Maxim Bodyagin

Writer, blogger, podcaster and media consultant. Author of the blog iDiot Daily.

Now, in the first days of the new year, everyone starts life with clean slate, lose weight crazy and without memory and often ask: how to force yourself to play sports? Well, or some kind of physical education.

I’ve been training since I was 19, I don’t remember how many gyms and trainers I’ve seen over the years. I’ve been training for ten years in total. And based on experience, I came up with a simple answer to this essential question: no way. There is no way to force yourself. People who can force themselves to train ask “how?” are not asked. They are naturally endowed with strong-willed qualities that help them achieve success. This post is not for them. This post is for ordinary people, not endowed with superpowers, but instead enriched with a full set of neuroses, fears and expectations.

There are two ways of motivation: “violent” (this is when you need to force yourself) and “encouraging” (this is when you need to be inspired). It's very easy to figure out what you need. Ask yourself: what do I need? If your goal requires some extra effort (getting on the cover of a glossy magazine, winning an amateur boxing tournament, lifting a barbell weighing half a ton), then everything is simple - you surrender to a professional trainer, who will volens-nolens squeeze these extra efforts out of you, and under his magic with slaps on the head, you will quickly understand everything about “forcing” and about “no pain - no gain”.

If your goal is more mundane, such as “lose weight by summer” or simply “feel comfortable in your own body,” then perhaps you should stop forcing yourself to do something you don’t feel like doing, and try to find something that will inspire you .

Let me give you an example. I have hated running since childhood. However, I had to run a lot. IN different times I ran from “five” to “ten” every day, and once I even ran a stupid marathon and almost died. Every time I had to go for a run, I started to hate myself. Own life. Own choice. Each kick of a sneaker into a forest path or treadmill accompanied by an obscene exhalation. Of course, having reached the “age of Christ,” I finally gave up running.

For a while I replaced running with jumping rope, but last year I discovered Nordic walking. For me, it really became the “discovery of the year”: this is a great way to breathe through all the lungs from top to bottom, load both arms and legs, “stir up” the spine, and so on. And now I don’t need to come up with complex motivational moves for myself, my legs carry me to the park themselves. I happily walk six to eight kilometers with sticks almost every day. Moreover, I curse the days when the walk is disrupted or when I have to shorten the distance due to time pressure.

One more example. When I was a kid I tried judo athletics, cycling. And, to be honest, I hated sports as such. I thought I hated any physical activity... Until I discovered Okinawan karate at the age of 19. I was amazed at the wealth that lay there and began training 20-25 hours a week, leaving myself with only one day off on Sunday. Of course, then life changed and I had to reconsider my schedule. But I still remember that inspiration.

The last example. I hate yoga. I attended several classes taught by my very qualified friends, and each time I came out of them mother of all living things. For me, yoga is painful and crazy boring. I understand that all this is terribly useful, that we are not getting younger day by day and so on blah blah blah. But the very thought that I will ever have to squeak my ligaments on a yoga mat terrifies me.

But then I remembered Jumbi Undo - a set of breathing, strength and stretching exercises that Shojun Miyagi invented in the 20s of the last century. This complex was specially created so that a simple Okinawan fisherman could keep himself in shape suitable for martial arts. This complex is also beautiful because, like Lego bricks, you can sculpt what you need from it. If you want, you add a stretch module, or if you want, you add a power module. And I forgot about “forcing myself” again. I enjoyed experimenting with these exercises, adding or subtracting this or that. When I came to hapkido training after a long break, it turned out that I was quite in shape.

The secret of independent training was revealed to me twenty years ago by a Shito-ryu karate master:

You will never be able to push yourself to give it your all if you train alone. It will all end with the fact that, once you force yourself to make an extra effort, you will simply hate yourself and spit on classes. To train successfully throughout your life, you need to work not at one hundred percent, but at seventy percent. For example, you can do a maximum of ten pull-ups and then die from pain. Okay, but you can probably do seven pull-ups in relative comfort, right? So increase this volume, never stopping.

In Buddhism, this continuous effort is illustrated by the image of an elephant or a turtle, since these animals are never in a hurry, but also never stop.

It seems to me that this is a fairly productive way of training thinking:

• work at 70 percent capacity rather than 100 percent, but do it honestly;
• do not “die” during a workout, but complete it on an endorphin peak, maintaining freshness and inspiration for the next workout;
• experiment and search;
• never stop.

