Heading into the winter months, it can become difficult to maintain your summer body, stay motivated, especially once the days become shorter and the weather gets colder.
But, if you’ve worked hard this summer to get ‘bikini ready’ the last thing you want to do is lose that momentum.
We’ve put together some techniques to work with to ensure that you’re staying motivated into the winter months and maintaining your summer body:
1. Tabata strength training
Stay on track with 20 minute HIIT exercises two to three times a week. Tabata training is becoming more and more popular as we move away from the summer months. It consists of eight rounds of ultra-high-intensity exercises in a specific 20-seconds-on, 10-seconds-off interval. For some extra motivation, why not check out our pumping playlist?
2. Remind yourself how far you’ve come
Why not try taking photos of your summer body and printing them out? You have come so far already and it would be a shame to let things slip now; print a few of photos of yourself and stick them to your wall. This will act as a self-motivation technique to keep you psychologically motivated to maintain or improve.
3. Keep your body guessing
Doing the same routines week after week can get boring for anyone. Try to keep your body guessing by doing 20 reps one week, 15 the next and 25 reps the week after. This will jolt your body out of fatigue and help to stop you reaching a plateau.
4. Pay attention to nutrition
As the days become colder and shorter the foods you crave tend to get stodgier. It’s absolutely fine to indulge yourself in a little comfort food every now and again, but portion control is crucial, and supplements can give your workouts and edge and help you to recover. Homemade soups are a great way to ensure that you’re body is getting the right nutrients and will keep you warm and full in the process.
Squash, Carrot and Red Lentil Soup:
5. Book a warm weather holiday to stay on track with your summer body
If you find that the weather really is getting you down and your exercise routines are becoming less frequent, why not treat yourself to a warm weather holiday? Just like setting yourself a fitness goal, you’ll find that the knowledge of jetting off out of the cold will have the same effect of kick-starting your motivational drive.
