All of us tend to get sidetracked this time of year with the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it can be challenging to keep up our exercise routine – so what happens when you lose your motivation to exercise?

In fact, what happens when we lose our motivation to do just about anything – some would even say they get depressed making it even harder to get back to active exercise.

Certainly breaking free of ruts, challenging ourselves to live happier, more energetic and productive, fun lives is a reality – the blueprint inside Attracting Greatness talks about the 5 Pillars of Greatness consistent with the most successful people over the last 100 years, but here are 3 ways to get more motivated about exercising:

3 things that may help you get motivated to exercise

1. Link your health to something you really want badly – getting a date, attracting someone to you, impressing a friend, gaining new friends, etc… Imagine what this person or people would think of you if you look and feel more fit…that should help you get motivated.

2. Suspend your disbelief. Give yourself 3-days and commit to getting 20-30 minutes of exercise each of these 3-days and then see how you feel. This works when I get stuck in a rut. After the first few sessions (either at home, outside for a jog, to a gym, etc…) I feel so good I typically stay on track.

3. Mix up your routine. Exercise doesn't have to mean a workout at the gym. Going for a brisk walk in the morning is great cardio and will help with fat loss if your walk is brisk and lengthy enough. Head to your local indoor pool – it's great to swim hard for 20-minutes and then take a hot tub in the cold winter. Spend 10-minutes going up and down your stairs followed by another 10-minutes of situps, pushups and jogging on the spot while you watch TV. It doesn't matter where you get your exercise, just get it in.

It's funny that our minds forget how great it feels to be active – to be in motion, so what we have to do is get our bodies in motion for our mind to re-discover the positive feelings of exercise.

Of course, when we talk about longevity, there is no simple, one-factor answer but rather a complex mashup of factors that can come together to help add years to your life AND add quality to your years.

Healthy, moderate cardiovascular and strength training exercise – at least 40-minutes 3X each week – is good to keep your cardiovascular system operating, positive chemicals keeping you emotionally balanced, tuning your metabolism to operate optimally and keep your fat within a healthy range. 

Eating lots of green vegetables, fibre and foods with "good fats" and drinking water to keep hydrated will help your body, mind and energy at peak operating levels.

That leaves us with stress busting!

We've talked about Yoga and Meditation – where there are many proven studies demonstrating the effectiveness of these techniques on lowering blood pressure, improving how your body and mind work in the face of environmental and emotional stress.

In fact, the 5-part system for increasing your achievement, reducing procrastination and improving your self-confidence in Beyond Greatness combines all of these aspects into a system that anyone can use to drive fulfillment and achievement in all life areas including career, finances, relationships, health and wellness. 

Here's a study discussed in Healthy Living that finds creative activities such as writing, painting, music and acting can not only have beneficial results to immediate stress levels but can do wonders for adding years to out lives.  A good deal of this benefit comes from having control over your life, spending your time on activities you enjoy (or better yet, learning to enjoy more activities you are involved in) and taking time to explore the creative side of your brain.

I know many people that wait until they are in the final years of their life before they finally discover a creative passion that they had never tapped into earlier in their lives…what a shame since they not only missed out on so much fun and happiness but it seems, they may have also been able to extend their lives a few more years.

What about you…what creative activities have you always wanted to try or spend more time on? 

Have you wanted to write a book?

How about playing music?

Are you a budding artist?

Now it looks like you have even more reasons to explore your creative side…it may actually help you live longer!

Perhaps that euphoria and sense of clarity you get from a good workout doesn't just come from the increased production of seratonin that follows exercise, but is also the result of higher brain function – and what's even better, the impact seems to last.

A first caution on these findings is that the test was performed on kids – specifically 259 third and fifth graders – so whether the results can be extrapolated to apply to seniors (for example) remains to be seen. 

In addition – it's not entirely clear the methodology or other factors taken into account until the study is released fully later this year. 

Here are some other interesting findings on this topic from the last year or two –

• Other studies have demonstrated that new nerve cell growth can be stimulated in the brain with aerobic excercise
• There is support for re-energizing underperforming brain cells with rigorous exercise
• Tests have been done on other age groups suggesting that the link between excercise and brain function holds even at older ages which is positive in treating brain diseases such as alzheimer's and dimentia

This is an exciting time as research begins to delve deeper into the relationship finding that not only blood and oxygen to the brain helps with brain function when you exercise, but also that specific chemicals and proteins may be produced when you workout that are beneficial to your brain's functioning.

So, the next time you need motivation to stick with your workout or to start exercising, know that not only will it make you look great, gain more energy, become stronger and more self-confident – but it will also make you smarter and better able to cope with today's stressful environment.

Now, back to my workout!

Jeff