Struggling to commit to an exercise or strength training routine? Social accountability might be the answer to get you through. It’s easier for people to forgo an activity when nobody else is involved. But asking a friend or a loved one to check in with you for each other’s work outs makes it harder to skip your routine.
1) Try a challenge with your friends: text a picture of yourself every time you are at the gym for a month and whoever has the least pictures must pay the piper! Settle on an amount, then go out for coffee and tea and make it a social get together – loser pays!
2) Develop friendships at your yoga studio or exercise class that will make you more motivated to go see your friends instead of it just being a workout.
3) Schedule an exercise date – in place of dinner and a movie enlist the babysitter so you and your partner can head out for an afternoon walk, run, or bike ride. See easy and fun ways to motivate your partner to work out.
4) Plan an exercise get-together with friends – take a walk around the neighborhood, a hike, or bike ride. Dining doesn’t always have to be the way to catch up.
5) Every time you work out put a dollar in a jar. After a few months you will look better in that dress or suit you’ve been dying to wear, and have the funds set aside to buy it. Plus you’ll have created a new healthy routine and eliminated a bad habit.
So if you’re struggling to get through a particular exercise or workout, enlist a friend to text, email, or call you as a reminder and follow-up. Hold each other accountable for your schedules. Chances are slim that you’ll forgo your commitment. Most of us can’t handle the guilt!
