Have you ever had days where you wake up in a morning and no matter how hard you try to get into the “zone” you simply can’t find the energy or the motivation to get anything done? Of course you have, because you’re human and we all have days like that occasionally, no matter how driven and determined we may consider ourselves to be. The trouble with a lack of motivation is that the whole thing can have a type of chain reaction-like process. Say you’re trying to lose weight for example. You may wake up already feeling tired and mentally drained and as the day goes on these feelings may get more and more intense. You’ll put your workout off for as long as possible until you decide to just say “screw it, I’ll make up for it tomorrow”. You may then think, “well, as I’m taking the day off from the gym, I may as well take the day off from my diet as well”. Before you know it, you’ve skipped a workout, have cheated on your diet, and will then beat yourself up mentally about it until you go to bed. Finding motivation, especially when it comes to working out, can be tough at times, but it’s how you deal with these times in life that help to shape the type of person you become. If you’re struggling to find the motivation required to stick with a workout plan, take a look at the following hints and tips and see how many you can implement on your next low day.
Add a little financial incentive
Let’s face it, none of us like wasting money, and truthfully not many if like spending money either. If you’ve created a workout plan and routine but find yourself struggling to find the motivation to go to the gym and exercise, why not add a little financial incentive? Obviously you have your gym membership but that’s not the same because you may convince yourself that you’ll make up for the missed session the following week so that you still get your money’s worth. Instead, why not think about hiring a personal trainer? Personal trainers themselves will also help keep you motivated, and we’ll get to that next, but for now, from a financial standpoint, hiring a personal trainer is expensive, so if you’ve already paid, you’ll want your money’s worth, and if you cancel, if you don’t give them enough notice, they may still charge you. Not wanting to waste a pretty substantial amount of money, you’ll be far more likely to get off your butt and head to the gym.
Hire a personal trainer
The main incentive for hiring a personal trainer should not to be to ensure you don’t waste your money, but rather to benefit from their vast knowledge and expertise regarding all things, health, fitness, and exercises-related. Personal trainers make a living from getting their clients fit and healthy and helping them to meet their goals, whatever these goals may be. If you’re struggling to motivate yourself and force yourself to the gym in order to have an effective workout, a personal trainer could be exactly what you need. Personal trainers will show you how to make working out enjoyable, they’ll show you how to train effectively, and above all else they’ll be with you every step of the way, shouting on words of encouragement and helping to motivate you and spur you on.
Always aim to beat your previous best
Another common problem that people tend to make when working out, is to follow the same routine week in and week out, and go through the same workouts week in and week out, without making any real progress. Rather than pushing themselves, they instead go through the motions and simply aim to do as little amount of work required as possible. If you begin a new workout routine, the first few weeks will be extremely tough. After a while however, it will become much easier. If you stick with the same routine I.E the same weights, the same reps, the same exercises, the same pace, the same amount of time etc, for a number of weeks, after a while it’ll become far too easy and you simply won’t benefit. Instead, challenge yourself to beat your previous best in one way or another. If you did 40 minutes cardio on a 10% incline, try 50 minutes cardio on a 10% incline the next week, or 40 minutes on an 11% incline. If you lifted 135lbs on the bench press for 10 reps, try for 12 reps the following week, or aim for 145lbs for 10 reps instead. It doesn’t matter how you progress, as long as you progress in one way or another. Adding this competitive element, even if you’re competing against yourself, is still a great way of staying motivated and keeping yourself interested in your workouts.
Find activities you actually enjoy
It’s still pretty amazing the amount of people looking to lose weight, that force themselves to perform hours upon hours of cardio on a treadmill every week, despite the fact that they absolutely loathe doing cardio on treadmills. If you ask them whether they perhaps enjoy cycling and they’ll tell you that they love cycling. So, then, if they enjoy cycling but hate treadmills, why on earth are they putting themselves through hell on a treadmill, when they could instead be out burning the same amount of calories, cycling around a stunning lake or countryside retreat perhaps? If you don’t enjoy something, of course you won’t want to do it, which is why finding the right exercises and activities you do enjoy is so crucial.
