How to stay motivated and on track when life gives you lemons.

You’ve heard it said a million times: “progress isn’t linear.” They’re not lying. There’s so many things that go into this but the biggest one I want to focus on today and the thing I see get in most people's way is: life. It’s happened to all of us; we get in our stride, lifts are finally feeling good, we’re gaining momentum, we’re making gains! And then… Something happens. Something changes. We get a new job with a new schedule, a family member gets sick, a relationship ends, you trip and now your knee feels weird, the seasons changed and it’s now dark for what seems like 18 hours of the day. We start to lose motivation, we don’t have a lot of extra time anymore, maybe there’s a networking event for your new job, you need to go help your mom around her house, you keep getting injured or feeling pain so what’s the point? Stop, take a deep breath. Life happens, nothing is perfect. Besides, isn’t working out all about being able to overcome and adapt to challenges? So, how do we make lemonade when life hands us lemons?

1. Adjust when needed. You DO NOT (read that again) need 60 minutes to get an effective workout in. The word effective is all relative anyways, right? If a 30 minute workout keeps you motivated or keeps you on track, then wouldn’t we consider that effective?  If you only have 30 minutes at home in the morning, then that’s your time to shine. Go through your week and find out exactly when you have the time and schedule it in and treat it as something that needs to be done (because it does). If you’re so stressed out at work and you're not sleeping well, then do some lower intensity movement, such as yoga, pilates, hypertrophy-focused strength training, easy runs, light cardio, or work on a fun skill you’ve been trying to learn. Other options include reducing weight or reps and sets that week. When you look back at the week, even 15 minutes everyday amounts to 105 minutes of exercise total, compared to just one 60 minute workout.

   
   

2. Make sure your goals go deeper than the surface. This, to me, is the most important one in staying motivated. Most of my clients came to me saying: “I want to tone up and lose weight.” While that may be a great place to start and I’m happy it gets people taking action, it has proven time and time again that it is not enough. The reason for this is because visual changes are usually the last to come. It takes time for muscle to grow, it takes time to lose fat, and most weight loss is influenced by dieting anyways. You might not even see the scale move because muscle is growing while you’re losing fat. All of this will result in loss of motivation; "I can’t see it, so it must not be happening.” Instead, attach your goals to experiences and quality of life. Exercise alone has so many benefits for your body to just function better; sleep quality skyrockets and a stronger heart can pump out more blood for faster recovery and more energy throughout the day. Those benefits you can feel the effects of pretty quickly. Going beyond that, think about the things you want to do in life. Sign up for a 5k with a fundraiser that you feel passionately about, plan more hikes and outdoor activities with your friends or by yourself, join an amateur sports league that you’ve wanted to get into, get strong so you can be prepared for any challenge life throws at you. This brings me to my next point, below.

   
   

3. Appreciate all the little things. Hype up the small achievements. I love celebrating the little wins that my clients might not notice. A movement looking smoother and more stable, the ability to get more done in a certain time period because your body can move faster, or not needing as much time to rest. I’ve had clients text me in the middle of the day saying they just carried something really heavy upstairs and they were able to do it without asking for help. HELLO! That’s PROGRESS!

   
   

4. Find your people. There’s so much power in community. Find an instructor or trainer that you love going to and who makes fitness fun. Meet people who have the same goals as you so that you have someone who will tell you to get up and keep going when you don’t want to. And who knows, maybe you’ll become the reason someone gets to the gym when they don’t want to.

   
   

It is peaks and valleys my friends, but remember, if you give up you’ll never know what the next high is! I always say to my clients “It never gets easier, you just get better”. Make your goals so big that you can always see them in the distance. So whatever lemonade you’re making, adjust when needed and enjoy every sip along the way!

About the Author: Melora is a personal trainer and group fitness instructor based in NYC. With over 15 years of dance experience and having been thrown into every sport growing up, she has a passion for bringing movement into other people's lives. Melora has explored many different modalities, keeping up with her philosophy that although we need to work hard to push past boundaries and achieve our goals, we must also stay curious and open minded and remember that exercise is fun and personal to the individual. You can check out her website getstormfit.com or follow her on IG @get_stormfit for gym tips and tricks and maybe a laugh or two.