There is nothing like a full day at work or at school to make you want to hit the couch and not move. Although you have made a mental commitment to regularly working out in order to get or stay fit, it’s still pretty hard to translate that thought into action. Here are a few of the many tips that can help your workout motivation and get you moving.
You can’t motivate yourself to work out at the end of the day. You need to provide some little ways to motivate yourself and remind you throughout the day. One way is to post some inspirational shape-up messages around your workspace and/or tape up images associated with your goals. Also, it pays to create a calendar reminder that pops up on your computer throughout the day. Try to make it fun so it doesn’t feel like a drudge or worse, a distraction.
If your office location is conducive, you can change into your workout gear before you leave. More and more people are cycling to work as a way to make a portion of their workout routine a normal part of their day. In either case, the visual reminder of switching into your workout clothes at work is a great workout motivation and helps reduce the possibility of skipping the gym after work. The same holds true if you’re in school.
It also helps to make plans to meet a friend at the gym to work out with. This provides and incentive to follow through, and having someone to work out with is a great motivator.
Setting goals (while keeping the expectations reasonable) as well as having a set workout schedule will help in providing workout motivation. Goals can be losing a set number of pounds or training for a fitness run among other reasonable goals.
If you work out in the morning or in the evening, make sure to leave your workout gear where you can always see it. That means in plain sight so that it is the first thing you see when you get out of bed, or next to the TV for instance so it is a constant reminder that you have a reason to get off the couch and get moving.
These are only a few of the many ways to instill workout motivation regardless of if you are an old hand at working out or it is a new pursuit. Just as with good nutrition (which also provides a number of motivating aspects) working out whether for five minutes a day or 50 minutes a day is all part of a healthy lifestyle. It won’t take long for you to feel and begin seeing the results of the changes in your attitude as well as your health.
