plan that works for them – we work out where you are now…where you want to be…then the steps to get their. I guess you we create a roadmap that can guarantee success (if you follow what we say)