How To Keep Motivated In Fitness And In The GYM by Chris Magee

It's that time of year. Far enough away from January to have slackened up on the New Years resolutions. Far enough away from the summer to tell yourself there's still plenty of time to get ready for the beach. And of course, surrounded by discount chocolate left over from Easter. The perfect storm.

Whatever the reason your motivation may have slipped. Today we are going to get it back! Or if it hasn't, we are going give you that extra push to achieve greatness.

Group Fitness Instructor and Broga Ambassador Chris Magee @Mageesy gives us some tips on how to do this...

Chris with Shaun Stafford at Broga Training. There's #MyGymspiration RIGHT THERE!

- PUSH YOUR BOUNDARIES -

I motivate people every day. Constantly pushing people in every class and every session I teach, so they can give that extra little bit, push further out of their comfort zone than they would alone. This extra push is what gets you the improvements and results you desire. I call it earning your workout.

How? I'm not going to lie, when you train with me there is a lot of tough love dished out! But above all else I use one thing, the same thing I use to motivate myself- Positive reinforcement and visualisation. When you couple this with achievable goals, we have the keys to success!

- MAXIMUM EFFORT, ALWAYS -

Often I won't ask for a specific number of reps or level of resistance, but instead I will ask that you work to your maximum on any given day. It may not be as good as the previous session, or the previous week, but that's ok. Our circumstances change day to day/week to week, so the results/numbers may dip or waver, but the constant is your effort level. So long as you are giving it your maximum, you can congratulate yourself at the end of every workout, as you gave it your all. If you didn't push, the only person you cheat is yourself. Not the instructor, not your friend, just you. Come to train, and don't leave anything in the tank. You are stronger than you think you are!

- SILENCE THE VOICE -

There is a voice in your head that tells you you need to stop/rest/quit. We all have it. The key is learning to drown it out with positive thoughts. It's natural instinct for your body to want to stop before the point of exhaustion. It's programmed this way for survival as our primal ancestors would have often been scarce of food, or needed to run away from a t-Rex say. But let's be honest, this doesn't apply to us (thankfully!). We will give the body all the fuel and recovery it needs when we are finished. At the time your brain doesn't know this- hence the wanting to stop while you still have something left to give!

- SET SPECIFIC GOALS -

Self motivation requires you to have specific goals in mind, so you can track results and progress. For example, "I want to tone up" or "I want to get fitter" are both very vague goals. Think more specifically about what you want to change, or a level you want to reach- "I want to have 10% body fat" or "I want to run a sub 50min 10k" - these are quantifiable goals. We can break these down, and set smaller targets that always help us move towards the overall goal. These smaller targets bolster our motivation. Achievable goals that we constantly conquer, give us a sense of accomplishment. This floods our brain with positivity, and renews our motivation to push on and achieve the next target. Thinking about a big final goal, can often seem miles away from where we are now. If we have no clear plan how to get there, negativity creeps in and our brain often convinces us to give up before we even really get started!

- ACCOUNTABILITY -

Make yourself accountable for your actions, and set yourself a deadline. If you have a goal, tell people. Put it on your social media. Tell colleagues and friends. This action gives an extra push of motivation subconsciously. People now know your goal, and expect to see you achieve it. Giving yourself a deadline forces you to take action. You can't put it off! You can have the most specific goals in the world, it won't help if you don't have a time scale to work in.

- FINDING MOTIVATION -

We all have those days where you wake up under energised or with a negative mindset, and it's hard to shift to get your training in. So what do you do? Google gym motivation, YouTube it. Look at how many results you get. People are always on hand to help inspire you, MyGymspitation is a perfect example of that! Let other people help - see a trainer, or attend a class and draw on the energy from the instructor- that's what we're there for! You don't have to go it alone!

- FOCUS -

Remind yourself daily of the final goal and why you want to achieve it. Above all else - enjoy the journey! Focus on the effort and the results will come.

Happy training!

Chris Magee

If you want more motivation from Chris, follow him with @Mageesy on Instagram and Twitter, or contact him directly mageefitness@gmail.com