5 Ways to Force Yourself to Exercise

Posted on Jul 11th 2009, 10:37 am, under Losing Weight

Well, first, let me clarify – this title is highly misleading as there is no “magic bullet” theory to force you to exercise. No one will ever hold a gun up to your head trying to save your life by forcing you to exercise. It is a personal decision to take control of your mental and physical health. What this article will do, however, is outline five steps which will make it easier for you to think logically about the structure of your workouts based upon your own personality traits and schedule.

1) Morning, Noon or Night

What’s the point of working out in the morning if you are an extremely happy person in the morning? Your workout will simply be a manifestation of your mood and no one wants that. You must find the time of day that works best for you to maximize the massive endorphins that are released during exercise to prolong the “natural high.” You’ll soon find yourself addicted.

2) Avoid the Boring Machines

Staring at the local weather on a stationery bike for 45 minutes is going to make any sane person want to head directly to the local eatery for some fried chicken. Mix it up in the gym. Split a 45 minute bike ride into 15 minute intervals with a mixture of sit-ups and jump-rope in between – the feeling of doing something new or different will keep you interested. Just remember to keep the heart-rate up in between your intervals.

3) Set Reasonable Planning Expectations

We have become a very bad at managing our time as people. As a result, if we want to accomplish anything we will need to plan it. Don’t say, “I’m going to exercise this week.” Say, “I’m going to exercise at 4:30PM on Wednesday for an hour. Without a structure things turn to chaos and we end the week feeling out-of-control and frustrated.