How To Get Yourself Motivated

How much you get out of an exercise has a lot to do with how much you enjoy doing it. Here are some suggestions that might make working out more fun for you.

Get a friend to go along. Working out together and keeping track of each other's progress can motivate you. Set up an exercise schedule, and reward yourselves for each week that you managed to stick to it.

Get some special exercise clothes. They don't have to be the expensive trendy kind, just an outfit that you're comfortable wearing. Don't even think about putting it on unless you're going to be working out.

If your work out to involves running, biking, blading, or walking, go to somewhere fun like a park or a friend's house.

Put off doing something you wanted to until you've exercise (writing e-mail, calling friends, eating, watching TV).

Set goals for yourself. It's fun to keep track of your progress, and you'll have more progress to record if you keep each goal just slightly tougher than what you been able to do already. Big goals can be discouraging, and -- if they involve pushing yourself much harder than usual -- they can be dangerous.

Choosing a Goal

There are four types of goals you can choose from:

Life In Motion: Get Your Body Involved

The kind of exercise you get from sports and athletics is just one type of movement that's important to the way you grow, look, and feel. The other is movement you work into your daily life by walking instead of taking a car rides, climbing stairs instead of riding the elevator, and generally using your body instead of relying on vehicles and appliances to transport you and take care of certain tasks. Not that you should revert to the Stone Age! There will always be times when it won't make sense to try to get somewhere without a ride. But there will also be plenty of times when you wouldn't be sacrificing anything and in fact, would be gaining a great deal, by getting more movement into your life. The greatest benefit is that you will stay in good shape. Your body will get better with use, so the more you use it each day, the more it improves.

And another thing, you will want to stay in shape! As you depend more and more on your body, you'll realize that it works and feels best when its rested, well nourished, and exercised.

Fitness Is For Everyone!

If you have a disabling condition or disease of any kind, you need exercise just as much as anyone else. Regardless of your problem, you can benefit from regular workouts. Almost every day, people who have suffered paralysis, undergone an amputation, or been diagnosed with chronic disease break through athletic barriers, proving to others who share their condition that their problem is not necessarily an obstacle to general fitness.

How much of what kind of activity take up depends on your particular condition and the kind of medication it may be taking for it. Your health care provider should be in on any decision about starting an exercise program, and to provide guidance and encouragement. If your health care provider warns you against exercise, see if another provider will offer you different advice.

Be Confident
Some people let self-consciousness keep them from working out. They think that their physical difference makes them look or act funny, and that others will stare and laugh at them. Although there are always insensitive people who might behave that way, they are relatively few compared with the many who admire anyone willing to work at fitness. Keep in mind that the kinds of people who make fun are the ones with the real disabilities. Self-consciousness can also be a problem if you have to ask others for help while you are preparing to exercise -- if you need assistance getting into the pool for example, or getting in and out of the shower.

Surprise Symptoms
Another obstacle for some is unpredictable symptoms. With some diseases you never know when it might flare up. If you have diabetes, epilepsy, or asthma, you may have to deal with this. If you have one of these conditions, and you're involved in a team sport, make sure that your coach and at least one teammate know how to recognize your symptoms and understand what to do if they flare in order to help you. You might feel weird about bringing it up, but you will feel even worse if something happened and you had left them unprepared. Always have your inhaler, or other medication available if you need it. If you tell about it with confidence, in a way that lets them know you are not frightened or humiliated, they won't be scared or embarrassed, either.

It takes practice, patience, and familiarity with your body to get control of a chronic illness. You can help yourself by cooperating with your health care provider, taking the appropriate medications in the proper amounts and the right times, and keeping your body as fit as you're able with an exercise program you truly enjoy.

Problem Parents
Parents of kids with disabilities or chronic diseases often react in one of two ways:

They become overprotective and warn you not to move a muscle. They're scared of the risks they see in sports. Or they pretend there's no problem and push you into every conceivable form of athletics just to prove that their kid is "okay".

Unless they've discussed it with your health care provider, and he or she has agreed that you're too timid about exercise, your parents are not qualified to make those decisions for you. Only you and your health care provider can determine what and how much you can and should be doing.

It is important for you as well as your family to remember that just because people with physical disabilities are participating in marathons, mountain-climbing expeditions, and other challenging athletic adventures, it doesn't mean that you have to push yourself to similar extremes. Just because you can do it, in other words, doesn't mean you have to do it. There is no reason why an exercise program for you should be any more demanding than one for others who don't have that extra challenge.

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Make sure to Stretch before and after exercise to help reduce injury and improve flexibility!

~ Exercise And Enjoy ~