01 Mar Ideas for people who don’t like to exercise: Part II

Continuing with our series on ways to make exercise more enjoyable, here are five more suggestions which center around goal-setting and charting your progress.
1. Create a workout plan – You wouldn’t set out on a long drive without knowing what roads you’ll take – you’d look at a map. The same goes for a workout routine.
Map out a plan on what your fitness goals are. Jot down ideas on how you’ll be able to follow through and you can write down some of the hurdles you expect will present themselves.
2. Keep a workout log – Writing your workouts down is one of the best tips out there for people to stay on a workout plan. A workout log will help you stay organized, chart your progress, and serve as a motivator to not have blank pages stick out and also set goals for the future.
3. Find a workout partner – If you can find a workout buddy, it will make things easier for you to stick to a program. You will have someone else to be accountable to and you can both push each other.
4. Set attainable goals – Don’t set fitness goals so high that you set yourself up for failure. Make your goals reasonable and be willing to adjust them some. Rather than set an exact weight loss amount in pounds, if you state a resolution to eat better and stick to it then you’ll wind up losing weight anyways.
5. Focus on short-term goals at first – You’ll avoid feeling like a failure if you don’t hit a 15- or 30-pound weight loss goal, but may still hit the mark you hoped for.
Same for exercising, if you make a resolution to exercise more instead of saying you’ll work out five times a week it could wind up being a more positive end result.

At Home Fitness consultant Aaron Dorksen’s blog deals with a variety of fitness topics, ranging from workout tips, motivational ideas and feature stories on how exercise impacts people’s lives. E-mail him with comments, questions or ideas for future blogs at aaron@athomefitness.com