Do you ever wake up and the sun is not shining and you’re laying in a dark room not wanting to move. The silence of the morning is peaceful and you getting up would be disrupting such a serene moment. You’re up and the sky is dark and gloomy, much like this bay area weather today. It is not the normal motivating weather with the bright blue sky and the warmth from the morning sunrise. How do you get up for practice before the first rooster crows? How do you get to the gym before the first ray of shine hits the horizon? What do you do when you’re lazy and don’t want to move? Sometimes a good start to your morning will make you forget that it’s grey outside. Are you asking yourself, I’m in a fitness rut, how can I stay motivated? My answer is, get moving.
Go for an early morning gym session. If that’s not your forte then maybe you can go for an early morning swim, the possibilities on how to get up and get moving are endless. I know, you don’t want to move, but you’re running out of reasons on why you shouldn’t. The perks of it are far greater than you hitting your snooze button. We all have aspirations to feel better about ourselves, yet we do nothing about it. We keep telling ourselves that we want to look a certain way or be able to run a mile without stopping.
Why don’t we ever follow through?
With most things that are worthy of celebration, it takes time. To get that college acceptance letter took you thirteen years, to get your dream job took another few years in school, getting experience, etc. Learning an instrument took a tremendous amount of time and practice to get to where you are now. You may not be first chair, but you’re also a lot better than the people who have never even tried to learn how to play. Self-discipline is important to your success, in anything you do. You can’t be the athlete to beat if you never practice and you’ll never reach your bench press weight if you have never trained. It may seem like a lot at the moment, but if you take it one day at a time, it’s less daunting. Fitness rut or not, you’ve got goals and dreams to achieve. If you want to lose ten pounds and you sit and think about how you’re going to do it instead of going to the gym and trying to it seems nearly impossible. Have your goal, but don’t let that stop you from seeing what’s in front of you. One workout is done, you need to get yourself to the next one. Soon enough, you’ll have shed five pounds without realizing it and then one day you would have already reached your goal. Just think, one foot in front of the other. You’ve all heard slow and steady wins the race, don’t push your body too far. There might be a deadline for whatever goal you’re trying to achieve, but your body can only take so much. You cannot lose ten pounds in ten days because you didn’t gain those ten pounds in a matter of days. It gradually added on, which is how it’ll probably shed off. Don’t let the scale define you. It is but a number. Be active, be healthy and most importantly be happy.
As an athlete, you live that healthier lifestyle. You have to practice constantly and your diet is a factor in how you perform. It doesn’t mean that you don’t have not so motivated days, you’re allowed to feel like you’re in a rut in your athletic career. Know that your success can only come from how hard you work or how much effort you are willing to put into it. You didn’t start out with a smile from ear to ear about your early morning workouts or even after school practices. You’ve adapted, learned and now it all doesn’t seem so bad. Your habits and routine makes you a great athlete along with your dedication to your craft. Celebrate your small wins as well as your big ones. Keep swimming, be the best athlete you can be, that can only happen if you get moving!
It may look cold and grey outside, but do something your future self with thank you for. We have all gone through at least one fitness rut, but the important part is realizing it and doing something about it. Get your work out done before you have the time to be tired after work before you start making excuses for why you should skip your hour of exercise. As Thomas Jefferson once said,
“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.”