Staying motivated is a difficult task. As I mentioned in the blog post, The Healthy Trinity, exercise is integral to our mental health.   We have all experienced moments in our life when we were super motivated and could not be stopped. Unfortunately, it waxes and wanes. It is difficult to stay consistent.  The following tips will help keep you on the right track.

 Tips to stay motivated to exercise:

1) Start your day by exercising. Don’t give yourself an opportunity to become distracted by other things. Just get up and go.

2) Schedule your workout. It is harder to ignore activities that you schedule. There are a lot of apps which can help you. Many of these apps will keep reminding you until you delete the activity. It is like an annoying parent reminding you to clean your room. Sometimes you will do it just to stop the annoyance.  Personally, I know I don’t feel good until I have completed my daily to do list.

3) Join a gym, class, or get private training sessions. This does not always work but you are more likely to exercise if you have committed to go to a gym, a class, or work with a trainer. You are wasting money if you don’t go (of course, gyms count on this to make money). Those bills are a constant reminder that you need to exercise. In addition, gyms and classes are social experiences where you look forward to seeing people.

4) Tell other people you are exercising. Other people will help hold you accountable for your behavior. If you tell your friend that you are trying to consistently exercise you have to answer to them if you do not. It will also be reinforcing if you can report to your friends that you are, indeed, reaching your exercise goals.

5) Seek an exercise partner. Having a partner makes exercise an enjoyable social activity. If you enjoy it more you are more likely to continue it. In addition, a partner can help motivate you when you are lacking self-motivation. Also, If you end up not exercising, you will have let them down as well as yourself. Sometimes you may have multiple partners. For example, CrossFit gyms are communities where people bond and work out together. You can also find this sense of community in certain classes and other specialized gyms and studios. We may not think of it this way, but when we take part in group sports, we are engaging in a social form of group exercise. In general, having exercise partners usually increases the likelihood that we remain engaged in an exercise routine.

6) Use a tracking app or calendar. It is quite reinforcing to post your exercise achievements and see them listed in black and white. Many apps also have places to create workout goals and will congratulate you when you reach them. Personally, I use a Garmin app which helps me track my activity. It gives me great joy to look on the Garmin Connect website and see what I have accomplished.

7) Plan ahead to reduce excuses.  If you make some preparations when you are feeling motivated this will help you overcome any hesitation you might have if you are feeling less motivated in the moment.  For example, if you want to go to the gym in the morning, put out your workout clothes the night before.   If you like to hit the gym after work, pack your gym bag and keep it in your car.  The more work you do ahead of time means the less work you have to do when you are making the decision to exercise.

8) Make goals reasonable. If you make workouts too difficult you are less likely to want to do them. Start with smaller goals and work up to more difficult workouts. You are also less likely to injure yourself if you build your exercise program gradually.

9) Keep setting goals. We are more likely to stay motivated if we have something to shoot for. Once you complete one goal, set another. Personally, I have signed up for many running races to give myself something to work towards.  Having continuous goals will keep you attentive and involved.

10) Change up your routine.  If you do the same thing every time you exercise, you will get bored and are more likely to quit.  Instead, do different types of exercises and choose different environments.  One day go to the gym.  Another day work out outside.  Do full body exercise one day, hit the weights another.  You get the point.  In other words, keep it fresh.

11)Schedule an off day every week. An off day gives your muscles time to repair themselves and gives you a break. If you have a day off scheduled you are less likely to feel overburdened and want to take additional days off.  In addition, off days will help you prevent injury from pushing yourself too hard.

12) Do not weigh yourself. This may seem like strange advice but regular exercise does not always lead to weight loss. If you are exercising to lose weight you may not see the expected progress. In fact, a lack of weight loss might dissuade you from exercising. More important is how you feel. We all want to look good but, remember, exercise is about being healthy.

13) Think of exercise in positive terms. Working out is (usually) not life and death. We just want to stay healthy. If you look at exercise as something fun it is going to help you stay motivated. Remember, thoughts lead to feelings. Exercise is a good thing.