The Motivation to Workout
Where do you find the motivation to workout when you are just not feeling it?
Maybe you had a rough day at the office.
Maybe you had a difficult day at home, or just got over a cold or the flu and have not been to the gym in a week.
How do you muster up the motivation to workout when you don't feel like it?
Motivation to Workout – The Mind
When you do not feel like working out, where is that feeling happening?
In your gut, in your mind.
For whatever reason, you are convincing yourself that you just do not want to workout today and that conversation is happening in your gut and your mind.
The first strategy to find the motivation to workout is in the same place, your gut and your mind.
The same way that you are telling yourself that you do not have what it takes to workout, start telling yourself the opposite, that you want to workout, even if you are feeling down about other issues.
Tell yourself that sooner or later, those other issues will be resolved and there is no reason that you should not press forward with taking care of yourself.
Working out is taking care of you, your body and your mind.
No matter what is happening around you, totally giving up on food, drink and shelter is usually not an option.
The same should apply to your workout routine.
Some parts of life must be sacred and your health and fitness has to take first place because, without your health and fitness, you have nothing and cannot be there for the ones that you love, your family, friends, community, job.
Take the action now of telling yourself that working out is just as important as feeding yourself.
You have to move your body and keep building a stronger mind and body, for yourself and for those that you care about most.
Make that determination in your mind and you will find new motivation to workout.
Motivation to Workout – Suiting Up Imagination
Everyone suits up for either their job, a date, to hang out and relax or for a movie.
You also suit up for your workout.
Today you might not be feeling it and that is why after finding the motivation to workout in your mind, now is the time to suit up for your workout.
Taking the physical action to put on your workout gear will actualize your motivation to workout.
Putting on your workout clothes will bring you one step closer to actually starting a set of pushups, going to the power rack and getting ready to squat and/or deadlift.
Put on your workout gear and feel that you are going to get to the gym, park or your garage/basement to lift, run, swim, whatever is your regular workout routine.
Visualize yourself working out.
Motivation to Workout – Blogging
We started with firing up the motivation to workout in your mind.
You are suited up and ready to workout and on the way to the gym, out for a walk, tennis, a swim or strength training.
You made all this mental and physical effort and now you are finished with your workout.
How do you keep this motivation to workout moving forward?
We know that people are competitive as well as community oriented, and many use 12-week challenges to keep their motivation to workout fired up on all cylinders.
What if you have no one in your corner?
What if you are single, live far away from family or live in a family that does not share the same motivation to workout?
And what if you just don't feel like participating in a body transformation contest?
Here is another tried and true method, blog about your workout, log your results and perhaps you will find some online motivation to workout from others on the web.
In fact, I am going to give that a go myself.
Today, I had no motivation to workout.
I was fighting off flu, fever and bronchial asthma for the last two weeks.
I have not done a set of squats in two weeks nor deadlifts.
On one hand I want to workout of course, but then, on the other hand, I just do not want to step out into the cold and push myself to the gym.
I had absolutely no motivation to workout this morning and then started to think about some ideas to help.
I sat alone wondering if I could muster up enough reasons to face the freezing wind.
I know that if I do not get out soon, I will probably not do so for the rest of the day.
I came up with these three thoughts to motivate myself to workout and I am about to head out, my first time since coming down with the flu two weeks ago.
Use your mind to motivate yourself to workout, to take care of yourself.
Get suited up and get ready to go and visualize yourself working out.
Log your workout and goals online.
You can find mine at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hashimashifitness
Ben Isaac is the author of