It’s one thing to know we should be doing some regular exercise, but it is quite another to actually do it. Half the time we can’t find the motivation or feel positive about doing it.
But there is something ironic about exercise that you may not know. Exercise itself can be a great way to improve your mood if you are feeling a bit low or down for some reason. It releases certain hormones that make you feel better – which is partly why if you go out for a bracing walk you’ll feel a lot more alive when you get back than you did when you went out in the first place!
But you don’t need to go outside to get the exercise you need. All you have to do is hop on that exercise bike to get the results you want. It might take a little bit more motivation because you won’t have the same changes in scenery that you are used to when you go out. But it does have advantages all of its own.
In essence then you need to put yourself in the mood for exercising if you aren’t already in it before you begin. Think back to an occasion when you did some exercise before. How did that make you feel? The chances are you felt quite positive and good for having made the effort to do it. It’s those ‘feel good hormones’ doing their job once again.
What you need to do is to focus on those great feelings before you start exercising. So for example, if your aim is to get on your exercise bike for half an hour and you are having trouble motivating yourself to do it, think of how good you will feel in 30 minutes time if you actually go ahead with it. Focus on those feelings and you will soon get to the stage where you do want to get on and start pedalling.
This is a simple technique that works a lot better than you might think. All it takes is a few moments of visualisation and you should reap the benefits. The more you use this technique the better it gets too, so you will find yourself exercising more easily as time goes on.
In short then, make the most of your mind and let it help you to get the level of exercise you really need.