How to Build Regular Exercise Into Your Life

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One of the hardest things to do if you want to keep fit is make exercise a regular part of your life – and stick to it. A lot of us get off to a good start, feeling excited about getting fit and sticking to our plans for a good few weeks or months. But then one slip-up or lazy day can lead to you dropping your new routine altogether. Then you go for another few months or even years where you forget about it until you decide that you want to try again. Working out consistently is tough, especially when life gets busy and other things take priority. But there are things you can do to keep your exercise more consistent over a longer period of time and build regular exercise into your routine.

Set Yourself Challenges

Having something to work towards is a good way to motivate yourself and feel like you have a reason for exercising. By setting yourself a series of challenges, you always have something to aim for so that your workouts have more purpose. Challenging yourself could include a variety of different things. It could be a goal you want to set based on your weight, fitness levels, or how your fitness affects your quality of life. Or you might be working on completing particular events or fitness challenges, such as running different distances, hiking certain mountains, or logging a specific amount of time working out.

Make It Into a Career

What if a huge part of your life could be focused on keeping fit? When you spend a lot of time working but you’re mostly sedentary, you might consider how to have a more active career. By choosing a job where you’re more active, your exercise will definitely be built into your everyday routine. You could find out how to become a personal trainer if you’re interested in the science of keeping fit. Or if you want something with a slightly looser connection to fitness, maybe you could consider a job that gets you moving in different ways. It could be anything from working in a warehouse to being a landscape gardener.

Get Strict with Routine

Making exercise part of your usual routine will help you to keep doing it. If it becomes a standard part of your everyday life, like brushing your teeth or going to work, it’s much easier to stick to it. The first thing to do if you want to build good habits is to start scheduling your workouts. Instead of just working out when you feel like you have the time and energy, plan it in advance so that you know when and where you’re going to be exercising. Set days and times, or always doing it after another part of your routine, will make it easier. Homeofseven have some great ideas of how to exercise without much time!

Mix Things Up to Keep It Exciting

Doing the same thing again and again can start to get boring. When your workouts are boring and you’re just going through the motions, you might give up on them more easily. Fortunately, there are endless things that you can try to keep your workouts interesting. Even within one activity, you can do lots of different exercises and workouts. And you can branch out into lots of activities too, from aerobics to swimming, golf, basketball, Nordic walking, or whatever you like.

Hold Yourself Accountable

Accountability is a major part of sticking to an exercise routine but it’s not easy to achieve. When it’s just you holding yourself accountable, it can be pretty easy to let yourself off. After all, you’re an adult and you can do what you want. If you find it tricky to hold yourself accountable or reward yourself, try putting other checks in place to make sure you work out. This might include booking several weeks of classes so that you’re expected to show up or getting a personal trainer who motivates you to keep going.

Multi-task Your Exercise

If you can exercise while doing something else at the same time, it can be easier to do when you have a busy lifestyle. This could mean commuting to work by bike, for example. Or you might stay active by playing with your kids. You could run some errands by literally running them, jogging from place to place instead of taking the car. These things can make some tasks take a little longer, but it’s worth it to ensure you’re exercising often.

Make exercise a part of your everyday routine by making the effort to build habits into your lifestyle.