Stop deceiving yourself and looking for complicated ways to forcefully motivate yourself. Just find that kind physical activity, which will inspire you, and you yourself will be amazed at the changes that will happen to you. Fortunately, now there is plenty to choose from.

Believe me, as long as you are looking for support outside of yourself, looking for “who would force you,” trying to think in line with violent motivation, you will not change. You will sigh and reflect for years, instead of proudly walking forward like an elephant, never stopping.

Inspiration. Here's what to look for to truly change. Good luck and good health to you!

If there were no laziness, a person would be able to move mountains. But this negative quality, inherent to many, does not allow us to move forward, reduces the results of our activities, and generally worsens our lives. Laziness also greatly affects the desire to exercise and play sports. However, everyone knows that a person’s health and well-being depend on physical activity. Overcoming laziness is quite difficult. To do this, it is better to use “workarounds” rather than direct methods. Let's figure out how to force yourself to exercise and overcome your laziness.

Choosing the right direction

Sometimes a person dreams of doing some kind of sport because of advertising for this activity. So, for example, after various ice shows, he goes to trial training in figure skating. There he falls many times and injures his legs, since the ligaments are weak for skates. After health has been restored, a person does not know how to force himself to play sports. But a logical question arises: is it necessary?

An adult comes to sports for himself, and not for high sporting achievements. You need to clearly understand this and adequately assess your strengths and abilities.

Consequently, the choice of sports direction should be made according to the internal needs and existing inclinations of a person. This can be not only physical data, but also psychological aspects. For example, boxing and similar sports help greatly with increased aggressiveness. A person who is looking for himself, thinks a lot about the meaning of life, purpose, can take up martial arts. These directions have rich history and his own philosophy, which concerns the place of man in the world, his life path and purpose.

If you need to increase your attractiveness to the opposite sex, you should take up sports dancing. In any case, dance techniques develop the inner essence of a person - like a man or a woman, self-esteem increases, and mood improves.

It also happens that the choice of sports direction depends on diseases or disorders in the human body. Then sport will perform a corrective function. For example, swimming is great for people with back pain.

Before starting classes, you should thoroughly study how the training itself takes place. To do this, you can watch videos on the Internet, study reviews, articles from trainers. This must be done so that expectations correspond to reality. Or it could happen, for example, like this. The man dreamed of doing karate. He comes to training, and almost all of it is devoted to stretching. The coach teaches how to do the splits. And the man thought that they would immediately begin to teach him combat techniques. The result is disappointment and reluctance to play sports at all.

Before you start leading a sports lifestyle, you should answer the following questions for yourself: main question: “Why do I need this?” The motives can be completely different:

• overcome internal laziness and apathy;
• increase self-esteem;
• to prove something to yourself or others;
• improve your figure and overall health;
• meet new interesting people;
• find a wife (husband);
• become an example for your children;
• to know yourself and the limits of your physical “I”;
• find an adequate outlet for stress, aggression and anxiety;
• take a break from mental activity.

Here are just a few motives that may motivate you to start playing sports. Each person, after analyzing this list, can choose the one that suits them or add their own motive, how to force yourself to exercise at home. The most important thing is that without a goal of activity, any actions are meaningless. They are one way or another aimed at failure. In addition, motives should be internal, not external. The person himself must want to change his life. Sports for the sake of pressure from loved ones will bring little benefit.

Before you start practicing, you should understand why it is needed, and then set yourself a certain goal in this direction of development.

Then the exercises will be performed without any effort, and you won’t have to force yourself to go to training. It is then that playing sports will have personal meaning.

Organization of training

Once the decision to practice has been made and the sport has been chosen, you should approach the organizational issue wisely. Even if the training takes place at home, you should still wear a sports suit, which should be new, clean, and neat. A person should like himself in these clothes. This will set you in a positive mood and accumulate strength. Also important in the gym appearance and neatness. They will communicate with such a person more often, help in performing difficult exercises, and suggest the correct movements.

A great technique is to keep a diary. From the first day of classes, you should record your weight, diet, time and content of training. At the end of the week, it is worth analyzing the results achieved, your well-being, and drawing conclusions. Thanks to the diary, progress will become noticeable, which means there will be a desire to study further and more.

