Exercise - How to Get Yourself Motivated

How To Get Yourself Motivated

How much you get out of an exercise session has a lot to do with how much you enjoy doing it. Here are some suggestions that might make working out more fun for you.

Get a friend to go along. Working out together and keeping track of each other's progress can motivate you. Set up an exercise schedule, and reward yourselves for each week that you managed to stick to it.

Get some special exercise clothes. They don't have to be the expensive trendy kind, just an outfit that you're comfortable wearing. Don't even think about putting it on unless you're going to be working out.

If your workout involves running, biking, blading or walking, go somewhere fun, like a park or a friend's house.

Put off doing something you want to do (writing email, calling friends, eating, watching TV) until you've exercised.

Set goals for yourself. It's fun to keep track of your progress, and you'll have more to record if you keep each goal just slightly tougher than what you've been able to do already. Big goals, however, can be discouraging, and if they involve pushing yourself much harder than usual, they can be dangerous.

Choosing a Goal

There are four types of goals you can choose from:

Distance goals--You can challenge yourself to go further than you've gone before.

Speed goals--You can see if you can move faster than before.

Endurance goals--You can see if you can last longer and spend more time in motion.

Repetition goals--You can challenge yourself to repeat an exercise more than you have before. For example, try for 40 sit-ups if you've been doing 30.

Life In Motion: Get Your Body Involved

The kind of exercise you get from sports and athletics is just one type of movement that's important to the way you grow, look and feel. The other is movement you work into your daily life by walking instead of taking car rides, climbing stairs instead of riding the elevator, and generally using your body instead of relying on vehicles and appliances to transport you and take care of certain tasks. Not that you should revert to the Stone Age: There will always be times when it won't make sense to try to get somewhere without a ride. But there will also be plenty of times when you won't be sacrificing anything, and in fact would be gaining a great deal, by getting more movement into your life. The greatest benefit is that you will stay in good shape. Your body will get better with use, so the more you use it each day, the more it improves.

And another thing: You will want to stay in shape! As you depend more and more on your body, you'll realize that it works and feels best when its rested, well-nourished and exercised.


Fitness Is for Everyone!

If you have a disabling condition or disease of any kind, you need exercise just as much as anyone else. Regardless of your problem, you can benefit from regular workouts. Almost every day, people who have suffered paralysis, undergone an amputation or been diagnosed with chronic disease break through athletic barriers, proving to others who share their condition that their problem is not necessarily an obstacle to general fitness.

How much of what kind of activity you should take up depends on your particular condition and the kind of medication you may be taking for it. Your health-care provider should be in on any decision about starting an exercise program, and should provide guidance and encouragement. If she warns you against exercise, see if another provider will offer you different advice.

Be Confident
Some people let self-consciousness keep them from working out. They think that their physical difference makes them look or act funny, and that others will stare and laugh at them. Although there are always insensitive people who might behave that way, they are relatively few compared with the many who admire anyone who is willing to work at fitness. Keep in mind that the kinds of people who make fun are the ones with the real disabilities. Self-consciousness can also be a problem if you have to ask others for help while you are preparing to exercise--if you need assistance getting into the pool, for example, or getting in and out of the shower.

Surprise Symptoms
Another obstacle for some people is unpredictable symptoms. With some diseases, you never know when they might flare up. If you have diabetes, epilepsy or asthma, you may have to deal with this. If you have one of these conditions and you're involved in a team sport, make sure that your coach and at least one teammate know how to recognize your symptoms and understand what to do to help you if they flare up . You might feel weird about bringing it up, but you will feel even worse if something happens and you have left them unprepared. Always have your inhaler or other medication available if you need it. If you tell people about your condition with confidence, that lets them know you are not frightened or humiliated, and they won't be scared or embarrassed, either.

It takes practice, patience and familiarity with your body to get control of a chronic illness. You can help yourself by cooperating with your health-care provider, taking the appropriate medications in the proper amounts and the right times, and keeping your body as fit as you're able to with an exercise program you truly enjoy.

Problem Parents
Parents of kids with disabilities or chronic diseases often react in one of two ways: They become overprotective and warn you not to move a muscle, because they're scared of the risks they see in sports; or they pretend there's no problem and push you into every conceivable form of athletics just to prove that their kid is "OK."

Unless they've discussed it with your health-care provider, and he has agreed that you're too timid about exercise, your parents are not qualified to make those decisions for you. Only you and your health-care provider can determine what and how much you can and should be doing.

It is important for you as well as your family to remember that, just because people with physical disabilities are participating in marathons, mountain-climbing expeditions and other challenging athletic adventures, it doesn't mean that you have to push yourself to similar extremes. Just because you can do it, in other words, doesn't mean you have to do it. There is no reason why an exercise program should be any more demanding on you than on others who don't have that extra challenge.