31 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Exercise

If losing pounds is as easy as journaling about what you put in your mouth, can you use the same technique to help you stick to a fitness routine? Read on to learn how to get motivated to work out and how to motivate someone to work out too. Create a space that actively funnels you toward physical activity as opposed to the couch, even if you are coming home exhausted after a long day of work. Building mental toughness can take time, depending on your starting point, consistency, and the strategies you use. With regular practice, it might take just a few weeks or months to feel more calm, composed, and resilient when challenges arise. Clear, achievable goals can give you something to strive for — and a sense of accomplishment when you reach them.

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But while keeping a journal holds you more accountable for how you treat your body, sticking to a fitness routine is different from sticking to a healthy eating routine. Personal trainers we talked to recommend these tactics to keep you motivated and inspired to work out. Finding the motivation to start and maintain a workout routine can be challenging, especially on tough days. But with the right strategies, you can make exercise regular and enjoyable. You can also find myriad online workouts either live or on-demand. Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to exercise.

Give Your Workouts Meaning

If you’re homebound or if the weather is unfavorable, set up virtual fitness dates with friends to help keep you on track. Organization that translates health research into practice. Sometimes the idea of exercising after a long day feels totally impossible. Rather than giving up before you even start, tell yourself that you’ll just get dressed and do a 10-minute warmup before you even think about going home. After you get moving, there’s a good chance you’ll want to keep going.

Remember, there is no “right” time to exercise, but it’s more about when you feel best able to do so – and when you can fit it in. Perhaps that’s at 6am before work, or maybe it’s 8pm after dinner. Nicola Vanlint is a BACP-accredited therapist and coach who helps athletes overcome performance plateaus and achieve their goals. She helps them with psychological transitions and stressful life events – delving deep into the topic of their brains and motivation to help them overcome barriers. Some of the most committed exercisers do it every day before the sun comes up or late at night when the kids are in bed. Sit down with your weekly schedule and try to build in an hour each day to be good to your body.

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If the activity you have chosen isn’t interesting you, try something else like dancing, martial arts, or a sports league. In America, some tend to have trouble asking for help, says Bowling. Yet in order to stick to a fitness program, we need buy-in and encouragement from other people. We hope these five tips help you keep motivated to exercise throughout the year. And join us next week for a new episode of the Chasing Life podcast.

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To keep yourself on-track, choose your company wisely and interact with people who have similar goals. Skip the selfies and daily check-ins and opt for using social media as a way to stay on track with your fitness goals. Staying motivated to work out during winter can be a challenge, but with a few adjustments and a positive mindset, it’s entirely possible to stay on track. We tend to think of madmuscles scam exercise as a separate activity that we perform during a certain hour of the day — like when we put on our stretchy pants and head to the gym.

Rebuild the Habit Slowly

This emotion isn’t exclusive to runners, either—finishing any athletic event or goal can leave you feeling lost once the challenge is over. “Even after somebody’s cleared to work out post-injury, they might not have the same motivation and drive,” Kerulis says. Adjusting to new physical limitations and the reality that you may not have the same ability as before can shake your encouragement, Ash adds. If weightlifting in a crowded gym gives you anxiety, try getting a set of weights for home or following workout videos on YouTube or riding a bike in the park.

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But the game is going to be played whether you feel like playing or not, so you better figure out a solution to overcoming your lackluster emotions. I did this by developing a pre-game routine that would automatically pull me out of a funk and push me over that threshold to perform well. I developed a pre–game routine that allowed me to perform well, regardless of whether I was motivated or not.

Incentives can be a great way to boost motivation. Set up a reward system for reaching your fitness milestones. Treat yourself to something you enjoy, like a relaxing massage, a new workout outfit, or a special outing. Positive reinforcement can make the process of working out more enjoyable and motivating. Physical activity can help improve your mood, energy levels, and self-confidence—and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Cardiovascular and strength exercises for older adults can also prevent bone loss, relieve arthritis pain, and boost immunity and heart health.

Surround yourself with like-minded people

The goal isn’t to shock your system with punishing workouts from day one. Every time you repeat this cycle, the connection between the cue and the routine gets stronger. Eventually, the behavior becomes so automatic you do it without even thinking. Understanding this loop is your first real step in learning how to make exercise a habit that actually sticks. For a deeper dive, check out our guide on forming habits that stick.

Make Physical Fitness a Part of Your Everyday Routine

• We hope these five tips help you keep motivated to exercise throughout the year.
• The patterns that you repeat on a daily basis will eventually form the identity that you believe in and the actions that you take.
• If you’ve taught yourself to believe certain limitations, then you can also teach yourself to break through them.
• Physical barriers can cause symptoms such as muscle fatigue, soreness, pain, or shortness of breath.
• Discover the true importance of rest days for building muscle and preventing injury.
• For mental barriers, practice positive self-talk, set realistic goals, visualize success, and stay present in your workout.

But it can be hard to keep up with an exercise plan after the original luster wears off. Instead, try setting a more flexible goal, like aiming to work out two to four days a week. As Kerulis points out, “If you work out three or four days, you’re successful.

Tips to Stay Motivated With Your Fitness Routine

You don’t need one long, uninterrupted block of time to see results. Instead, hunt for tiny windows of opportunity throughout your day. This approach, sometimes called «exercise snacking,» is surprisingly effective. The most successful people don’t find time for exercise; they make time. The secret is realizing that this ‘time’ can be broken into smaller, more manageable pieces.