You need to reward yourself for your success. But encouragement doesn't have to be harmful. A person who has embarked on the path of a healthy lifestyle must understand that temptations may cost several days of additional training. It is best to reward yourself by going to the theater, to a concert, traveling, meeting friends, buying a new dress or an interesting book.

In general, clothes always look much better on a sporty figure. Therefore, going shopping a month and a half after playing sports or in the gym can be an excellent motivating factor for further training.

An important point is to review your diet. If we lead a healthy lifestyle, then in all directions. It is advisable to eat small portions, but often, about 5-6 times a day. First, you can eat what you did before. After two weeks, it is advisable to eliminate fatty and starchy foods from your diet. Many people who have been in sports for a long time say that after starting training junk food I don’t even want to anymore. The body begins to require more protein:

• chicken meat;
• fish;
• nuts;
• legumes

Protein shakes are excellent in this regard, as they perfectly saturate the body and are low in calories. But it is important to buy these products either at a pharmacy or from reputable manufacturers so as not to purchase a low-quality product.

You definitely need to inform your loved ones about the start of your sports activities. The opinions of others are always important to a person, even if he does not admit it. Knowing that people are watching his achievements, a person will not stop, and it will be more difficult for him to give up his studies.

The best option would be to start studying with a partner, friend, girlfriend. Then both will motivate each other, help and support each other in difficult times. You can also get your parents involved in sports. This will not only prolong their life, but also help you get closer to them and find new topics for conversation.

It’s great when the sport is a team sport or classes in the gym are held in the same group. Then the team will keep the person on his toes. It’s great when friendships arise between members and you can communicate during training. Then there is greater interest in sports, as time flies by.

To make sports activities interesting, you can also watch TV, listen to music or an audiobook during them. You can also use a deceptive maneuver, for example, stopping an audiobook at interesting place, knowing that the continuation can only be heard at tomorrow’s training. Thanks to this technique, classes will be held every day. However, it is advisable to train in the gym or in a certain sport 2-3 times a week so that the body can fully rest.

If a person is a workaholic and cannot calmly spend time on training (it seems that it was wasted), he should find the right approach to such a pastime. For example, you can record your sports activities with commentary on a video camera, and then post them online. If a person manages to be sincere, treats himself and sports with humor, then a lot of views and likes for such a video are guaranteed. Thanks to this, the account can become popular, and advertisers themselves will catch up. If a person is a public figure or wants to become one, the video will also help increase popularity. In addition, in this case it would be a shame to quit playing sports in front of several hundred people. And this is quite a strong motivation!

Any person, before forcing himself to engage in self-care, must set a goal for such activities. Sports activities should be interesting and meaningful. Then laziness will not appear, and the person will strive to train.

04 04.16

Fitness is increasingly becoming an integral part of our lives. modern man. This becomes the norm of behavior when training helps the body to be young, strong, and healthy.

Trips to specialized centers are not always economically justified. You can do this at home, but how can you force yourself to exercise at home? Let's look at the options and choose the best one for ourselves.

Advantages of classes

If you develop in yourself good habit engage in sports, you are guaranteed to get excellent results:

• all muscle groups will tighten;
• gain self-confidence;
• overcome laziness;
• become healthier;
• your mood will improve;
• the time spent traveling to fitness centers will be reduced;
• save money.

Physical exercise is beneficial during pregnancy and breastfeeding women. When your baby grows up, you can easily accustom him to your workouts. This is another plus for sporting achievements.

Regardless of your condition, gender, age, you can start training at home. You don’t have to buy expensive equipment; to begin with, you can find everything at home. For example, for men dumbbells can replace plastic bottles with liquid, cereal.

The only thing that is required is to change your attitude towards sports, improve your character, cultivating will, determination, and self-discipline. The systematic nature of classes organizes the personality and gives order to the daily routine.

The main thing is to start. It’s not easy for everyone to decide on this, but we must clearly understand that sport is a solution to many problems.

It's not difficult to do at home if you know the basic approaches.

Active action algorithm

There are special approaches that will help you decide to take such a step. Simple tips and recommendations will help with this.

