BRAIN FOOD TIP OF THE DAY

Today’s tip is by #BrainFood personal trainer Dan Roberts: ‘If you’re starting a new fitness regime then it’s really important to plan the dates and make appointments with yourself. Here are the top five reasons why:

Create a life-long habit

Planning your fitness routine shows a level of commitment. Building a life-long fitness habit will make your fitness goals far easier to achieve and allows you to track your progress. Include a new goal each week and build in a monthly reward such as theatre tickets or a new item of clothing.

Switch it up

Scheduling your fitness routine helps to keep it fresh. It gives you the opportunity to book a new fitness class near your work, explore a different area of the park or learn a new hobby such a rock climbing or rollerblading. The more exciting your routine is, the easier it will be to stick to.

Build relationships

Arranging a fitness session can benefit your social life. Planning ahead gives you time to contact friends and invite them to take part in a tennis match or evening jog. Studies have also shown that people who exercise with others are more likely to reach their fitness goals as they have someone constantly spurring them them on.

Push your boundaries

Planning ahead helps you to develop an efficient workout. If you can do an hour a day, that’s great but if perhaps you have children or two jobs, then maybe you can only do thirty minutes every other day, and that’s ok too.  Whatever your time commitment is planning ahead allows you to make the most of your time you’ve got.  Always ask yourself where will I work out today?  How can I make the most of it? Can I incorporate body weight exercises?

Improve over-all health

An all-inclusive fitness plan means tracking the less-obvious features of fitness, such as reminders to practice stability or balance exercises as well as tracking your sleep patterns and eating habits. Monitoring these small details helps make you more conscious of them on a day-to-day basis.