Maintain Your Exercise Routine with Nine Training Tips

At the Bauerfeind Performance Center, our goal is to educate all active adults – from weekend warriors to elite level athletes – on how the body works and how to raise your potential and achieve your fitness goals. But without a structured exercise plan and the proper motivation, most adults won’t see the results they’re hoping for.

Training Tips that help you stay motivated can keep you active and healthy for many years. The more you learn about how your body works and how to stick with an exercise plan, the sooner you will see results and greater benefits. And those tangible results are often the greatest motivator of all.

Here are some basic training tips to keep you on course with your exercise plan and your journey toward a healthy, active and pain-free life…

Training Tip #1: Set Achievable Goals

Having personal goals is great for motivation; whether it's to lose ten pounds before the summer or race in your first marathon, goals give us a tangible target to aim for. But to really see progress, it’s important to break your goals down into smaller more manageable chunks, and reward yourself each time you reach a target in your exercise plan.

Training Tip #2: Monitor Your Progress

Many people keep a training log or journal as a way to track progress in their exercise routine.  It is also a great motivator on the days when you are not feeling like sticking to the exercise plan. A fitness journal will remind you of your efforts to date and encourage you to not let all that valuable time and energy you’ve put in go to waste.

Training Tip #3: Exercise with a Partner

Having a partner to join you in your exercise routine is a fantastic motivator. It's more fun to workout with a friend, he or she often helps to push you, and on days when you just don't feel like sticking to the exercise plan, it's much harder to bail out knowing that someone else is depending on you.

Training Tip #4: Play Your Favorite Music

If you enjoy listening to music, using it as part of your exercise routine can be a huge boost. Research has shown that listening to music while exercising can help you push harder and enjoy your workout more. With all of the great technology and portable gadgets available today, there are dozens of options to play music during your exercise routine. Create your own fitness playlist and tune-in to whatever sounds get you moving.

Training Tip #5: Visualize Your Success

One of the secrets elite athletes use is visualizing themselves achieving success, winning races, etc. Their mind then directs their behavior towards achieving those goals. Picture yourself the way you want to be - how you’ll look when you've lost ten pounds, how it feels to finish your first marathon, etc. Visualize this when you wake up in the morning, throughout the day, and just before you fall asleep at night. By training your body through the mind, you'll soon be on your way to realizing that vision.

Training Tip #6: Make Exercise a Part of Your Daily Life

You wake up, you get dressed, you eat, you go to work, you exercise. Make your exercise plan a part of your weekly schedule rather than something you squeeze in if you have the time. But if you do miss a day in your exercise routine…

Training Tip #7: Don't Feel Guilty

If you miss a workout, don't stress out - it happens to everyone. We all lead busy lives and sometimes have higher priorities to deal with on a given day. Simply get back into your exercise program the next day or as soon as you can. However, if you find yourself regularly missing days in your exercise routine, then take a step back to figure out why: Are the times inconvenient? Have you set unrealistic goals? Have you chosen fitness activities you really don't enjoy? Sometimes a simple change to your exercise plan is all it takes to get you back on track with your exercise routine.

Training Tip #8: Add Variety To Your Program

It’s common for even the most active people to get bored with their chosen fitness activity. Putting some variety in your exercise plan not only makes it more fun, but also works different parts of the body so you progress faster. Do a variety of workouts and activities to keep your mind and your body fresh.

Training Tip #9: Do Something - Anything!

Every little bit helps, so even if you don't have time for an hour's workout at the end of the day, you can find ways to fit things in throughout the day: Walk or bike to work, take the stairs instead of the elevator, stretch at your desk, etc. If your goal is to exercise at least three times per week, just remember that even going twice a week is infinitely better than not going at all.

Finding the perfect balance of what you enjoy, what gives you the best health benefits and puts the least amount of wear-and-tear on your body, is the goal of your exercise plan. And staying excited and motivated to be healthy is the key to making it all happen. Our motto at Bauerfeind is “Motion is Life” – now get out there and start moving!

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Need help working out an effectiveexercise plan? Visit us at the Bauerfeind Performance Center in Santa Monica, CA.  The new Bauerfeind Performance Center is helping athletes raise their potential throughout the Los Angeles area.  Discover more Training Tips at http://www.raisingyourpotential.com.