Managing your own goals

If you do this kind of self-management, you will understand that there is nothing easier than doing it at home. Where to begin? Perhaps, from the selection of a set of exercises. At first, they should be general, preparatory, which are performed regularly.

Then you can move on to specific muscle groups. Finding information is not as difficult as it seems:

• on the Internet;
• in books on healthy image life;
• through consultations with professional trainers, who will be happy to tell you what exactly needs to be done.

Sports should take place every day at the same time.

What does that require?

1. Having allocated time and made a plan, determine a place for studying in your apartment. It’s good if you find a video set of exercises and you can watch the recordings, repeating after professional trainers.
2. The floor should be level; lay a simple non-slip foam mat.
3. Don’t wait too long to start your training routine.
4. Dress in simple clothes that do not restrict movement.
5. Take advantage of the unique opportunity to devote time only to yourself, realizing that you are giving beauty to your body.
6. Be positive about the changes that will happen in a short period.

Avoid "procrastination":

• allow yourself to skip the complex, even if you don’t feel well;
• buy special clothes for sports, when in fact, in order to start, there is no need to immediately buy a sports suit;
• give up exercise because of ridicule from household members that do not support the desire for health;
• due to lack of time for classes.

After work it will be more difficult to get ready, you will want to relax. It is better to do this in the morning, when the body is most ready for physical exercise.

If you can correctly draw up a plan and select basic training exercises, you will not notice how willpower and motivation to succeed will develop. Don't pay attention to anyone, go towards your clearly defined goal.

Later, when you realize that simple activities are not enough, you can easily expand your arsenal of additional equipment and master new techniques and sports.

The body will develop a habit and will miss training. Therefore, start immediately, without persuading that this is only needed tomorrow. Set goals, execute the plan and achieve great results.

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Until we meet again, your Evgenia Shestel

How many times have you tried to exercise? How many times have you promised yourself to change something in your life? “The week is about to begin and I’m going on a diet,” you said to yourself. “I’ll definitely go in for sports in the new month,” they promised themselves. “In the new year I’m definitely going to Gym!” - they convinced themselves. If these thoughts remain just thoughts, then this article is a must-read. In it I will share with you recommendations on how to “force” yourself to play sports.

Inner readiness for change

If thoughts about playing sports come to your mind, then this means only one thing: something about yourself doesn’t suit you. The problem may be excess weight, imperfection of the figure, poor health, or it’s just a desire to do something useful for yourself, get away from routine, find a hobby. Here, first of all, you should think: are you ready to solve these problems? Are you ready to change? Your inaction will definitely not lead to any result. And every time you approach the mirror, you will experience irritation or... You need to declare to yourself loudly and clearly: I WANT TO CHANGE! And start taking action.

Think about the outcome

So, you have set a goal for yourself and decided that from now on sports will become a firm part of your life. Try to imagine the implementation of your intentions in as much detail as possible. Close your eyes and imagine how exactly? What will you look like? How will you feel? What good will playing sports do for you? What clothes will you be wearing? Etc. This will help you focus on the result and your subconscious will begin to help you achieve your plans.

Get started now!

You can start going to the gym at any time, you don’t have to wait until the start of a new week, month, year, or when the moon is in the right phase. Right on the way home or from home, go to the nearest gym and buy a membership. To get started, just buy it. In the future, this subscription will be an excellent motivation. Even if an attack deprives you of any desire to go to the gym, the thought that you have already paid for a month of classes and the money spent will simply burn out will make you get up from the couch.

Find a like-minded person

Playing sports with a friend or girlfriend is much easier. You will constantly push each other to new achievements. The competitive process in training is only beneficial. And classes will fly by unnoticed during a pleasant conversation. When purchasing a subscription, you can also use the services of a trainer. A good coach will motivate you just as well as a friend. The trainer will also develop a training program that suits you directly, with the help of which you will achieve the best results.

Set yourself achievable goals

When starting to play sports, do not expect quick results or dramatic changes. Yes and physical activity need to calculate correctly. In the first stages, spare yourself, let the muscles adapt to strength training. Set achievable goals for yourself, gradually improving the result: lose first one, then two, then three kilograms, reduce your waist by three, five, eight centimeters, etc.

Start keeping a workout diary

Write down in your diary your progress, the results achieved, or simply the thoughts and feelings that arise during your training. And if one day you for some reason don’t want to go to the gym, re-read your notes and remember what amazing feelings your training gave you.

