How To Stay Motivated To Workout

This is quarantine time and the best time for you to build those muscles. But despite this many get demotivated to work out after a few days. And during regular time, we complain that we don’t get enough time to exercise or work out. So why is it so hard to stay motivated to work out? regularly. One of the many reasons can be not being able to find immediate gains.

This is one of the main reasons for people to give up their fitness plans. We all know that there are many benefits to working out. But very few know that giving up our workout routine in the middle can have negative effects on our body which are worse than not working out.

In simple terms dropping a workout in the middle can be worse than not working out at all. When you stop exercising, many physiological changes occur. You begin to lose the cardiovascular gains you’ve made, such as your heart’s ability to pump blood more efficiently, your body’s improved capability to use carbohydrates for fuel, and your muscles’ enhanced capacity to process oxygen. So if you have started working out (which is very good), then keep up the good work and never give up. This can be easy to say but quite difficult to follow. So ‘How To Stay Motivated To Workout’?.

Here are a few tips that could help you out-

#1-Get Inspired

Getting inspired by someone or something to work out is very important. This is the very reason that many start to work out. This is where you set your goals i.e whether to cut or bulk or build muscles etc. It is a crucial step because you should have good inspiration for a headstart. At the same time, you should keep your inspiration consistent throughout your workout routine. Whenever you feel like giving up you should look back at what inspired you and the reason why you started it in the first place.

#2-Dealing with Post Workout Muscle Soreness and Cramps

This is another one of the main reasons that many people give up their fitness routine. It’s true that post-workout cramps can be painful and major de-motivators for our fitness routine. But as they say ‘no pain no gain’.If it were easy everyone would do it, and what’s fun in that. So here are a few effective ways to deal with your post-workout muscle soreness-

a)Coldwater shower-There are several benefits of a cold water shower. It can increase circulation, give you glowing skin and hair, boost weight loss, wake you up, and nonetheless reduce your muscle soreness.

b)Stay Hydrated- Consuming fluids and electrolytes to avoid dehydration will prevent, or at least delay, muscle cramps.

c)Try Heat or Ice to relieve the pain-Ice can reduce the swelling and pain-causing tension. However, heat can also minimize tension and pain signals. So you can try any one of these two depending upon your comfort.

D)Have enough Proteins-As we know that proteins are the building blocks of muscles and how important they are for any workout routine be it bulking or cutting. Proteins can repair the wear and tear in your muscles and help you keep going.

An egg or something which contains high proteins just before a workout isn’t enough. You need 1.4g to 2g of proteins for every kilogram of body weight, for example, if you weigh 60kg then you need 84g to 120g of protein each and every day. Yes, this can be quite difficult to achieve from daily food items and keeping in mind the additional fats and carbohydrates which we don’t wanna include.

This is where whey protein can be help full. A single teaspoon of whey protein contains almost 23g of proteins. This can be added to milk or another protein diet to amplify the results.

Following are the best whey protein in the Indian markets

e)Ultimate post-workout shake-This shake can do wonders for your body post-workout. The things you would need to prepare this shake are- 2 to 3 tablespoons of honey, Hershey’s chocolate syrup as required,1to2 tablespoons of chocolate-flavored whey protein, and some peanut butter. All you have to do is take a glass of milk to add some peanut butter to it along with 2-3 tablespoons of honey and finally 1-2 tablespoons of chocolate whey protein. You can also add nuts of your choice. Now mix them properly in a blender and your ultimate post-workout shake is ready.

Following are the recommended ingredients-

This works well because chocolate milkshake refuels your muscles after a workout. It can help maintain body energy as carbs and proteins aids in muscle recovery. Recovering from muscle soreness and cramps is one of the best ways to stay motivated to work out.

#4-Know the Benefits of Working Out

Despite getting inspired to work out you may feel bored and would want to give up after a while. This is when you should always keep the benefits of working out in mind. This will help you stay motivated. So here are a few must note benefits of working out-

A) Improve your mental health and mood

B) Strengthen your bones and muscles.

C) It Can Make You Feel Happier

D) Help you gain self-confidence

E) It Can Help Skin Health.

F) It Can Help Your Brain Health and Memory

G) It Can Help Your Brain Health and Memory

H)Boosts decision-making skills

I) Increases focus

J)Prompts growth of new nerve cells and blood vessels

And the list goes on in short working out simply brings out the best in you and makes you a better person.

#5-Don’t over-workout at the beginning

Most people get over-excited at the beginning of their workout routine. They try to do everything in one go. Few even try to push their body limits from the beginning itself. However, this can turn out very bad as it can lead to injuries and demotivate you. And starting with a heavy load can make it difficult to keep up the pace.

Most people do this to get instant results but unfortunately, your body doesn’t work that way. When it comes to working out doing things in a hurry can do more harm than help. Set specific times in the day or evening to work out every day.

Have realistic goals depending on your body. Don’t move on to the next level without perfecting the current level. For example-don’t hastily do 10 push-ups daily and start doing 15 pushups from the next time. Keep on doing 10 pushups until you do it with the correct posture and at the right speed. This gradual increase of goals can help you stay motivated to work out and give your brain the right dopamine rush making it easier to meet your goals.

#6-Challenge Yourself and Your Friends

Let’s admit it doing the same exercise day in and day out can bore you up. After a while, your brain could get exhausted from doing the same exercises and make it difficult to get that dopamine rush that you used to get at the beginning. Hence it is quite beneficial to switch between different things and challenge yourself. This could make you stay motivated to work out. Another thing that works quite well is challenging your friends. Even though you are not competitive by nature challenging your friends is a group that is better than you can keep you up and make you stay motivated all the time. Playing a few games can also motivate you a lot. Hence this is one of the fun ways to stay motivated to work out.

#7-Know the Disadvantages of Giving up Workout.

Did you know that giving up your workout can cause more harm than good? It is so bad that it can make you worse than before working out at all. After you stop working out a lot of things happen to your body and metabolism. These changes happen from weeks to months. So the negative effects of stopping working out occur depending on how long you are staying away from exercising.

For example, in the first week, you have already lost 5% of vo2 max(i.e the maximum or optimum rate at which the heart, lungs, and muscles can effectively use oxygen during exercise, used as a way of measuring a person’s individual aerobic capacity). 2-3 weeks of staying away from exercise of any kind can decrease your muscle and tissue strength.

Now you even lose that biceps that you’ve earned and fat starts to develop. Gradually you’ll start developing obesity and some cardiovascular diseases. Further, you’ll feel more depressed because your brain doesn’t get the dopamine rush that it used to get earlier.

However, there is also a bright side to it. Even though you have given up working out for a long time. You can recover from its ill effects by simply starting small exercises. It can be a small jog to your house, or even playing a basketball match with your friends. Then you could gradually go back to your workout routine. It’ll be easy to pick up. Start with low frequency and keep increasing it gradually along with the intensity. In short, sometimes it’s okay to have a little break from the fitness routine. But don’t lay around for too long.