Earlier this week I had a question from an LGF follower. She said that she’s been struggling to find motivation for her cardio sessions, and asked if I had any tips. The more I thought about it, the more tips I came up with… so much so that I thought the topic deserved a blog post of its own… and here it is!
It’s a fact of life that not every workout is going to be one you look forward to. Whether it’s a style of training you hate or one particular exercise that has you running for the hills, I’ve got a few tips to help you make it through your session unscathed.
My Top Eight Tips to Help You Find the Motivation to Get Through Your Workout
- Don’t expect you’ll love every exercise or every session.
It’s a fact of life that there will be some exercises that you hate. Once you let go of the idea that every exercise, or every workout, should be fun, you’ll probably find it quite liberating. - Do your most hated exercise first
You know that saying about saving the best for last? It works with exercise too. Once you get the horrid stuff out of the road you can start enjoying your workout. Personally I hate assisted chin ups, so if they’re part of my program I make sure I get them out of the road first, then I can relax! - Don’t give yourself time to think about it.
If you’re a morning exerciser, lay out all your clothes the night before and set yourself a loud alarm. Get up and dressed before your brain kicks into gear. Those first 60 seconds are the most crucial – if you’re still in bed after that, you’re in trouble. If you’re an after-work exerciser, get changed into your gym gear before you leave the office. When you’re already dressed there’s no room for excuses, plus it’s much quicker than braving the locker rooms during peak hour. - Figure out what your goal is for the session.
Don’t go in with a vague idea of what you might do; have your workout planned. If you’re doing cardio, go in with a time goal, or a calorie goal, or (even better in my opinion) an interval workout session plan. If you’re doing weights, have the session on your phone or on a Post-it note so it’s easily accessible and you know when you’re done. - Make yourself a music playlist.
Drowning out any negative thoughts with a little bit of Pink works a treat, I promise. Keep in mind that the tempo you’ll want for a run is probably very different to what will motivate you during a heavy weights session. - Train with a friend.
I know this one seems very obvious (and I’ve written more on the topic here) but it really works. If you’re struggling to find motivation, a training partner could be just what you need to take you mind off the pain. - Remind yourself how good you’ll feel when you’re done.
Sometimes, when the workout itself seems too much to focus on, I like to take a moment to envision how good I’ll feel at the end. Because no matter how touch a workout is, the resulting feelings are usually worth it. - Just do it.
In the words of our friends at Nike, JUST DO IT. I’ve had plenty of workouts where I spent half my time convincing myself to just ‘run to that next tree’ or ‘just do one more set of push ups’. Instead of thinking of these as ‘bad’ workouts though, I truly believe they are the ones that count the most. After all, anyone can do a workout that feels good, it’s a true champion who fights through a workout that feels like rubbish! *
* Make sure you learn the difference between a body that’s feeling lazy and one that’s really not feeling well.
There you have it, my top eight tips for exercising when it’s the last thing you feel like doing. Hit me up in the comments section if you’ve got any other little hints or tricks you want to share!
Have a wonderful weekend!
sportymaenad01 says
Thanks, Jess! I feel like you’re talking directly to me… 😉
The one I keep drumming into myself at the moment is that I will feel better afterwards.
I used to HATE exercising, but I don’t now. I never believed that thing about endorphins before, but now I know it’s true.
If. I. Can. Just. Get. There. I. Will. Feel. Better.
I’ll feel smug, ’cause I got there. I’ll feel better physically, and I’ll be closer to my goal. And it actually helps smooth out a crap day.
But these are all good tips. I’m gonna print it out and hang it up in all the places…
LazyGirlFitness says
Hahaha – strange that…
You’re so right – it’s just about getting there. The rest is easy!
katyhancock says
I love the idea of “just do it”. Life is full of things that you don’t want to do, but sometimes you just have to suck it up and get to it.
Pippa says
I have a love / hate relationship with running. I quite enjoy the sensation of running (once I get past the first 1.5km) and get a bit smug afterwards about having completed a run but I’m constantly battling myself to actually go for the run, as the first 1-2km feels clunky and as a result I often psyche myself out before hand that the whole run will feel that way.
Similar to your – just do the first 10min, I was given a handy mantra by a friend ‘run the km you are in’ so now I set out to run 1-2 km and decide at the 1km mark if this feels like a quick 2-3km day or a 10km. I know you should have a plan before starting, but this approach has been key to me actually getting out the door! More often than not by the time I have ticked over 2km I’ve reached the love part of the relationship and want to keep going for a long run.