Maintaining your fitness during any significant life change can always feel next to impossible. I’m sure we can all look back to our first ever lockdown and remember how much we wanted to get done back then. It’s been eons since that time, and for some, the new activities they have picked up have stuck. For others, it’s been difficult to land on any one activity and commit to it. If you relate to the latter, it is not too late! It is never too late in fact, and after this article, I hope to reignite your inner spark of motivation and slowly help you to establish a fitness routine.
Something you love
Choosing an exercise you love is crucial when beginning any fitness journey. It doesn’t always guarantee that you’ll stay motivated to do it, but it sure will help. The only true way to find out if you’ll like something is by trying it. The great thing about being a college student is that there are infinite clubs you can access to find your perfect sport. Often finding out what you don’t like can make discovering what you do like much easier. For example, I never liked competitive sports that involved teams, so I leaned towards dance as my fitness activity. Don’t worry if you haven’t found a type of workout that suits you yet, the perfect one for everyone still exists somewhere!
Motivation
Staying fit goes hand in hand with staying motivated. Most of the time we can get stuck in this loop where we feel like we must start something at specific times, like at the beginning of the week, or month, or year. The best and quickest way to get motivated is to ditch that idea entirely. You can start doing anything to keep fit right away. There is really nothing holding you back. It may sound simple, and a bit over-said but keeping motivated is about seizing the moment and doing something as it occurs to you. Ignore the little voice in your head saying you will do it later, or on Monday, or in 2022, there really is no time like the present.
Slow and steady
Motivation is a very volatile force. Doing too much too quickly, as we all know, can lead to burnout. What is more, once we get burnt out, we could lose our motivation and fall off the fitness wagon. Starting off your fitness journey slowly is one of the best ways to ensure that you will stick with your routine for the long term. That means setting a small goal for yourself every week. If you love to swim, decide to do 30 minutes of swimming twice a week, or whatever works for you. Afterwards, you can build it up over time as it begins to etch itself into a permanent space in your life. Don’t worry if you can’t increase your time spent with fitness over time, or at all. Every moment you try is important and counts toward something, as long as you are consistent.
Resources
There are a variety of ways you can stay fit without spending much or anything at all. As I mentioned before, the university clubs are worthwhile for those who like to keep social during their fitness routine. YouTube is amazing for those who would prefer to exercise in the comfort of their own home. It’s also free, if you can stomach the ads, and they host a wealth of beginner’s exercises in activities from cardio to pilates. Another valuable resource for fitness is Zoom classes. Maybe you’re sick of Zoom, I get it! However, for those who don’t want to spend a lot of money on classes but still want to keep fit with people in real-time, Zoom classes are the way to go. Keeping fit can be quite accessible and there are plenty of resources out there that will match your specific fitness wants and needs.
Remember keeping fit is all about you, so make it as enjoyable as possible.
