Getting motivated to embrace exercise

EXERCISE

Getting motivated to embrace exercise

Published June 2021

The benefits of exercise, especially when you are being treated for prostate cancer, are well known. But even so, it may be hard to find the mental strength and motivation to exercise. This is completely normal and happens to everyone at some time or another. The guide below may help to give you some tips and tricks to use when you are struggling with motivation so that you can help yourself to overcome mental barriers and get moving. Starting with:

Make an appointment

Creating a set time in your day for exercise, for example a morning walk just after breakfast or a gardening session just after your afternoon cup of tea, can help make exercise fit in your life more easily. By creating a routine that includes exercise, it will be harder for you to miss it. Alternatively, if you struggle to find time to fit in exercise, making an appointment in your calendar for a half an hour each day can also be a good way to ensure that you have the time you need. Giving exercise the same weight of importance as other factors in your life in this way will help you to prioritise.

Don’t overthink it

Sometimes the build up to exercising can be one of the biggest barriers to doing the exercise itself. Whether it is worrying about the physical exertion, or fretting about getting to a training class, our mind can find all sorts of reasons to opt out. It is important to recognise these thoughts and see them for what they are – just a normal cycle your brain makes that shouldn’t alter your course of action. To help you along, when you find yourself feeling negative about exercising you can instead focus on the reward to be gained by going through with it. Think of how you will feel after the walk, for example, or the benefit you are giving to your health, or how proud you will be if you can meet a personal exercise goal. Focussing on the positive will help keep the mental barriers to exercise down.

Make it fun

The most important thing about exercise apart from the benefits to your health are the benefits to your state of mind. So when you are planning your exercise, try and make it fun by doing something you enjoy – for example, choose to have your walk somewhere you really love so you can enjoy the scenery or, if you like gardening, choose a new project you’ve always wanted to do.

Celebrate YOUR achievements

Whatever method you choose to become more active, and regardless of how often or how difficult the exercise, it is important that you remember to keep track of what you are doing and celebrate your achievements. Even a short walk is worth acknowledging – it is miles more than doing nothing at all! Whatever your exercise achievement, remember that this is your personal best and it is the only one that matters. By focussing on that and rewarding your own good behaviour, you can take away the pressure of what you may think you are expected to be doing. And remember the more you do, the more you will be able to do!

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