The Keys To Personal Fitness Success

by Heather Long | More from this Blogger

21 Jul 2006 09:00 AM

So what are these secret, mystical keys to personal sucesss that take our time spent and make it into rewards that are well-earned? I wish I could say that it's as easy as me sitting here and typing all of these up for you. They sound great - they sounded great to me for years. But it's one thing to read them here and it's altogether another for you to put them to work for you. When you discover the truths and keys for yourself, they have a great deal more meaning.

But that being said - here are the keys to my fitness success - at my best and at my worst - these keys helped me achieve my goals and helped me o get back in the saddle when I let my fitness program slide. Don't take my word for it, though. Put these keys to work for yourself. The challenge I offer you is don't just print these out or save them on your computer - pick up a pen and write them out in your own words.

Your words. Your keys.

Keys For Success

• Specific Goals - Specific goals are more than just saying you want to lose weight or get in shape - my goals when I got started were pretty vague, but when I set the bar at walking 30 minutes a day, I made it. When I set the bar at 45 minutes a day, at an incline, I made it. When I set the bar at 90 minutes a day, alternating the incline in various increments - I made it. Write out your goals and make them specific - it's the difference between saying you want to go get walking shoes at the sports shoe store in the mall and saying you want to buy new shoes.
• Understand What You Are Doing - Don't just do the exercises because someone told you that's what you should do, understand what you are doing. When I started learning about exercise, I began to understand why some things worked for me and why others didn't. I understood that just doing situps wouldn't trim my waist down and that while every weight loss program should use some cardio, weight training tones the muscles and helps shape the shapeless - it's cliché and trite - but knowing is half the battle
• Dressing the Part - When you wear specific fitness clothes - clothes that say you are going to work out, they put you in the mindset to do your workout. It's like putting on your power suit to go to a meeting or dressing up in your fancy dress to go out to dinner - it may sound silly, but when you dress the part you are more likely to do what you set out to do.
• Pace Yourself - When you were learning to ride a bike, you used training wheels. When you learned how to roller skate, you fell down more than once. You start off slow and you build your momentum. Just like when you were learning to drive and you had to take all those driver's ed classes and had to learn to balance all the information against the actions you needed to do to be a successful driver. Pacing yourself gives you a measured success rate that you can build on. Just think, it may be 15 minutes a day right now - but in a few months, you'll be up to an hour and where you want to be.
• Find Support - Whether you join a fitness community online, get a friend to buddy up with you or work with a personal trainer - we all feel better when we can share our successes and failures with others. They can help us stay motivated and give us that nudge when we need it. We can even motivate ourselves by helping to keep others motivated as well.

These are my keys to fitness success. They are what help me keep going. What works for you? What are your keys for success? Rewrite these in your own words - add your own to the list and make these keys your personal guide to fitness success.

Related Articles:

New School Year Fitness Resolutions

Fitness Goals: The Long and the Short of It

Your Body Image Versus Your Workout

Positive Affirmations for Fitness

Learn more about Heather Long

Heather Long is 35 years old and currently lives in Wylie, Texas. She has been a freelance writer for six years. Her husband and she met while working together at America Online over ten years ago.

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