5 Strategies to Get Back Into the Fitness Habit

If you’ve been wondering how to kick-start your fitness regime but the thought of a treadmill or cross-trainer makes you want to dive back under the duvet, then don’t panic. When you look at fitness as being a lifestyle choice rather than a part-time hobby or 30-day challenge, your mindset changes and you start to develop behaviours that will improve many areas of your life.

1. Don’t change too quickly. Better to make small, incremental changes to your routine and gradually build up by choosing a couple of new healthy habits and practising them daily, such as drinking more water or getting an extra hour’s sleep.

2. find something you love doing. Consistency is key if you want to get fit. This means you need to find activities you love doing so you return to them again and again. If you love socialising with others, think about trying a team sport or doing a group fitness class like Zumba. If you’re working out for the mental health benefits, try activities that will help you relax, such as yoga or Pilates.

3. Move every day. You have more than 600 muscles in your body that need to be worked on a regular basis to stay functional. By moving, you are strengthening your muscles, which improves stability, balance, and coordination. That doesn’t mean a 5k run every day or bench-pressing your own body weight. Simple movements like a short walk around the block or 15 minutes of stretching exercises will do the trick.

4. Get outside more. With the approach of summer, there’s no excuse for staying indoors. It’s always more pleasant to exercise in the fresh air plus being out in nature has brilliant health, fitness and mind-boosting benefits.

5. Focus on the psychological benefits too. Concentrate on how you feel rather than how you look. This might mean being less out of breath when you climb stairs, sleeping better, or being more alert. Fitness is not always only about building muscle tone. Your age or current level of fitness doesn’t even come into it, because you’ll find that even small changes can deliver big results.

Getting fit need not involve gut-busting, no-pain-no-gain routines. Follow these simple steps and they will help ease you into a healthier lifestyle.

By Helen Say, a freelance copywriter www.cblservices.co.uk