Back in December (though technically in their January issue), Cosmo Magazine released an article called "Ready...Set...Motivate!" in which they lay out 14 ways to motivate yourself to go to the gym. Today I'm going to over number 1, plan ahead, what the article says, and how it's helped me.
In the article, they say that the best strategy for reaching any goal that requires a significant amount of willpower, such as exercising, is to decide in ahead of time when, where, and how you'll do it each week. They suggest that if/then scheduling is the best way to schedule your workouts because it increases your success by 300%. Whaaaaat? That's crazy, right?
This is how you'd do that:
If it's a Mon, Wed, or Fri, then I'll take a 7am kickboxing class at the gym.
So I personally do this myself, but ironically, it was before I read the article and knew it's impact.
I go to the gym Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays with one of my friends.
My if/then schedule would be:
If it's a Tuesday, then I'll workout my upper body at the gym with Steve.**
If it's a Thursday, then I'll workout my lower body at the gym with Steve.
If it's a Friday, then I'll workout my abs at the gym alone.
With my gym membership, I can take classes for free, but unfortunately, none of the classes I want to take work with my schedule. However, I think I'm going to try to make it to a class after work or on the weekends, but we'll see. Anywho, scheduling my workouts and having a set day has really helped because that way I'm not wandering around the gym wasting time while I try to figure out what to do. I usually use an app on my phone and just follow that while I workout. On days when my phone dies before I can use it, I feel incredibly lost and I do spend most of the time wandering around. I highly recommend putting yourself on a schedule and knowing what you're doing ahead of time because it works. My personal trainer friend does it when he works out, and it gets him to the gym 5-6 days a week for a good hour and a half.
**name was changed
This is how you'd do that:
If it's a Mon, Wed, or Fri, then I'll take a 7am kickboxing class at the gym.
So I personally do this myself, but ironically, it was before I read the article and knew it's impact.
I go to the gym Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays with one of my friends.
My if/then schedule would be:
If it's a Tuesday, then I'll workout my upper body at the gym with Steve.**
If it's a Thursday, then I'll workout my lower body at the gym with Steve.
If it's a Friday, then I'll workout my abs at the gym alone.
With my gym membership, I can take classes for free, but unfortunately, none of the classes I want to take work with my schedule. However, I think I'm going to try to make it to a class after work or on the weekends, but we'll see. Anywho, scheduling my workouts and having a set day has really helped because that way I'm not wandering around the gym wasting time while I try to figure out what to do. I usually use an app on my phone and just follow that while I workout. On days when my phone dies before I can use it, I feel incredibly lost and I do spend most of the time wandering around. I highly recommend putting yourself on a schedule and knowing what you're doing ahead of time because it works. My personal trainer friend does it when he works out, and it gets him to the gym 5-6 days a week for a good hour and a half.
**name was changed
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