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How To Make Your Jogging Workout A Habit

If you have never read my previous article about the benefits of jogging, I encourage you to read it first.

If you have read it already, I would like to discuss with you now how to make this new jogging workout a permanent habit in your life.

I've been consistently jogging for several years now. And during this time, I've learned quite a few tricks to get myself out of bed!

I've bribed and told myself almost anything to wake up and starting jogging. What I quickly realized was that some things worked great. And some things didn't work at all.

What you will find below are some of my most effective tricks. You will be absolutely amazed out how well these things work to get yourself jogging in the long term. I use these tricks on a daily basis because they are incredibly effective. Understand this...

No matter how ingrained a habit is, there is always the possibility that you can grow out of it. I've went several months where I didn't miss a day of jogging. Then, all of a sudden I would find myself jogging only once every week or two.

I'm much better now though. I seldom go very many days without jogging. I have used what you are about to learn to make my jogging workout a habit I will continue for the rest of my life.

Television Is Good For You

One of the best ways I have found to get myself up each morning and jog is to either:

watch the television if I'm running on the treadmill
listen to my mp3 player if I'm jogging outside

There's really no reason whatsoever why you shouldn't make jogging as fun as possible! Most of the time, I have an audio book in my mp3 player that I like to wake up and listen to.

What this has done for me is made me excited to jog. Because when I wake up, I think about how I get to continue listening to the story and find out what is going to happen next!

If you complain that you never have time to read, here is your opportunity. If you listen for just 15 minutes a day, you can easily get done with a book within three weeks!

But what if I prefer watching television?

If your normal workout routine consists of watching a morning show or (my personal favorite) Sportscenter, you can easily make jogging apart of this.

After all, you already have the habit of watching the show. Now, you can continue to do that. Just stick the treadmill by the TV and you're all set!

By doing this, I sometimes trick my mind in the morning to thinking that I'm just getting up to watch TV. Then, by the time my mind figures out what is really going on, it's too late and I'm on the treadmill!

Use TV, music, or a great audio book to add some fun to your jogging workout. It will make all of the difference in the world!

A Mental Trick To Getting Up

Keep this in mind, this next trick is based on proven scientific studies. It's not just some silly idea that seems to work. Here's what it is...

When you're lying in bed and struggling to get up, here's what you do. Say to yourself repeatedly, "I am jogging. I am jogging. I am jogging." You can either repeat this quietly to yourself if you don't want to wake up your spouse. Or, you can say this out loud to have added benefit

When you do this, picture yourself on the treadmill or outside and starting your jogging workout. Visualize every detail as vividly as possible.

Now, I know this sounds silly. But keep in mind again, this suggestion is based on scientific fact. The reason why, and I've mentioned this in several other articles, is because your mind can't tell the difference between what is really happening and what is being imagined.

So when you tell your mind you are jogging, it makes your mind become frustrated and confused and starts to make you really want to be jogging!

From my personal experience, this doesn't work miracles. It doesn't make you instantly jump out of bed within 5 seconds and rush towards the treadmill. But what it does do is get you out of bed and jogging eventually almost every single time.

Sure, it may take 5 minutes of repeating this saying to yourself, but eventually you do get up. And 5 minutes is nothing compared to the days you lye in bed hitting the snooze button a hundred times!

This trick really does work! You just have believe in it and give it a try!

No Jog = No Donuts

This is one of my favorite ways to get myself jogging every single morning. In order for it to work though, you have to be the type of person that has to have breakfast every morning. If you frequently skip the most important meal of the day, this trick won't help you.

Here what you do...

Make a rule that you cannot eat breakfast until after you have had your jogging workout. What this does is it forces you to want to hurry up and get your jog over with so you can start eating that huge bowl of cereal.

It forces you to say to yourself, "Alright, let's hurry up and get this over with so I can relax with a shower and breakfast."

This has been extremely effective for me personally. Especially since I am such a big eater. If you fall under this category, then I'm sure this will work very well for you also.

Stay disciplined and never break your rule. Don't grab the Cocoa Puffs box unless you have completed your jog. This rule alone can make your jogging workout last a lifetime!

Having A Jogging Partner

I should place special emphasis on the word "partner." Because what I am referring to may not necessarily be someone that is jogging with you. Although that might be a good idea!

What I am referring to is basically someone that knows you are trying to make your jogging workout a permanent habit. Someone that will know and mention to you whether or not you skipped a day.

When I first started making jogging a habit, I made a Seinfeld calendar and hung it up on the refrigerator so my spouse could see it. I had a calendar that had all 12 months on one sheet of paper. And every time I jogged, I would mark it off on the calendar as completed.

I made it my personal mission to not "break the chain" of consecutive days that I jogged. Because if I did skip a day, I would hear it from my spouse!

When you make a calendar like this that other people can see, it forces you even more to actually do what you have said you would do. This works especially well if you are out to prove to everyone that you can start excercising every day.

A Seinfeld calendar can be very rewarding too. When you look back over the year, it's nice to see just how well you did. Having that kind of proof of what you accomplished can bring confidence in yourself which will carry on into all areas of your life.

The other part of jogging "partner" is an actual partner that you jog with. The reason why this works is exactly the same reason why the Seinfeld calendar works. It forces you to have to jog. Because if you don't, you will be letting someone else down.

I've never had a jogging partner. But I know that it works very well for some people.

Whatever you decide to do, just make sure that someone else knows about your jogging goal. When someone else knows, the chances of you maintaining your habit dramatically go up!

You can make your jogging workout a habit if you use these principles. It won't be easy. After all, nothing worthwhile ever is.

But it will certainly be worth it in the end. Good luck!

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