Some Days You Just Don't Feel Like Doing It

It’s raining, it’s pouring and the last thing anyone wants to do right now is hit the pavement running for 30 minutes of cardio, especially if you’re doing it alone. Starting an exercise program to keep fit is one thing, but staying with the program and keeping your motivation level high is another. Find out how you can stay on track when there is no one pushing you to succeed.

1. Plan a Kedge: Chris Crowley, author of the best selling book “Younger Next Year Journal,” encourages readers to practice a technique which he has termed kedging. According to Crowley, a kedge (based on an old nautical term meaning “pulling forward”) is a special fitness event/reward that will help keep you focused during those challenging times so you do not throw in the exercise towel. Kedges can be serious motivators during your daily workout routines and can help individuals stay on their fitness track. In other words, you can be moving forward or looking forward to your kedge, which might be a luxurious biking trip in Italy, a cheap and bohemian-chique Yoga retreat, a weekend intensive or a weeklong vacation, but striving to get to that kedge should be challenging.

2. Try Teaming Up: A fitness club need not necessarily be confinded to a gym, as you can take your workout beyond those four walls. One of the advantages of hooking up with a local club or organization like Road Runners or leagues such as ZogSports in New York City is that you don’t have to plan ahead. Just show up and follow the crowd for an awesome workout.

3. Find Power in People: It’s easy to get into a funk when you are pulling all the weight alone. If you schedule yourself in to attend a couple of group fitness classes a week, think Spin, Cardio Kickbox and/or Total Body Conditioning, there’s a good chance you will benefit from the collective energy.

4. Enlist a Buddy: Showing up is the first step to staying in shape, and finding a friend with whom you can work out can make it easier when it comes to goal setting, companionship and accountability. Check out FitnessBuddies.com, Craigslist.com, WeightWatchers.com and other local message boards to find a partner who can cheer you on.

5. Get Digital Aid: From mobile training apps to personal fitness portals there are programs that will push, prompt and propel you every step of the way. iTRAIN™ take personalized conditioning to a whole new level by allowing users to download personalized workouts with famous Hollywood trainers onto any MP3 player. And if you’re an iPhone user, you’re in luck. Here are a few of the top performing apps that will get you in gear: GymGoal ABC, iFitness, FitnessBuilder, iTreadmill.