- Profiles
Ciara O'Brien
Womens Hockey International, Ciara OBrien who has more than 100 caps for Ireland outlines her development at Railway Union Hockey Club and the commitment required to be an international hockey player while studying and working. This is her story in her own words ….
Click
Here
for more information
- Projects
Irish Amateur Rowing Union
The Irish Amateur Rowing Union are developing the Wet row programme for schools linking with existing clubs
Click
Here
for more information
- Real Life Stories
Ruth Kilkenny
International Badminton Player, Ruth Kilkenny outlines her experiences since moving to Denmark to train full-time. Here is her story so far...
Click
Here
for more information
On Your Own
If you are going to do most of your activity on your own, staying motivated is key to success. Below are some tips to help you do just that.
Just knowing that physical activity can improve your health and abilities can be enough to keep you exercising, but you might need extra motivation sometimes. For those times, try the following:
- Ask someone to be your exercise buddy. Many women agree that having someone to exercise with helps keep them going.
- Listen to recorded books or music while you do endurance activities.
- Set a goal, and decide on a reward you will get when you reach it.
- Give yourself physical activity homework assignments for the next day or the next week. Think of your exercise sessions as appointments, and mark them on your calendar. Keep a record of what you do and of your progress.
- Understand that there will be times that you don't show rapid progress and that you are still benefiting from your activities during those times.
- Plan ahead for vacations, bad weather, and house guests. For example, you might want to have an exercise video so you can exercise indoors when the weather is bad.
- You are more likely to keep doing physical activity if you think that, overall, you will benefit from them, include activities you enjoy feel you can do the activities correctly and safely, have access to the activities on a regular basis can fit the activities into your daily schedule and feel that the activities don't impose financial or social costs you aren't willing to take on. In other words, you are more likely to stick with your exercises if you set yourself up to succeed from the start.
- You can help do that by choosing realistic goals, learning to do the exercises correctly and safely, and charting your progress to see your improvement. Take a minute to think carefully about the points in the list above before you start planning your exercises and activities.
- Starting with one or two types of exercises or physical activities and a schedule that you really can manage, then adding more as you adjust, is one way of ensuring that you will keep exercising.
- You are also more likely to keep exercising if you feel you can do your exercises correctly and safely, feel that they fit into your schedule, and don't feel that they result in negative experiences, such as financial burdens or lost time.