Get Motivated With a Fitness Role Model

If you're having trouble staying motivated and sticking with your exercise routine, a role model may be just what you need.

    When starting a workout plan, it can be tough to stay motivated. At first, it's hard to see the benefits that you're getting from exercise, and the big benefits — better heart health, reduced risk of diabetes, weight loss — can take even more time to notice. You know a routine is good for you and that in the end it will all be worth it, but it's hard to stick to it when you can't see the results. Having a fitness role model can help keep you on track and make fitness a part of your life.

Fitness Role Models: How an Exercise Idol Helps 

    Your fitness role model will help remind you of the importance of good health and fitness — and how much it can benefit you. This can be especially important with today’s busy lifestyle, when there’s less emphasis on being active and moving.

   "In our society, with cell phones and computers and all of the technology that we have where people sit a lot more, we really are lacking role models versus what we might have had 20 years ago," says Karen Wyatt, membership and fitness director of the Oldham County Family YMCA in Louisville, Ky.

How to Get Out of a Workout Rut

    "I think that if we don't have role models that pertain to fitness and activity and recreation and moving and healthy eating, it's slipping away from us — the reality of being a fit individual," says Wyatt. Seeing someone else reap the benefits of their hard work at the health club can really motivate you to stay focused and on track.

Fitness Role Models: Choosing Your Ideal 

When trying to find the right person to motivate you, keep these tips in mind:

• Get advice from active people. Do you have a friend who lives a healthy, vibrant, and active life? Talk to friends and family members who seem to have it all together, and ask about their workout routine. Find out how they fit exercise and activity into their busy lives.
• Choose someone focused on health. Look for a role model who makes health not just one part of life, but a factor in everything they do. Says Wyatt, "A good role model would be someone you can look up to who is healthy, who stays fit because of healthy lifestyle reasons and not because of a way they want to look or a certain size they want to be — somebody who also eats nutritiously, who thinks of food as fuel and not just something that you eat because it tastes good," says Wyatt.
• Seek out a workout partner. Find a person you admire for their commitment to exercise, and ask if he or she would be willing to work out with you.
• Be inspired by successful fitness routines. See what regimen is working for others, such as active people in your family or fitness pros at your gym. "Look for someone in your family who has longevity and lives an active lifestyle and ask them if you can watch their workout," says Jody Swimmer, an exercise specialist and owner of the gym Fitness on Frankfort in Louisville, Ky.
• Make sure your role model isn’t taking shortcuts. "Look for someone who is walking the talk. They're not doing it through artificial means; they're doing it through a healthy diet and exercise program," says Swimmer.

Jump-Start Your Routine With a Fitness Boot Camp

    Your fitness role model will help you visualize what it will be like when you reach your fitness goals. A person who is dedicated to exercise and always makes time for it will show you how you can do it, too, no matter how busy your schedule. So find someone who motivates you to exercise, team up together, and you'll be on your way to meeting your fitness goals. Before you know it, you may be a fitness role model for someone else.