How To Stick With Your Fitness Plan

Have you heard the phrase “progress, not perfection”?

When it comes to achieving lifelong health and well being, consistency is absolutely crucial.

Unfortunately if you’re like most people, you probably get overwhelmed at the thought of developing and sticking to a long-term fitness plan.

Part of the struggle comes with thinking you have follow your fitness plan perfectly by hitting every target and never missing a beat. When you inevitably miss a workout or have an “off” day, it’s easy to lose motivation and from there is can be a slippery slope.

By focussing on making progress, rather than being perfect – it’s easier to stay motivated, and keep on track with your fitness program.

Here are some tips to developing a sustainable fitness plan:

1. Better together

You’re health journey doesn’t have to be a solo mission – having a health or fitness coach, or even just friends to workout with, can help keep you motivated. You’re more likely to stop what you’re doing and make time for health & fitness if you know someone is waiting for you!

Your coach / mentor is there to celebrate your achievements, be by your side and help you through every step along the way.

Your support team could be a family member, a good friend or a flexible workplace. With the right team, the right mindset and the right choices, you are better positioned to keep to your plan.

2. Keep ‘on the track’

Nothing puts a hurdle in the way of your fitness plan like an injury, especially if it's related to your feet as it will have a chain reaction of effects for other parts of your body. Carefully choosing your shoe design and size will make sure you are protecting and supporting your feet.

Taking time out to select the right footwear is a great initial step to show you want to commit to exercising on a regular basis, and is likely to motivate you to get out there and be active.

When choosing your footwear, it is important to take into account the following:

• Sufficient toe space: The front of the shoe should have ample room for your toes. They should not be touching the end of your shoe. Plantar fasciitis is a common condition caused by this.
• Strong heel counter: Good support without digging into your Achilles tendon.
• Torsional stiffness: If the shoe twists too easily, it’s a sign of insufficient support.
• Comfortable when trying on: Shoes should be comfortable right away; shoes don’t need to be “broken in”.
• Front flex: The toe area should have some flexibility for movement.

3. Include Clinical Exercise

Clinical Exercise is the secret key to many athletes’ success and longevity. Clinical Exercise, which includes a variety of core exercises and is guided by a qualified physiotherapist helps to achieve specific outcomes, such as improved posture, balance and coordination.

Engaging in Clinical Exercise may motivate you to understand your body better and teach you how to control and activate muscles through everyday movements.

Clinical Exercise also complements all your other fitness regimes, as most exercises require core strength and balance, so Clinical Exercise effectively turbo charges your progress in other areas!

4. Include massage breaks in your plan

Even the worlds best sportspeople only train and play for a certain period of time before they require a recovery period. So why should you feel guilty for having a recovery day here and there?!

Massage is an excellent way to rejuvenate your muscles by incorporating them into your lifestyle on a regular basis. You will find that massage will allow your body to recover from exercise a lot quicker, helping to motivate you to continue being active on a regular basis.

Many benefits from massage such can be experienced on a low or no-cost basis using friends, family members and even self-application with simple aids and devices.

5. Stretch it out

Effective stretching doesn’t need to take hours, but it will require you to make a regular commitment on a weekly basis. Build a lifestyle habit around stretching for it to ultimately become beneficial. Using a foam roller can be a fun way to roll out muscle soreness and if you’ve still got time to watch TV, this is an excellent way to multi-task!

Static stretching is more useful to relieve your muscle tightness after exercise and during the early stages of recovery from injury. On the other hand, dynamic stretching has proven to be an effective way of warming up muscles prior to exercise and is important in preventing injuries.

Examples of dynamic stretches include back and forward leg swings, sideways legs swings, arm swings, lunges and power skips.

6. Mix up your fitness plan

The key to a healthy, fit body is to constantly vary your fitness regime. Varying your exercises conditions your body for the general demands of every day activity, so, it is a paramount attribute of committing to your fitness. Life-fitness typically involves a balance of strength, agility, flexibility, core stability and endurance.

It is important to make exercise fun and practical in order to stick to your plan, maintain your commitment and be compatible with your lifestyle. Your fitness program should incorporate about 30-60 minutes of activity three times a week which may include a combination of power walking, running, cycling, swimming, weight training, massage and Clinical Exercise.

7. Focus on your progress, not the scales

Roughly 61% of the Australian’s are categorised as either overweight or obese, and people that fall under these categories are at higher risk of many illnesses and chronic diseases.

If that is not motivation enough to ensure you are aiming for optimal health with regular exercise and healthy eating, we don’t know what is!

Losing weight is fundamentally a matter of burning more calories than you consume so is important to not get sucked into fad diets, which leave a trail of disillusionment; you need to take a sensible approach to eating healthy foods in reasonable portions along side your fitness plan.

In doing this, you are much more likely to achieve and maintain a healthy ideal weight, any you’ll no longer need those scales.

8. Rest up!

It doesn’t all need to be hard work; if you can effectively harness the benefits of rest, you will experience significant improvements in sleeping patterns and energy levels. Rest needs to be specific to your physiological needs of the body and not exaggerated or generalised.

Make the time to rest if you want to be healthy. The ultimate goal is to move well throughout life, and if you rest appropriately, you will feel a return of vitality and energy in life. This is the absolute key to committing to striving for optimal lifelong physical health.