When you started your fitness journey, you will have likely set inspiring goals for yourself that kept you going throughout the process. Once you reach those goals, it should be a great feeling.
You will have also gone through a personal transformation as much as a physical one, and it is important that you have a routine that can help you stay in great shape for life. It is important to enjoy the journey as much as the result.
However, there is a danger of entering cruise control. There is a chance that, without any goals ahead, you can slip back into the habits that got you out of shape in the first place.
So, how can you keep progressing? What areas could you make improvements in, so that you stay motivated and inspired, long term?
Strength
This is an area which you can always make improvements in. During your journey you will have likely seen a significant increase in the weight you are lifting over time, meaning that your strength will have made excellent progress. However, this does not mean you have to stop at a certain weight. If improving your strength is a priority, you can keep pushing your numbers up gradually whilst staying at the same weight or body shape.
Fitness
Another big area you can work on is your overall fitness. You may be happy with your body shape, but are you fit? Are you able to do cardiovascular exercises with limited struggle? Your overall fitness will help you, not just with playing sport or doing cardio but also with your recovery in between your resistance training exercises, which can improve the efficiency of your workout.
More Muscle
Fat loss is all about changing your body shape – losing fat and adding muscle. This gives you a better structure to your body, as well as all the other health benefits that will change your life. However, when you are in a fat loss phase, there is only a certain amount of muscle you can add. After that, if you want to add more, you must eat more. So, you may have decided that you want more muscle and that is when you enter a muscle building phase.
Lagging Body Parts
Is there an area of your body that you are not quite happy with? Your training plan to get in shape will have likely included full-body workouts that involved hitting certain muscle groups repeatedly. However, this may have meant you not hitting other muscle groups as frequently. This could now be an opportunity for you to develop other areas and give your body a more complete look.
New Exercises
As mentioned in the previous point, you may have followed a similar routine of exercises that got you into great shape. Despite this being smart, simple, and effective, there will be plenty of other exercises that you may have not yet tried. So, make sure you broaden your range of exercise selection to add variety to your workouts and improve your training knowledge.
Summary
So, if you have reached your goal(s) and don’t feel like you have the motivation to keep training, it is important to always have areas that you can work on. These include increasing strength, improving fitness, adding more muscle, improving lagging body parts, and adding new exercises into your routine. Make sure that you have inspiring goals ahead of you and you will always find time to train and keep moving forward.
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