Do as much as you can and a little more

If you don’t want to go exercise, no problem, just try to stretch and warm up a little. After warming up, you are unlikely to want to just return home and the workout will begin by itself. If you still stay at home, open a video on the Internet with interesting and motivating workouts. Subscribe to sports groups in in social networks, read articles and notes about sports. Look at the “before” and “after” photos of people: they are just like you and they managed to achieve results. So you can do it too! Just start exercising, feel the movement, and then pleasant fatigue. Liked? It can be better, it can be more. And the result will not take long to arrive.

Take care of your convenience

It is important that you are satisfied with everything. Choose a convenient gym that is located near your home or place of work (you are unlikely to want to travel across the whole city to train). Choose a suitable class schedule. Choose the appropriate type of sports training for yourself: go to trial, often free classes in different areas (dancing, fitness, Pilates, stretching, etc.). Choose the lesson format that suits you: group or individual. Choose a coach who will inspire you and who you want to look up to. Buy yourself sportswear that you will want to wear as often as possible. Let sports bring you joy and pleasure!

Any representative of the human race is probably familiar with the expressions: “I’ll do it tomorrow,” “I’ll start on Monday,” “I’ll definitely bring it to life on the 1st!” The habit of making promises to oneself and not keeping them is common to many people, and what is most surprising is that at this moment a person really believes that he will achieve his goal. However, time passes, tomorrow gives way to the next “tomorrow”, Monday to Monday, and the first date is constantly being pushed back to the next month. A person tries in every possible way to find an excuse for himself, and his path towards his goal does not advance one iota. What to do in such a situation? How to gather willpower into a fist? How to force yourself to take care of yourself: study well, go to workouts or lose weight?

How to inspire yourself to exercise

If you are used to lying on the couch after work and on weekends with the TV remote control, eating away your worries about the characters of your favorite TV series with cake and drinking sweet soda, forcing yourself to get up and do exercises, naturally, will not be so easy. And this will continue until a sagging tummy and insidious cellulite begin to spoil your personal life. The more fat folds you have acquired, the more difficult it will be to get rid of them. Therefore, you should sound the alarm and take care of yourself at the moment when your figure slowly begins to deviate from beauty standards.

So, the decision to go in for sports has been made, a tracksuit and sneakers have been bought, but then mother laziness begins to overcome you. Do you remember with longing delicious sandwiches, a cozy sofa in front of the TV, and a fierce struggle begins in your soul: one part calls you to activity, the other insidiously attracts you to your usual way of life. The situation is quite common. Let's consider what to do in such cases and

Choose an activity you like

To make sports fun, you don’t need to force yourself to do something you don’t like. Physical exercises are varied. This is not just a morning run or fitness. Maybe you prefer horse riding or swimming? Look for something that will bring you pleasure. Sign up for several sports at once: dancing, aerobics, yoga. Experiment and choose until you find something of your own. And then sports will become your favorite pastime, along with watching TV series.

How to motivate yourself to exercise: setting goals

Take a piece of paper and write down a list of goals regarding what you want to achieve by playing sports. Goals should be realistic, achievable and move from short-term to long-term. Be sure to write down deadlines and details, for example: “On the 5th I have to run 3 km.” Designate as your destination what you are striving for - an ideal figure, fitness, the title of master of sports, etc.

Schedule is an important stage of motivation

If you don't know how to motivate yourself, create a daily schedule. Write down your exercise time in a notebook or diary and imagine it a business meeting or a date you just can't help but go on. Schedule your study times and days a month in advance and try to stick to your notes. If on any day you had to cancel your workout, immediately reschedule your workout to another day.

Find yourself a partner

A like-minded person in sports (friend, girlfriend, girlfriend, boyfriend, colleague) will finally dispel your doubts about how to force yourself to exercise. The spirit of competition and the social factor will make classes many times more attractive. In addition, you will understand that you are not alone in the fight against laziness.

Buy a subscription

If you are constantly shirking morning jogging, skip dancing, ride a bike according to your mood, a great way out of the situation is to purchase an expensive gym or swimming pool membership. There is a high probability that you will feel sorry for the money you spent, and you willy-nilly go to classes until you get hooked.

