Commit to get fit? What is holding you back?
Why don’t we commit, what are the barriers that prevent us from starting and sustaining a fitness routine?
Do you have the motivation to commit to and sustain exercise?
If you have got this far you probably have the motivation to get fit, but how you direct that motivation will have a big effect on whether your commitment can be sustained.
Why don’t we commit and sustain exercise?
Typically individuals will pin their non-adherence to undertaking physical activity against objective factors e.g: age, family/work commitments, medical health and financial constraints, to name a few. However more often than not it is subjective factors stemming from motivation that are to blame for individuals failing to partake or sustain physical activity.
In 2013 a study published in the European Journal of Sports Science showed 55% to 65% of new gym members drop out in the first three to six months, this was attributed in part to injury, low levels of achievement and a lack of enjoyment, factors which have a direct affect on motivation and are stimulated often through ineffective training.
These people had the motivation to start – they went to the gym and joined up, they started attending. But they did not get the results and enjoyment they were hoping for so their interest fell away.
What have we learned from this?
- It is very important that we enjoy what we do. Exercise has to be fun and often heading to the gym on your own just isn’t motivating or interesting enough. We need more as human beings to keep us going. We need to be part of a group or tribe who are working toward targets together.
- We need to get results and make sure that they are proportionate to the effort that we are prepared to put it. Unless your exercise routine is properly planned and targeted you are unlikely to get the fitness and weight loss gains that you were hoping for and without the rewards your interest is likely to fall away. A personalised training plan with a qualified fitness instructor is the ideal way to get results and a lower cost option is to join a specialised class that will help you to achieve your goals with a group of others on a similar journey.
- There are certain types of exercise that get fitness and weight loss results quicker than others. For example slow and steady state exercise like running tends to take longer to achieve weight loss and fitness results. Running long distances can also be quite gruelling especially when you are at the beginning of your fitness journey and the potential for injury at first is quite high. HIIT, however can get results far more quickly – to find out why read on….
What is HIIT?
HIIT, or high-intensity interval training, is a training technique in which you give 100% effort through quick, intense bursts of exercise, followed by short, sometimes active, recovery periods. This type of training gets and keeps your heart rate up and burns more fat in less time. HIIT increases the body’s need for oxygen during the effort creating an oxygen shortage. Your body compensates by demanding more oxygen during recover. This effect is called’ excess [post-exercise oxygen consumption is the key reason why intense exercise is more effective at burning fat than slower, steadier exercise.
HIIT vs slow and steady!
The effect of the intense exertion kicks your body’s repair cycle into hyperdrive meaning that you burn more calories in the 24 hours after a HIIT workout than you would after a steady-paced run.
Research shows that a 10 minute HIIT routine will burn more calories that a whole hour on the treadmill.
So if you have the all important motivation to get started and you want to find the fastest and most enjoyable ay of getting results then we would love to help you. Our 28 Days of Fitness Programme starts soon and could give you the fun, sociable, motivating HIIT that you are looking for. Once you have booked – you are committed and after a month you will know whether it works for you. What have you got to lose apart from some weight?
28 Days of Fitness Starts 19th November. For more details of this fast-track fitness programme click on the link below.
