So, you wondered how to start playing sports. Great, the first step has already been taken! However, from deciding to lead a more active lifestyle to developing a habit, you will have to go through a period of getting used to the new activity.
And, alas, it is at this moment that some people quit training forever. We will tell you in today’s material how not to break down, have fun and make progress in your endeavor.
Self-discipline and self-improvement
These are the two main keys to achieving full self-realization in sports, regardless of the global nature of the tasks you set for yourself. And these are quite difficult moments, because you have to make certain sacrifices. If walks, parties, hobbies can interfere with your usual routine, you need to be able to refuse them.
Of course, this will be very difficult to do. But only such difficulties and a clear awareness that the rejection of “excesses” gives an iron will. Without it, it is impossible to achieve anything worthwhile in life, to rise to heights that one could only dream of. When this happens, nothing can compare with this feeling. It completely justifies all the difficulties experienced. It costs a lot to be a winner in life!
To be motivated, you must always have the desire to keep yourself in good shape, feel a charge of strength and energy. And this is the true truth. Athletes belong to that category of people who are proud of what they do. They constantly feel a surge of strength, full of energy, look to the future with confidence, and have a clear idea of their intentions and goals. This allows you to find a clear meaning in life, which is to live in order to achieve something. Such an attitude distinguishes an athlete from the general gray crowd. Being active and playing sports means living an eventful life.
The best plan to achieve your goal
Based on everything we've talked about so far, there are a number of things you can do to keep your motivation high:
- Let's decide on a goal. It should be as specific as possible (this article will help), clear, focused, definitely YOURS (see above) and bring joy.
- Make a plan in advance. Determine what resources you will need to achieve your goal - it can be not only money, but also time, effort, knowledge, and the help of other people. Think through the steps that you will have to take on the way to the goal, divide them into smaller and easily achievable ones (something you can start with today). Try to estimate the risks and workarounds in advance. Without obstacles, both external and internal - from the head - no one has ever achieved their goals. I’ll tell you a secret - your subconscious will resist most of all. In general, before you take real action, you should have a “road map” in your hands that will make your path easier.
- Move little by little, very carefully, but be sure to move every day! Be patient - the results will come, but not immediately, and if you try to make a sharp breakthrough (sharply limit calories, sharply increase exercise), then after a while you will get the same sharp setback - and it will discourage you from continuing. Persistence and consistency are more important here than feats and heroism.
- Keep yourself positive. Positive emotions are a great force that turns you into a superhero who always succeeds. Reward yourself for achievements, allow yourself to relax from time to time, rest more often, sleep well.
- Use incentives to enhance results.
Second: Motivation must occupy the right place in the pyramid of needs.
Maslow's Pyramid of Needs
70 years ago, American psychologist Abraham Maslow created a universal model of human needs, which still remains very popular. This is the so-called “Maslow Pyramid”. At the base of this pyramid are the most basic human needs, and at the top are the sublime ones. Maslow explained the arrangement of needs in the form of a pyramid by the fact that a person cannot experience high-level needs while he needs more primitive things. If you are hungry or in danger, you will not think about achieving harmony with the world around you.
How is Maslow's pyramid related to motivation? It’s very simple - if you haven’t satisfied your basic needs, then in most cases the motivation at higher levels will be weak. That is, if you don’t have enough money to pay the next mortgage installment (second step – security), the motivation to earn this same money will be much higher than the motivation to learn a foreign language (fifth step – knowledge, skill).
The art of small steps
Many of us like to set Napoleonic plans from the very beginning: 5 workouts a week, only hour-long runs - and it’s better to immediately prepare for a marathon. The result is disappointment, sadness and a new breakdown. Remember the main antidote: eat the elephant in parts!
Break the new habit into as small steps as possible: first - 30 minutes of walking a day, from next week - an hour, after - 15 minutes of easy jogging... Start with what causes the least resistance and gradually increase the pace.
Motivating factors
Important points that allow everyone to find the willpower to not lose interest or desire to play sports. They are quite simple, and their clear presentation in front of you allows you to constantly feel the desire to move forward and only forward:
Achieve success
Being successful, regardless of the sport, is something that brings true pleasure and self-satisfaction to every athlete, allowing them to be recognized for all the effort and time spent on training. And the more difficult the path to true success, the higher the degree of satisfaction experienced.
Confession
When the results become noticeable and significant, and the people around them recognize them, this certainly affects the athlete’s self-respect, allows him to feel his own dignity, and in some cases gain confidence.
Growth and development
Long-term goals and prospects give confidence not only in the present, but also in the future.
Quality training content
To avoid boredom and reluctance to start another workout, you should carefully select exercises. They should be interesting and varied. This has a positive effect on sporting achievements.
A good habit is to exercise every day.
All your efforts to force yourself to do sports are not helping? You can prepare your body for physical activity by doing normal, everyday activities.
Stretching
When washing your face or brushing your teeth, do not slouch your back, bending over in an “arc.” Instead, bend your back straight from the waist without rounding it. This is a stretch for the gluteal and calf muscles. A more difficult option: do the same thing while standing on one leg. Do a warm-up a couple of times a day (morning, evening).
Strengthen your ankles
Do you get to work by metro, bus or train? Travel time can be used productively. You can either sit or stand. Without attracting the attention of your neighbors on the transport, raise your leg and make 10 rotational movements of your feet clockwise. Then there are so many movements counterclockwise. Repeat with the other leg. Do several approaches. The exercise is simple but very useful.
Walking
If you have time, get off one or two stops early and walk the rest of the way. Breathe in rhythm with every step. In certain sections, speed up the pace, then slow down.
Ladder
Take the chance to warm up if your home or place of work is in a multi-story building. Regular steps are an excellent free exercise machine that can serve as a replacement for a step platform. Avoid using the elevator and go up and down on foot. The results will not keep you waiting.
Wall
It is also possible to warm up some muscles directly during a telephone conversation. For example, the calf muscles. While standing, rest your hand on the wall, lift your leg off the floor and slightly bend it at the knee, holding it suspended. The second leg rests firmly on the floor.
Continuing to lean on your hand, move your body forward until you feel tension in the calf muscles of your supporting leg. Now you can transfer the phone to your other hand, repeating the movements, focusing on the other arm and leg.
Just charging
Just by dedicating 5-10 minutes to exercise at any time during the day, you will already prepare your body for sports, improve your figure and posture. Start with simple exercises like squats, head rotation, scissor hands, jumping in place, bending left and right. Remember school physical education lessons. Over time, this will not be enough, and it will be easier for you to tune in to the gym.
Tell everyone
While you’re writing New Year’s resolutions, the idea of running a summer marathon seems tempting, but in January it will start again: it’s cold, there’s no time, then I’ll start, but who needs that anyway. To prevent this from happening, deceive the psyche by putting pressure on it from the social side: tell friends, relatives and colleagues about your goal . Let them know what Napoleonic plans you have, and periodically ask how things are going. In such a situation, it will be awkward to quit.
Another option is to argue with someone, to “commit.” The fashionable word “commitment” means that you undertake to achieve a certain goal within a clear period of time, and for failure you pay a fine (monetary or any other - as agreed). For achieving the goal, motivating bonuses are possible.
A special case of a commitment is when you pay money to a sports club so that they prepare you for the start: after all, if you fail, it means that you simply wasted the money. This is the case when a toad doesn’t just suffocate, but motivates you to train.
