Maintain Your Motivation!

It's between your ears!

We've talked a lot about the physical side of outdoor fitness but not a lot about the mental bits and particularly how to motivate yourself to stick to a training programme, so with summer rolling towards us like an out of control orange combine harvester, here's a few hints so you come out fighting...

Set Goals But Keep Them Real...

There's no point setting unattainable goals, that's just going to disappoint you, but setting realistic targets can be a great way of keeping yourself going. It might be the big picture - getting up Snowdon, trekking to Everest Base Camp - that polishes your mental gnashers, but don't forget small goals too.

Aim to add an extra five minutes a week to your regular long run, for example, or pop an extra hill into your run and then feel good about it. It's your body, you know what's likely to bake your cookies. Don't worry about competing with other people, this is about you.

If you do miss a target, don't let it get you down. Think about what happened - maybe you were tired, or trained too hard the day before - and try and learn from it.

Take Note...

It sounds a bit whacky, but try leaving some Post It notes around the house, in your car, on the bars of your mountain bike, with postitive messages. 'You're A God!', 'You're A Dog!', 'Go Baby, Go!' or whatever. Concentrate on the positive.

Reward Yourself

Give yourself little rewards to sticking to your training. Preferably not beer, cakes and pies, though the occasional lapse won't hurt. It could be a new bell for your bike or a bit of gear you've been coveting for ages or something less material and more cerebral - just use your imagination.

Routing Rebound

If you're training after work, get into a straight-in / straight-out mentality. Get your kit out and ready the night before, come home, kit-up then get out. No watching telly, drinking cups of tea, grooming the dog, papering the spare room etc. And once you get back, you'll still have something resembling an evening to do all those things and more...

If you miss, don't get pissed (off)

It's good to be committed, but equally don't get too down if you miss a session or two. You can go around a week without training without losing significant amounts of fitness, so missing a run, a walk or a gym session doesn't mean you're back to square one.

Find some training buddies...

Some people are fiercely committed and will get out whatever, others find it's helpful to get out with other people at about the same level of fitness. You can encourage each other, indulge in friendly banter and compare notes, so it's a social occasion as well as just training. If you don't know anyone in the same position as yourself, check out a running club or stick up a notice in your local gym or lesiure centre. The friendly competition (!) will help motivate you in other sessions too...

Fit it into your life...

Try cycling to work or running home occasionally, that way you're incorporating exercise into your daily routine and killing two birds with one stone (which means twice as many birds...) If you normally sit around for an hour at lunch, maybe it's dead time you could fill with a run or gym session?

Whatever else works...

We all get buzzed by different things, the editor of this site, for example, visualises himself as a dog chasing bunnies across a field during dull treadmill sessions, alternatively, take - mentally that is - the people who annoy you along on a run and channel all that resentment into your running or riding. Use the conditions too, if it's shite and wet and windy, visualise yourself getting stronger and fitter through adversity while your mate, who always seems to beat you to the trig point, is loafing around at home with his feet up.

And above all, enjoy

There's no point in training if you don't enjoy it. If you hate running, try mountain biking or swimming. If the step machine at the gym bores you rigid then try running outside. Yes, there'll always be days when it feels like a grind, but if it's fun, you're far more likely to stick with it. So what are you waiting for?

Yours doggedly

The Canny Canine