Health
Stop lounging! How to start playing sports
Nothing works without motivation-in the truest sense of the word. If you want to move regularly, you can increase the desire for sports with a few tricks.
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Movement does us damn good, there’s no doubt about that. Then why do we always have so many good reasons not to play sports? Now the research says: with a few simple tricks you can persuade yourself to exercise more.
A study that promises that even five minutes of exercise a day will keep us healthy triggers jubilant storms. Just not moving too much seems to have become the karma of our time. But sport in the right dose does us so good. He clears the head, we straighten up, pain disappears, diseases are kept away. Every child knows that today. So far the theory. The reality is different. Instead of simply moving and giving our organism the necessary outlet, we haggle for every minute. Why do we lie to ourselves all the time?
Everything used to be easier. Of course nice memory. But the matter of motivation and movement was different. Because the world of work was different. Many professions simply included physical work. So you had moved a lot until closing time and could then plopsen on the sofa. Today, we usually sit in front of the computer in everyday life, are creative, but hardly move. The physically demanding professions have become much, much rarer. When we came home in the evening, our longest journey was often from the desk to the printer. And we also went to work by car, train or bus. Sitting is, as you know, extremely unhealthy. And one of the main triggers for a variety of diseases of civilization.
So far so bad. Because our everyday office life is still exhausting. After eight hours at the desk with 1084 phone calls and an infinite number of e-mails, we are naturally exhausted. Only we have the problem that we have not yet demanded our organism sufficiently. We still have the body of a hunter and collector. And it needs an outlet to function properly. But in the evening? When it drizzles? So terribly cold? It’s already dark? Of course, it is then damn hard for us to put on the running shoes again and start running.
Five minutes of exercise a day is not enough
But we should no longer fool ourselves. Because five minutes is not enough. So: Get off the sofa, into your sports shoes! Researchers have shown that those who pay attention to their emotions get their feet on the ground faster. When it comes to motivation, our emotions are one of the most important success factors. They are central to what we do – or what we leave out. Feelings are not easy to bring down, this only makes them stronger. That’s why the experts agree that this is exactly where the key to motivation lies.
It all sounds terribly theoretical. True, but there are three simple steps with which to achieve a lot.
1. Small goals, great fun
When are we laziest? In what mood do we prefer to postpone the running training to the next day? Of course, when we are in a bad mood, the day at the office was stressful and stupid. And when are we most productive? If we enjoy one thing and are cheerful. When it comes to exercise, we can easily influence this feeling by choosing the sport. If we find a sport that we enjoy, we are also eager to do it. Then we look forward more to the training than to the sofa. If we still manage to set small goals and enjoy these advances, this is already an important step towards regular training.
2. Reward yourself!
Sometimes we humans are so beautifully simple. Those who regularly reward themselves are much more motivated and train better. This, too, has now been proven by numerous studies. The type of reward does not matter: it can be new running shoes. Or a great CD. Or a new pair of pants that suddenly fits us, with the new sporty figure. Of course, you can also give your best friend 100 euros, which you get back if you have successfully trained for a 5-kilometer competition.
3. Team spirit makes you fast
Then there’s the good old peer pressure. He always helps, even that is scientifically proven. Those who train in a running group are more motivated because they do not want to let the others down. In addition, it is a good opportunity to maintain social contacts on the side. When you join a group, you experience how sport can change lives. One hears the success stories of the others. How they became lighter, faster, fitter. This motivates our subconscious immensely. So there are even studies that say that in one training group we automatically adopt the habits of the others. For example, we adjust our eating habits and follow the same health rules. Sometimes we even compare our career goals.
