9 Ways To Keep Yourself Motivated To Work Out

Establishing a consistent workout routine can be difficult, especially if you've never had a routine before. Once you've developed the habit, it's easier to maintain, but getting there can often pose a challenge. Stress, bad weather, poor sleep... there are a lot of reasons people lose motivation and feel like skipping a workout. Here are some ways to overcome resistance and stay motivated to work out:

Adopt a Greater Purpose

While consistent exercise is great for your health, it can be a challenge to always be motivated by health reasons alone. However, you can make your workout bigger than yourself. Look for races or fitness events that benefit a cause you care about. Especially if you've made a public commitment to the cause, it will increase your motivation, accountability, and consistency. Your cause can also be personal: get fit for the sake of your family, or in service to something special.

Find an Activity You Enjoy

Experiment to find something you actually enjoy doing. If you dislike jogging, but enjoy dancing, or prefer pilates to weightlifting, then do that. There are hundreds of ways to boost cardiovascular and muscular fitness, so find something that you look forward to. If you end up falling in love with an activity, it'll be easier to bring yourself to do it more often and the consistency will bring a better benefit.

Tune in to an Audiobook or Podcast

If there's a book or a podcast you like, save it to listen to while you exercise. Studies have shown that when people incentivize exercise by reserving an exciting novel or favorite podcast for the gym, it increases consistency of workouts. