guest post | Kacee Leigh on 4 tips to keep motivation and movement alive during the pandemic
Who knew that April 30 is Buddha’s birthday? I didn’t! If I’d moved to Hong Kong with my husband, I’d have gotten a holiday yesterday…. And May 1 is International Workers’ Day, yet another holiday we don’t celebrate in the States. So I made an executive decision to take the week off from blogging (sort of) and let a guest blogger, Kacee Leigh, do the heavy lifting.
Kacee has lived in fitness her entire life. From youth sports to being a Division I NCAA Diver, she is driven by her passion for healthy living, fitness, nutrition, and mindset. Kacee focuses on helping women find their own passions in fitness, have the energy to rule the world, and building the life they have always dreamed of. She works with clients who are learning how to work out at home, find the right eating plan in the kitchen, get a great night’s sleep, lose weight, and be completely present in their life even around crazy schedules.
(See why we clicked? Sounds an awful lot like what I do—except that I usually enter women’s lives from the food/nutrition angle! She’s also a meal prep whiz—more to love.)
Moving our bodies regularly has become increasingly important during the Covid-19 lockdown: we know it’s important to be active for our health, and yet according to the Covid-19 Pulse Study, activity levels in the United States were down 39% on Tuesday, March 24 compared to activity recorded on March 1, and in New York City alone, data show that physical activity dropped 50% during the week the city ordered residents to stay home.
Clearly, we need Kacee to come into our living rooms (virtually, of course) and teach us how to get motivated and how to move our booties at home! Lucky for us, she agreed to hop on the blog and talk about just that.
move your booty: 4 ways to increase motivation to exercise
Streets and parks are quiet. Gyms are closed. Alcohol sales are the highest they have ever been. No group exercise classes, and an overwhelming amount of fitness information is blowing up the internet. How do you keep it all straight and have the motivation to exercise?
why is exercise important?
Exercise is defined as activity requiring physical effort in order to improve health. Simply put, exercise gives you good feelings and increases the body and mind’s ability to function. Even 30 minutes per day can change brain chemistry to think faster and more positively and to improve mood.
For the body, exercise can reduce body aches, control body weight, reduce heart disease risk, and bring so many other benefits. The benefits of exercise are truly endless.
So why do we put off and resist this crucial piece of life?
what part does motivation play?
Motivation plays a piece in all areas of life, and exercise is no different. We can talk about the benefits of exercise all day—and they may not be the reason you decide to get moving.
Some people will say their motivation to exercise is to look good in their favorite clothes or the summer bikini. Others will say their motivation is to live a long and healthy life for their children and future grandchildren. For some, it is just the day-to-day improvement of themselves and what it brings to their day.
No matter what the original motivation is that gets you started, here are 4 tips to keep you moving:
put your workout clothes on
We like to think that we have to have motivation to do anything. This is a flat-out lie: some actions can lead to big motivation. When you put your workout clothes on, it puts you in the mindset to workout out. That small action will spark another until motivation is there and booming.
update your playlist
Remember that workout playlist you made when you wanted to start running and you loved it so much you started playing it always? Well now it’s boring, outdated and doesn’t make you want to run at all! Update that playlist with some awesome new music and keep it reserved for workout time so that you are excited by those tracks!
set a new goal
Goals can be powerful. Immerse yourself in that goal that you set, picture what it will be like to achieve it, and recognize how you need to show up in order to hit it. Set up a way to track that goal in a fun visual way that will make you feel excited every time you get to check something off.
hire a coach
You wouldn’t be your own lawyer, so why are you trying to exercise by yourself? The internet is full of workout videos that are always there, meaning it is easy to say you’ll do it tomorrow. A coach will not only keep you going and hold you accountable to your goals but will give you the right exercises to move you powerfully forward towards them. Think of this like the shortcut or having the right answers to the test. You also have someone completely in your corner to celebrate all the wins you have along the way!
make the connection with Kacee Leigh
Adding new strategies to your life or changing your life completely can come with countless challenges—in that you are not alone, even when we’re self-isolating. Feel free to reach out to Kacee for added support by email or schedule a free 15 minute consultation.
And let us know in the comments, what are you doing (or wanting to do) for exercise during the lockdown?
