Staying Motivated
Physical rehabilitation is focused on enhancing your quality of life. Specialists in this field don’t focus on just one part of the body, but rather on putting a patient’s life back together. A big aspect of this process is continuing on a healthy course after you have healed, and perhaps your active physical therapy has come to an end. Now what?
Whether you are currently in a physical therapy program, or continuing to exercise once you have healed, staying motivated is often one of the biggest stumbling blocks. It is more important than ever now to take care of your body. Here are some of the ways we recommend to support yourself in staying motivated to exercise.
- Plan your day with exercise time built in. Most of us know from experience that unless we plan out our schedule with a specific time for exercise, it is so easy to get caught up in other things, and to just “not get to it”. So the first tip is to proactively plan it!
- Think about or write down all the reasons you want to stay healthy and strong. List all the things that give your life pleasure, and that take a functioning, healthy body to do. There are lots of them if you think about it. Then make a list of the consequences of not taking care of your health. Think of the ways it will limit your enjoyment of life, not to mention the burden you could place on your family or friends who have to cope with your declining condition. When you realize that there is really only one person who can take care of your body, it is pretty motivating.
- The absolute best strategy for staying with your exercise routine is to join a class, group, or find a workout buddy. When you have a class to attend or a workout buddy depending on you to show up, you are much more likely to do it. It is more fun, more exciting, and it raises the energy level when you exercise with at least one other person. It also keeps you accountable. Someone else knows whether you are keeping your commitment. And if it’s a buddy, that person is depending on you just as you are depending on them to keep it going! Like any challenge, getting healthy and staying strong can be much easier with the support of others.
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