The weight loss accelerator: Here’s how to get it going

Regular’ means 3 to 5 times per week, and ‘tough’ means the type of exercise that makes you sweaty and tired.

The problem is that doing regular, tough exercise is, well, tough.

And doing something tough on a regular basis is not what we love to do when we already feel like every day is ‘tough’. Just getting up in the morning to face the day can seem like an insurmountable obstacle. Adding exercise to the day might feel ‘impossible’.

But don’t despair…

Here are some top tips to get your exercise routine going so you can reap the rewards of exercise the easiest way possible.

1. Figure out what exercise you enjoy

Before you say ‘I hate all exercise’, try to be a little more open-minded. Exercise is not just running 10km every day, or endless hours on the treadmill at gym.

Exercise can be fun, even though it’s tough. All you need to do is find your favourite activity through which to get your exercise. If you had a favourite sport in school why not give that another bash? Or maybe try some of the things your ‘sporty’ friends are involved with?

Otherwise you may feel like trying something with some other form of motivation, like a class-based exercise regimen, like a boot-camp training programme. How about trying a climbing gym, or pole-dancing class? Or taking up a martial art?

If you really put your mind to it, you will find an activity that is at least somewhat enjoyable.

2. Set a goal for your chosen activity

Your next step is to set yourself a goal for your chosen activity. If you’re running, how about a half-marathon? If you’re training with weights, set some numerical goals for your lifts that seem ambitious.

If you’re doing a martial art, then try for your first grading. If you’re doing a pole-dancing class, set your sights on a difficult pose.

This is all about creating an element of competition that will keep you on the straight and narrow in the tough parts of your training routine. The best goals to set would be ones that are measurable in a public space, because this provides an even greater motivation.

3. Set up a training programme

Now that you have a goal in mind you must set up a training programme to get you there. Obviously the programme needs to be substantial, but not crazy. You want to motivate yourself, but not do yourself any damage. You ideally want to train three to five times per week, and make the training volume acceptable, but (as I said before) tough.