You'll be happy: Trainer explains how to activate motivation hormone for workouts
Anita Lutsenko told how to find motivation for training (photo: Freepik)
During training, many people lack motivation. The hormone responsible for motivation is dopamine. It's important to know how to activate it, according to Ukrainian trainer Anita Lutsenko.
How to motivate yourself
The question of motivation is one of the most important during training.
An expert says that you need to start doing something and don't forget to praise yourself a lot for it. This will motivate you on a chemical level.
How it works:
- When you plan to do some ab exercises, dopamine starts being produced in anticipation of "something great where I excel."
- Once you do the exercises, more dopamine is produced in response to the accomplishment.
- On this positive note and the anticipation of new achievements, dopamine is produced again, which motivates you over and over and gives you a sense of happiness after completing the task.
Anita Lutsenko added that it's important to aim for realistic goals that you can actually achieve, thereby reinforcing your motivation, rather than the opposite. For example, instead of running 7 days a week, aim to run once a week for 500 meters and praise yourself as if you won a medal at the Olympic Games.
It's easy to get dopamine from praising yourself in computer games, but in real life, it's not that simple.
"Being awesome online is easier than in reality because we get more approval there, and it draws us in even more because we feel happy," the trainer added.
Set specific but realistic goals
People often fail in their attempts to lose weight or improve their athletic performance, partly because they set overly unrealistic goals.
There's a difference between saying you'll lose 2 kilograms in a month and saying you'll lose 20 kilograms in a month. Similarly, there's a difference between working out three times a week for 30 minutes and working out six times a week for 120 minutes.
If your unrealistic goals are not achieved, you begin to feel demotivated, and failure negatively impacts your motivation. Set specific goals that are physically and mentally achievable. Try to plan for the short term, especially if you are just starting to work out at home. Start slowly, exercise at home, and then gradually increase your demands.
This material is for informational purposes only and should not be used for medical diagnosis or self-treatment. Our goal is to provide readers with accurate information about symptoms, causes, and methods of detecting diseases. RBС-Ukraine is not responsible for any diagnoses that readers may make based on materials from the resource. We do not recommend self-treatment and advise consulting a doctor in case of any health concerns.
