By Ellen Phillips
Physiotherapist at Life Ready Physio + Pilates Bayswater
Most of us would like to live a healthier lifestyle – whether that is improving your muscle strength or increasing your flexibility or something else entirely. Finding time and motivation can be tricky as we live busier lives than ever before. So what are some things we can do to make reaching our desired health and fitness goals easier?
Enjoyment
It is always easier to be motivated to work towards our health and fitness goals when we enjoy the process. Enjoyment can be found in many different forms. Some examples include:
- Exercising with a friend or colleague with similar wellness values. It is always less effort to work up a sweat with a mate!
- Doing a form of exercise that you like and are passionate about. If you don’t like running, don’t go for a run! Maybe try cycling or swimming instead. Getting happiness from the form of exercise you are doing will make you more likely to complete it regularly and put in 100% effort
Specific training
People often attempt and trial different types of exercise to improve their health and fitness, however do not experience the results they desire. Exercise needs to be specific in nature to achieve different fitness and health goals. For example, cardiovascular exercise for weight loss, high load, moderate repetition strength training for building muscle bulk or lower load, high repetition strength training for building endurance. You might be doing multiple training sessions per week, however not seeing your desired results because the type of exercise you are completing is not specific to your health or fitness goal.
Scheduling and time
Creating time for exercise can be difficult working around work, family and other commitments. Finding the time of day when you are most motivated and have the time and energy is crucial to getting the most out of your exercise. Planning ahead and booking scheduled times during the week can help with accountability in training working towards your health and fitness goals.
Physiotherapy and Pilates
Physiotherapist-led Clinical Pilates is tailored to your specific health and fitness goals. Physiotherapists can assess your strength, flexibility and patterns of movement and formulate Pilates-based exercise programs that target your areas of weakness. This provides specific training that can be scheduled into your week at a regular time, making you accountable to achieving your goals!
Exercising and working towards your health and fitness goals requires dedication, specific training and hard work and there are many different tools and strategies you can use to work hard and work towards living the healthiest version of your lifestyle.
To get started, contact your local Life Ready team now for a comprehensive initial assessment where our team will develop an individualised treatment plan to get you moving towards your best quality of life!
