5 ways to get your fitness back on track

Rediscover your mojo with our five fitness tips to pump up your exercise routine.

We all know that physical exercise is one of the best ways of keeping yourself healthy. Exercise can improve your mood and reduce your risk of developing conditions such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease. 

Lack of time and motivation can make a regular exercise routine difficult. If you’re finding that you’re too tired to exercise, then read our article on should you exercise when you’re tired

Exercise reduces your risk of [1]: 

  • Early death 
  • Depression 
  • Dementia 
  • Type 2 diabetes 
  • Coronary heart disease and stroke 
  • Bowel cancer 
  • Breast cancer in women 
  • Stress 

To stay healthy, adults should try to be active every day and aim to do at least 150 minutes of physical activity over a week [1]. 

Five ways to get your fitness back on track 

  1. Make your goals SMART

SMART goals aren’t just related to business or school. Having a clear set of achievable goals is important when starting a new fitness regime. 

What are SMART goals? 

Specific –  Be clear on your goals from the outset. Are you aiming to complete a fitness event, get faster, or lift more? 

Measurable – You could track and measure the number of reps, distance, or time. Our sports performance range is a good way to see what’s going on inside your body, or you can use other measurements like your BMI. Have a look at our blog on BMI and five alternative measurements.  

Achievable – Ensuring that your goal will be achievable can mean that you don’t become disheartened when training. There’s no point setting a goal to run 5k if you can’t walk to the end of the road. Start small and work your way up. 

Relevant – An example of an irrelevant goal in fitness would be: ‘I want to run 2k’ when your goal is to gain muscle and not cardio. 

Timely – Setting a time limit on your goal can improve motivation and help you work harder to achieve your goal.  

If your goals are not SMART, they can leave you feeling overwhelmed and more likely to fail. If you’re struggling with your goals, that’s okay too. Work and home life can often get in the way but remember it is better to do something instead of nothing. 

If you’re struggling with time and other commitments, read our blog on how to move more without going to the gym

  1. Track your progress

Tracking your progress through personal bests and measurements can help you see improvements that you may not see through simply weighing yourself.   

Ways to track your fitness include: 

  • Measuring personal bests 
  • Writing down how many reps you achieve 
  • Measuring your resting heart rate 
  • Taking body measurements 
  • Weighing yourself 
  • Testing your biomarkers with blood tests 

Seeing your progress can leave you with a sense of achievement that leads to an increase in motivation. And knowing that you are heading in the right direction can encourage you to keep you going. 

Blood testing can take the guesswork out of tracking and support you on your quest. Head over to our article on the importance of blood testing for bodybuilders for more information.  

  1. Find a buddy 

Research suggests that exercising with another or in a group increases the intensity and duration of our workouts [2].  

You can set goals together (we’ll go for a run every Tuesday or hit the gym twice a week). Making a plan, and knowing someone else is relying on you, can make you feel more accountable to keep up your fitness routine.  

If you want to take your fitness to another level, coaches and personal trainers are available both online and face-to-face – they can help set plans and keep you accountable, helping to improve your fitness and reach your goals.

  1. Follow inspirational athletes

We all know social media is a huge influencer and following fitness accounts can be a powerful motivator to keep up healthy habits. Following people already in that field can help to keep you inspired. 

Be mindful not to compare yourself to others, though, and remember that most fitness influencers spend their entire working lives dedicated to their craft. Aiming for a similar body type may be unrealistic and leave you feeling discouraged. However, you may be able to pick up some workout techniques. 

Athletes to follow: 

  1. Know your inner health

Regular exercise has many benefits for both the outside and inside of the body. Often, we measure ourselves on the external results, but have you ever considered your results internally? 

Blood testing can help you, and with a Medichecks blood test from our Sports Performance Range, you can get a clear picture of your health before you embark on a new fitness regime and then again a few months down the line.  

Seeing improvements to markers like cholesterol and blood sugar can encourage you to adopt these changes long-term as part of a healthy lifestyle - and not as just a one-off fitness kick. 

Our sports performance guide has lots of information on the importance of blood testing in sports performance. 

So, if you are feeling tired, lacking motivation, or struggling to recover after injury, a blood test (such as our Ultimate Performance Blood Test)  can help you to optimise your training, perform at your best and smash your fitness goals. 


References 

  1. nhs.uk. 2022. Benefits of exercise. [online] Available at: <https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/exercise-health-benefits/> [Accessed 16 March 2022].  
  2. Chevance, G., Bernard, P., Chamberland, P. and Rebar, A., 2019. The association between implicit attitudes toward physical activity and physical activity behaviour: a systematic review and correlational meta-analysis. Health Psychology Review, 13(3), pp.248-276. 

 

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