Regular physical activity is one of those few things that everyone agrees is essential for good overall health and a robust sense of well-being.
Not only does staying physically active on a regular basis literally add years to your life, but there’s ample research to suggest that it’s also a remarkably effective treatment for mood conditions including such things as depression.
Of course, it’s one thing to know that you should be physically active on a regular basis, and it’s another thing altogether to actually get yourself motivated to be physically active.
Here are a few tips and tricks that you can use to ensure that you remain physically active, and can find the motivation to get moving, whether or not you necessarily feel like it in any given moment.
Get a dog
Dogs are some of the most beloved pets out there, and have been accompanying humanity on our various adventures for so long that the origins of our connection stretches back into the mists of prehistory.
Of course, there are all sorts of ways in which a dog can help to enrich your life – ranging from general-purpose companionship, to practical usefulness, such as in the case of service dogs.
One of the great everyday benefits of having a dog, though, is that they can act as excellent motivation for you to get physically active on a routine basis. The bottom line is that your dog needs physical exercise at least as much as you do (and wants it probably more than you do) and daily dog walks are, simultaneously, daily walks for you.
For people who want to indulge in a greater degree of physical activity than just going for daily walks, there are athletic dogs who will certainly exhaust you with their ability to run and play at a moment’s notice. In order to keep those dogs happy and healthy, you can buy specially formulated food from https://www.timeforpaws.co.uk
When all is said and done, it’s a lot harder to justify staying on the sofa all day if you know that you have a duty to exercise your dog.
Start getting more sleep, and address any nutrient deficiencies you might have
Your motivation for anything in life (aside from sleep) is going to be significantly impaired if you are constantly getting fewer hours of slumber than you need.
By the same token, if you have nutrient deficiencies to contend with – and those are often a lot more common than you might think – your energy, motivation, and health are likely to not be anywhere near-optimal.
Taking care of yourself with regards to these fundamental necessities of life can go a long way to actually putting you in a position where you feel motivated to work out and be physically active, on a regular basis.
It might be that your issue is essentially one of willpower and discipline – but it might also be that any reluctance you feel to exert yourself could be a symptom that something is out of balance, more generally.
Consider eating more carbs
Carbohydrates get a bad rap these days, and there are some plausible arguments out there about the potential benefits of a low-carb diet for some people, in some situations.
That being said, there is a pretty broad consensus about the fact that carbohydrates are essential in order to fuel your body for high-intensity exercise, in particular. And many people who have tried to limit their carbs have noticed that they subsequently have significantly less energy when it comes to their workouts.
Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose in the body, which is then stored in the muscles in the form of glycogen. If your glycogen levels are chronically depleted, most forms of exercise are going to feel a lot more painful and strenuous than they otherwise would.
It might be that fuelling yourself for physical activity, by eating more carbs, could work wonders.
Get involved in sports that you enjoy for their own sake
Not everyone enjoys “working out” in a deliberate, focused sense. But most people could probably identify some physically active pastimes that they would enjoy, for their own sake.
There are all sorts of sports and physically active pastimes out there, ranging from martial arts, to badminton, to swimming. Get involved in some sport that you enjoy for its own sake, and you’ll be able to focus on “having fun,” while the actual exercise and fitness component largely happens of its own accord.