Record your achievements

Keeping notes is a perfect addition to your self-motivation methods. Make a table and fill it in daily with the following data: weight, waist, hips, chest, load level and duration of today's exercise. The recordings will clearly show you the results achieved and, therefore, inspire you to improve them.

If laziness continues to overcome you, look at your slender friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Do you notice how men look at them in admiration? Such attention flatters everyone, but not everyone fights for their figure. Order yourself to go in for sports, set a goal to join the ranks of women with chiseled figures - and soon laziness will recede and free you. Remember, losing weight is not so difficult if you do it systematically. physical exercise and do not deviate from your goal.

Many people compare sports to a drug: the more you do it, the more addicted you become. Any person, even the laziest, will love physical exercise if he does it regularly. Have nothing to do? Take care of yourself, get used to sports, and life will sparkle bright colors! Tested by millions.

How to force yourself to lose weight

Every woman sees herself in her dreams as a slender, fit beauty, parading along the beach in a swimsuit and slaying all men. But in reality, not everyone decides to go on a strict diet and sweat all day in the gym. After all, not everyone can refuse a delicious dinner and dessert, limiting themselves vegetable salad and a glass of kefir. Unfortunately, many of us suffer from a love of carbohydrates and passive activities. And therefore, the question of how to start taking care of yourself in order to lose weight is one of the most pressing today.

Reasons for losing weight

The reasons for losing weight are different for every woman. Psychologists identify the four most important motivations for fighting excess weight:

• acquiring attractiveness for the opposite sex;
• health recovery;
• fashion for slim ladies;
• the desire to meet the generally accepted standard of beauty.

Finding attractiveness

Female attractiveness - main reason getting rid of extra pounds. All ladies, regardless of age, need male attention and admiring and envious glances. And the point is not even to spark interest. specific man, but to feel charming and able to please the opposite sex.

Good health

TO good health almost all women strive for it, because their ability to reproduce and create a prosperous family depends on it. In addition, an absolutely healthy woman will succeed in everything: doing housework, raising children, building a career, and going shopping. And being overweight, as you know, is fraught with many diseases. If a woman is constantly in hospitals and clinics, she simply will not have time for everything else. Therefore, the problem of how to motivate yourself to lose weight should be solved taking into account the health factor.

Fashion

Have you noticed that in boutiques and stores all the clothes are mainly presented for slender ladies? And these are the most fashionable things. It's a shame? Now imagine what a designer dress, made for a thin person, will look like on a woman with size 52. You're right - it's ridiculous! Here's a great motivation for losing weight. Go shopping and look for things that are 1-2 sizes smaller, imagine them on yourself, slim, and set a goal - to lose weight over a certain period of time.

Generally accepted standard of beauty

How to force yourself to take care of yourself? Take a look at Hollywood and Russian stars, flip through magazines, turn on the TV. Almost all the women you saw are slim and meet the 90-60-90 standards, right? This is the standard of beauty unanimously accepted by people all over the world. Why are you worse than them? Find yourself an idol among celebrities and try to achieve her curves, follow the example of slender colleagues and friends. Tell your team that you will lose weight in 2 months, and then you will no longer be able to deviate from your goal. Behind the women, they will not forgive!

Write down on paper the main reasons for which you will be able to lose those hated pounds. Set a goal, write down the ways in which you are going to lose weight, define clear deadlines. A detailed strategy will form a stable desire in your mind and will not allow you to abandon everything halfway.

How to force yourself to study?

How to motivate yourself to study when you really want to play online tanks, play football with the guys, watch TV or hang out with your girlfriends? Studying is hard work. During the learning process, people study several subjects at once, many directions, and read a lot of books. You need to attend classes every day, listen, remember, analyze, study, and do homework. It is not surprising that studying turns into a routine, a collar around the neck, a tedious duty and does not arouse any interest.

Let's look at 5 ways to force yourself to study.

Forcing yourself to do sports, study, business, despite the ingenious traps of a mind filled with laziness, is akin to a heroic act. “Victory over oneself is the first and best of victories,” said Plato, and he was right. A person who has conquered himself and successfully overcome his weaknesses will achieve everything he wants.

Do you want to take care of yourself? Don't know where to start? Start with the smallest things, and no matter how fast you move, the main thing is don’t stop. And soon the whole world will be at your feet!