What is incidental exercise and how can we use it to better our health?
December 3, 2020
How to assess your training and know if you are making improvements
December 9, 2020Weight loss Isn’t the best motivator to workout
Yes, you read that correctly, weight loss is not the best goal to focus on when starting your exercise journey. Many people focus on a goal to lose weight or to reach a certain KG on the scales but sometimes this can be detrimental to your progress if you aren’t hitting those numbers as quickly as you would like.
Firstly, I would like to introduce you to the two types of motivation: Say hello to Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation
Intrinsic motivation- Is where you feel motivated to complete a task because you genuinely enjoy this task, and it makes you feel good. These tasks usually come with internal rewards such as satisfaction, happiness etc.
Extrinsic motivation- Extrinsic motivation is when you are externally motivated by something or someone (money, doing something that someone else wants you to do and you do not want to disappointment. Basically, it’s performing a tasks knowingly because of the physical reward you will receive once completed not because it interests you/you want to do it.
Both types of motivation are handy to have for completing tasks, a well-balanced life will have a mix of both motivators. It is however, very important when starting your exercise journey we shift our perception of “losing weight” (extrinsic motivator) to analyzing how we feel after we exercise “I felt amazing after I did that group class the other day” (intrinsic motivation).
Implementing such thought processes will make it easier to get started and know that when the exercise has been completed you are almost guaranteed to feel good. And in saying that, with consistency (and a good diet) you will most likely start to look good as well! This will allow you to develop a positive relationship with exercise rather than checking the scales every day and not seeing the results fast enough.
With this said, I’d like to Just touch on a few negatives that may arise if our sole focus is only on losing weight.
Weight loss is never linear, it will fluctuate based on training styles, timing of foods, content of foods and plateaus will most likely occur. It is important to recognise that adjustments must be regularly made as our bodies adapt to each stimulus, we throw at it.
Health Benefits focus-
Now that you have somewhat of a better understanding of why we should focus on other factors across our exercise journey you should place the below on a pedestal when considering “getting healthy and losing weight”:
- Improved sleep quality
- Protects against depression and reduces stress/anxiety levels
- Reduces risk of developing chronic conditions
- Supports a health immune system
Now that this has all been said, lets change the way we think from a “weight loss” point of view and start to incorporate the “I’m exercising to reap the health benefits associated with regular consistent exercise and a proper healthy diet”.
If you would like a hand to get back on track and have an expert in exercise guide you please click the link below to book in with us. After all, we are here to educated and empower people to move more and live better!
