Top tips for increasing your activity levels

There are lots of good reasons for wanting to do this, for example losing weight, feeling healthier, sleeping better, feeling less depressed, looking more attractive, dealing with a particular health problem, being able to participate in sport with family and friends or simply that you just feel you should.

Step 1 – Make a smart goal

What are you exercising for? Unless you know this then you cannot benchmark against anything to say whether you have succeeded or not. Many people complain about a lack of motivation, and the first step to having motivation is setting a goal. Choose the reason that is most important to you at the moment and make it a goal that is simple, meaningful, realistic and achievable in the not too distant future.

For example

• I want to fit into my size 14 older clothes – by Christmas day
• I want to be able to climb two flights of stairs without gasping for breath - before my grandchildren come to stay at Easter
• I want lower my blood pressure to 120/80 - before my next hospital appointment on 22nd July
• I want to be able to feel comfortable in a swim suit - before my summer holidays on the 18th August

Step 2 – Know your underlying motivation

Now you have your goal, you need to think about what drives you to want to achieve this goal. Think about your underlying motivation and why it is important to you. What will achieving this goal give you or do for you?

The power of motivation is in the reason behind a goal, some people achieve extraordinary feats of weight loss and yet there are still unhappy – why? They have not fulfilled the underlying motivation behind their goal.

For example

• I want to achieve my goal because this will give me a greater sense of belief in myself
• I want to achieve my goal because this will enable me to spend more quality time with my family
• I want to achieve my goal because this will provide me with the confidence I need to find a partner and live a happy and fulfilling life

Step 3 – Plan

Think of something you have achieved in your life. You will have done some sort of planning to help you to succeed. Then do some research and find out:

• What types of activities do I want to take part in?
• What facilities do I have in my local area?
• What time of day am I more likely to succeed at?
• Will I be better off in a group, with one other person or by myself?

When you have selected your activities and your facility, you will need to plan you sessions, use a diary to put in your weekly sessions one week in advance and highlight possible second choices should something come up like a short notice meeting or night out.

Step 4 – Priorities (knowing what is important in life)

Many people fail because they struggle with fitting exercise into their lives and keep battling with some of the things that get in the way. The first step to deal with these issues is to find out what is important to you and prioritise your life. This way you understand that when things do get in the way where they sit in terms of your priorities – this will help you make better choices. For example

If my priorities were as follows:

1. Family
2. Work
3. Exercise
4. Social life
5. Sleep
6. Eating

If I kept missing exercise sessions because of my family or work then this is understandable and therefore I should not beat myself up about missing a workout session. However if I stay in bed for an extra hour instead of going for a run then this is out of sync with my priorities and I shouldn’t let this happen because exercise is more important to me.

Step 5 – Seek Support

To achieve anything you need support. Let your friends and family know your goals and how important there are to you, this way they will support you more. Ensure you ask for support from staff at your local facility such as a gym instructor, class teacher or coach. At Aquaterra Leisure we have thought about what types of support we can provide, these include:

• 3 - 6 one to one sessions during your first 8 weeks of gym membership
• Programme reviews every 14 visits
• Courtesy calls
• Motivation sessions
• Motivating text messages
• High levels of staff to customer contact time