I know for a lot of people having the drive and motivation to workout everyday does not come easy. Figuring out how to have workout motivation can me tough. Growing up I was always in sports, dance or cheerleading so I never thought about being fit or staying fit. When I went to college my roommate and I would go to the gym or go running pretty often plus I walked all over campus all day.
In my early twenties I started going to the gym a few times a week but I never really had any goal or intention with it.
Around 25 I got very intentional about my workouts and my fitness regimen.
At 31 I get asked all the time how I maintain motivation to go to the gym everyday. I wanted to share how to have workout motivation with you all and what works for me!
1. Make a plan: I am a type A planner to a fault. I need a plan for everything. So when it comes to workout motivation having a plan is really helpful for me. I am lucky to have a very flexible schedule of working for myself and working from home. My plan is to go to the gym right after I have breakfast unless I have a call, meeting or appointment then I go after. If you make a plan and even put it in your calendar or phone it will be so helpful to see it!
2. Get things ready ahead of time: I always take a granola bar(for after my workout) and a big bottle of ice water. I usually lay my workout clothes, socks, headband out the night before and put my granola bar in my purse and have my bottle of water ready in the fridge. This is great because it takes a lot of that time you could spend talking yourself out of working out away. We’ve all been there when you start to get ready to leave for the gym and give yourself 100 reasons why you can’t. If your things are ready the night before and all you have to do is brush your teeth, throw on clothes and go you won’t second guess it.
3. Have an accountability partner: Having a friend to work out with is the best. One of my neighbors and I went for a walk last week and it was so nice to have that hour with a friend chit chatting and drinking coffee and not even thinking about the 4 miles we walked! Have a friend you can go for walks or runs with, hit a barre class with or meet at the gym. It makes the work out so much more fun!
4. Set Goals: Set small attainable goals for yourself every week. For instance this week my goals are to increase my weights on arm exercises, add 10 minutes to my cardio each day and lose 1/2 a pound. Absolutely attainable goals. If you set goals that are too far fetched you are more likely to be disappointed at weeks end rather than excited about what you accomplished and ready to make new goals the next week.
5. Reward Yourself: It doesn’t have to be a new purse or new shoes. It could be something like downloading a new audio book to listen to while you work out, treating yourself to a Starbucks post workout, or treating yourself to a new workout outfit once you hit a big goal. Giving yourself rewards either small or big gives you something to work towards and be excited about!
I needed to read this. I fall in to the category of ‘best intentions’, but often manage to let the rest of my ‘to-do’ list take over. I definitely need to plan my week ahead of time and then schedule everything else around it 🙂
Setting goals is important, and setting attainable and realistic goals is SOOOO important. Starting small and working your way to larger goals is the best way to make progress (at least for me). Like if I say “I want to lose 15 pounds,” that sounds so lofty and far-off that I lose motivation. But if I say, “I’m going to lose a pound this week,” and track that, it’s much more doable, and makes me feel better!
I think my biggest motivation is seeing others change! I work part time at Athleta (the women’s clothing store) and we have ladies of all shapes, sizes and workout plans come in..and my favorites to speak to are the ones who are just starting out. They have so much drive and it gets me out the door too!
My main motivation right now is getting some alone time! I know it sounds terrible, but since my twins haven’t been napping very good lately, I need an hour or two by myself during the day. They love going to the daycare at the gym, get a little socialization, and I get a workout…win, win, win 🙂
I needed to read this. I fall in to the category of ‘best intentions’, but often manage to let the rest of my ‘to-do’ list take over. I definitely need to plan my week ahead of time and then schedule everything else around it 🙂
Setting goals is important, and setting attainable and realistic goals is SOOOO important. Starting small and working your way to larger goals is the best way to make progress (at least for me). Like if I say “I want to lose 15 pounds,” that sounds so lofty and far-off that I lose motivation. But if I say, “I’m going to lose a pound this week,” and track that, it’s much more doable, and makes me feel better!
I think my biggest motivation is seeing others change! I work part time at Athleta (the women’s clothing store) and we have ladies of all shapes, sizes and workout plans come in..and my favorites to speak to are the ones who are just starting out. They have so much drive and it gets me out the door too!
I so agree with you! I find if I dress I workout, if I lace up, I go for a run. We have to motivate ourselves by making a plan and following through!
I’m terrible with workout motivation, I seem to never have any haha. So this was very helpful, Thankyou xx
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Cake. You forgot cake! Wait…is that just me?! 😉
My main motivation right now is getting some alone time! I know it sounds terrible, but since my twins haven’t been napping very good lately, I need an hour or two by myself during the day. They love going to the daycare at the gym, get a little socialization, and I get a workout…win, win, win 🙂
This was great, I needed to read this! 🙂 Miss you friend!