I am guilty of falling off the wagon when it comes to having fitness goals and making myself go to the gym. Admittedly, my gym is literally across the road from where I live, so you would really think that I have no excuse whatsoever not to go. Gosh, is that wrong. Recently, I’ve had little to no motivation to make myself head to the gym, regardless of whether I have an impending wedding (less than a year to go!!). Even the need to look my best for my wedding day is not enough to motivate me, choosing to watch The Great British Bake Off instead of getting my sweat on.
If you’re anything like me, here are a few tips on How To Stay Motivated To Work Out – get yourself motivated by putting your gym kit on and getting down to the gym – or better yet, going for a run or some fresh air.
❤ Write it down ; Often before a workout, just the though of working out can put us off going to the gym or getting in some sort of workout for the day. And really, that feeling alone can push back things from “I’m working out today” to procrastination and leaving things until tomorrow.
By writing things down, or even having a simple notebook with feelings of how great you feel after working out, you are more than likely to put on your workout clothes and head down to the gym. The positive thoughts that you felt from your last work out can help motivate you when you really aren’t in the mood, and want nothing more than a lazy evening on the sofa, or a duvet day.
❤ Only wash your hair when you workout ; Yes as disgusting as it may sound, I tried this out for a week. No dry shampoo, no rinsing my hair. Nothing. Just simply only washing my hair when I managed to get a workout in. This itself really does motivate you because it forces you to go the gym, and earn your shower time. There is honestly no better feeling than walking out of a gym, red faced and sweaty, your hair sticking to your face from sweating, then jumping in the shower and washing it all away with some herbal essences.
❤ Remember why you started ; for me this is a big motivator to get me to work out. Sit down, and rea`ly think about what made you sign that gym contract, what made you make a promise to yourself? For me, it would be to improve my fitness and to not feel so out of breath walking up the ginormous elevator length at the train station. Losing a few pounds here or there would come as a bonus.
If you remember exactly why you started this is likely to help ignite your passion for wanting to make a change, and if you’re lucky, help push you just that little bit more when you are working out.
❤ Compete with someone ; if you’re anything like me, competitive, then this will be more than enough to get you down to the gym. Set yourself and a friend a target, and use that target as a challenge. Maybe have a little treat or a prize for whoever does better than the other? Competing with someone always pushes you to work harder just to get one over. So let your competitive side out and challenge yourself and a friend. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of friendly competition is there?
❤ Workout as a group/with a friend Group workouts, or group classes have always been known to be a motivator in itself. Workout out as a group means that you can collectively work together, and push each other towards your fitness goals. There are so many group classes at the gym, and whilst following a personal trainer or someone running the class, you are pretty much guaranteed to be doing the moves and perfecting your skills. Most classes boast a calorie burn of around 500 calories.
Have these workout tips helped you? Do you have any other workout tips?
