Are you motivated enough?

Have a read of this blog written by Gary about motivation levels:

Are you motivated?

What makes you motivated?

​Are you easily motivated?

What motivates you to take the first step?

These are just some of the questions I must ask my clients to give them the right programme to help them reach their health and fitness goals.
There are many stages of motivation, and each one will impact on how I will train you and what sort of exercise prescription I will prescribe. 

So, what are the stages of motivation and what do they mean for my clients training?  This is a short, and hopefully, easy explanation of what the stages are:
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​Pre-Contemplation
• You’re just starting to think about your health and fitness, “I really should to start to look after myself”
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​Contemplation
• You start to realise that you must start to do something - maybe you have seen something on TV or you know someone who has started to change their lifestyle.
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Preparation
• You have decided to make that change, you know that things need to change, and you are going to take the first step towards your new lifestyle.
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Action
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• You are now on your way. You have just started to exercise with your trainer and you now have a programme to follow.  You’re feeling better in yourself due to your new exercise and nutrition.

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Maintenance
• You change your goals.  Once you feel that you have reached your goal, then change it.  If your original idea was to lose weight and you have reached that goal, then think of another one - maybe a 5, 10k run, tough-mudder, cycle - you get the idea.  The only thing stopping you is you.
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​It’s no good giving one of my clients who is at the bottom of the fitness scale the same exercise regime as a client at the top of the scale.  It would be like giving a person who has never walked into the gym before the same programme as an experienced gym attendee -  that would be an epic fail, which would ultimately have a negative effect on their motivation levels.  
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​​It is important that both myself and my clients know where they fit on this scale, so that I can assist with an appropriate programme, and motivate them correctly.

​These levels don't just apply to my clients though...they apply to you too! 

​So what level are you at?

Once you have worked that out, you can decide what needs to be done to get you to the next level.