How to beat those Cardio Blues!

We have all been there! You made it into the gym, made it all the way to the cardio section where everyone looks miserable yet devoted to their goal, you walked up to the dreaded stairmaster and then just stared at it for a few minutes trying to figure out any way possible to avoid the pain and sweat that is ahead of you!

Eventually you make the decision to either suck it up and get those legs moving or you shrugged and walked away as the stairmaster is crying out "SHE WASN'T READY" (Kevin Hart voice)

So how do you MAKE yourself take that initiative to get onto that fat blasting machine for an extended period of time without wanting to sucker punch it?!

Well, here are a few secrets to the game!

1) IPOD: A big part of making it through and pushing yourself is what you have blaring into your ears. I don't like the angry music and a lot of the pop tunes these days are over played and too cutesy so I prefer to load up on MOTIVATIONAL tracks!

*Examples: Muscle Prodigy- It's All on You

Heart Required- No Excuses

Younes Marxieu- Fear

I found these on YouTube along with a ton of others but the overall message of ONLY YOU CAN MAKE YOUR DREAMS COME TRUE resignates with me and pumps me up! ONLY YOU CAN ACCOMPLISH YOUR GOALS! ONLY YOU CAN PUSH PAST YOUR FEARS AND BECOME WHO YOU WANT TO BE!

I mean really?! Who doesn't want to throw their fists into the air after that and say YES! I can do this! I will defeat this stairmaster! It will not destroy me!

2) Set goals for yourself and push past them!!

I like to tell myself "Self make it to 10 minutes and then you can break". Once I hit that 10 minute mark I tell myself "You just started! Make it this next 10 minutes and you can be done!"

Our biggest problem in the gym no matter what we are doing is our minds! They get roaring loud, constantly telling us to give up, stop before you really start, those cupcakes are worth more than that six pack! (Or is that just my mind?) They are lies! You are capable of doing amazing things once you learn to shut that part of the mind down and FOCUS on the person you want to be!

The Navy Seal 40% Rule is...."when your mind is telling you you’re done, you’re really only 40 percent done. And he had a motto: If it doesn’t suck, we don’t do it. And that was his way of every day forcing us to get uncomfortable to figure out what our baseline was and what our comfort level was and just turning it upside down. We all have that will. It’s just a matter of how we apply it not just to the once-a-year marathon, but to a variety of things in our daily lives." (lifehacker.com)

3) Get a buddy!

Having someone hold you accountable can be very helpful! They don't even have to physically be there, but if you know someone like your trainer or BFF are counting on you to finish that workout to the best of your ability and they will totally call you out for being a whimp if you don't, can be great motivation!

I hated running but in college my best friend was great at getting me out of of bed and onto the track every day to make sure that we got in a good sweat! I needed that because there was NO WAY I would have done that myself! Having that reliable person to support you and push you to succeed may be just the thing you need!

So tomorrow when you head over to the cardio machine of your choosing change that mindset into a power hungry one that is about to conquer the day! You can do this! Every day you chose to put your health first is another step closer to becoming the BEST VERSION OF YOU!