It’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s too early, it’s too late, it’s too close to lunchtime…..these are all common excuses when it comes to motivating yourself to workout. I am sure that you have your own list of excuses as well.
How to motivate yourself to workout is the first critical step of your entire workout routine, and hopefully some of the below tips will help you. You have to want to work out so setting yourself goals or targets is a key component for success.
I always used to have the best excuses for not going to the gym until I really started to motivate myself to do something about it. Once you are in the routine it all becomes easier, trust me!
Top 20 Tips on how to motivate yourself to workout
1) Have answers to your excuses – as talked above there are tons of excuses out there and you know which ones you use, so ensure to have the responses to those excuses so it doesn’t stop you from working out.
2) Get a playlist – download inspirational workout songs onto your I-pod. Everyone has different songs but the best for me is very cliché – “Eye of the Tiger”. It is just about getting pumped up to workout.
playlist
3) Tell the world – by telling your friends and family that you are starting a workout it adds additional pressure to actually do it as you don’t want to disappoint them.
4) Eliminate negative thoughts – think positive! Negative thoughts are just going to bring you down so think positively about your workout.
5) Create a workout and diet log – by writing things down it somehow gives you more motivation to actually carry out, so document everything that you plan to do.
6) Document your progress – if it is that you ran 5km or lifted 200lbs, make a note of it so that in 6 months time you can see how much you have progressed.
7) Enter a competition amongst friends – there is nothing quite like competition amongst friends. You always want to beat your friends and they will too. The added competition will inspire you to workout harder.
8) Post you’re a ‘before’ picture in your office or on your fridge – having a ‘before’ photo in a highly visible place ensures that you are given the push to motivate yourself.
9) Eat healthier – cutting out the junk food and eating a little healthier will make you feel better and in turn make it easier to workout, giving you more energy.
10) Set yourself a target holiday – plan a trip to the beach where you can show off your new body to the world.
11) Get a workout buddy – having someone to train with will help motivate you, and them, to workout harder.
12) Live long enough to see kids and grandkids grow up – by doing exercise and eating healthier you can increase your life span to spend more years with your family.
13) Motivational quotes – surround yourself with motivational quotes. There are tons of sites out there that can provide you with quotes that will work for you. Use them as a screensaver or post them on your fridge as a constant reminder.
14) Making goals for yourself – setting goals for yourself, whether it is a weight you want to be, or a distance you want to be able to run, goals and targets are great motivational tools.
15) Rewards – maybe it is a nice meal once a week, a trip to the cinema, buying a new book…..whatever it is, it is always a good idea to reward yourself when you have been working hard.
16) Stress relief – this is a big one for me personally. There is nothing better for stress relief than a workout, so this one is a big motivator that can also work for you.
stress relief
17) Success stories – success stories are always nice and you can read about them online. It is very inspiring when you see other people achieving their goals and it motivates you to achieve yours.
18) Fitting into new clothes – this one can go both ways. If you are working out to try and lose weight then it is a huge motivator to see that you need new clothes as the old ones don’t fit anymore. Likewise if you are working to build muscle and your t-shirt no longer fits over your biceps, it encourages you to work even harder.
19) Magazines – reading about workouts and motivation in magazines is a big plus. Additionally you can see a lot of very fit people which can motivate you to become like them.
20) Have fun – I have saved this one until last as I truly believe this is the most important. Having fun when you workout is a big motivator for returning and doing it again. Working out with a friend and having a laugh whilst doing it is a great incentive.
All of these things are easy to do but you need to get off your backside and actually do them. Once you do, then the workout becomes the easy part. Hopefully these tips will have helped you in how to motivate yourself to workout and the results are paying dividends.
If you have any other tips on how to motivate yourself to workout,
please post a comment and we may add it into our next article.
