Do you struggle to stay motivated to work out? Do you find yourself starting over an over again and giving up as many times as you start?
I hear you! That was me! I struggled for years to build consistency around exercising. There were days (and this is true today too) that I felt really motivated to work out and other days that I just didn't felt like it. For the last 2 years I have been working out every day, six days a week without missing a workout.
The truth about motivation is that is not constant. It fluctuates, sometimes it shows up to the party and others days it doesn't. Here are a few things that helped me stayed motivated to work out.
Put your workouts on our calendar
Make an appointment with yourself to workout every day. At the beginning it will be very helpful to set an alert that reminds you it's time to workout. I find that keeping the time and place where you workout consistent over time is the way to go. It takes away the thinking out of the equation and it helps build routines and habits that will help you be more consistent when working out, whether you are motivated or not to do so.
When looking to schedule your workouts pick the time of the day that works best for you. Some people prefer to workout in the morning to get energy for the day and before the day gets busy, other people on the other hand prefer to workout in the evenings. No one is better than the other, the best time to workout is the time that work best to you and your routine.
Make it a habit
Talking about habits, make it a habit. As I said on prior blog posts if you are able to build the habit of working out it will be easier and easier to stay consistent and show up whether you are motivated or not. But how do you build that habit? I recorded a podcast episode on this topic. You can learn more about habits here. There a couple of strategies that can help make exercising a habit:
Make it obvious. Leave your workout clothes or your running shoes ready the day before somewhere you can see them.
Make it attractive: Schedule something you really enjoy right after exercising.
Make it easy. Commit to 2 minutes. You can do anything for 2 minutes!
Make it satisfactory. Set goals and plan ahead of time how you will reward yourself if you meet those goals. Choose ways to reward yourself that are meaningful to you and that support your healthy goals. Like getting a new pair of shoes, or a new pair of leggings.
Variety, variety and more variety
Many people give up on working out or lose the motivation to workout because they get bored of doing the same over and over. Mix things up! That is why I love my Netflix of workouts so much. It provides structure while keeping things interesting because there are not two day that are the same. Every day, every workout is different and what has really make a difference in helping me me stay motivated, not get bored and give up.
Surround yourself with motivation
I like to think about this from the perspective of creating the environment around you that supports you showing up to workout. Some things that I like to surround myself with to help me stay motivated include:
Music. I like to create or follow playlists. Music is always a great way to set the ambiance to move your body.
Find your tribe. Surround yourself with people like-minded, people that also value working out.
Connect with your WHY and re-frame your goals
Stop making exercise about how you look. It's important to find a deep enough why. Your why is what will keep you going when motivation doesn't show up. Get to your true why by asking yourself five times why working out is important for you. Every time you ask yourself why you get closer to your ultimate why.
Do what you enjoy
Don't punish yourself by forcing yourself to do something you don't enjoy, rather reward yourself by moving your body in ways you enjoy. Don't do something just because is what others are doing. The worse you can do is to pick a way to exercise that you don't enjoy, because any excuse will be a good excuse to skip a workout. Once you skip one, it's easier to miss the next one and next thing you know you have gave up on working out overall.
Make a bet on exercise and win twice
I discovered recently this app that rewards you for working out. Yes, it's as good as it sounds! I can sync it with my Apple Watch, so I don't even need to do anything. At the end of the every week I cash out my prizes, from free Starbucks to Amazon gift cards. Is a double win!!! It gives me the motivation to get up and work out and I get gift cards to reward myself. I know, the next question is what is that app. The app is called Paceline.fit. It only works through invitation, so to enroll you will need a code, you can use mine: QBZFDH. Enrol today, get that boost of motivation you are looking for and start enjoying your rewards!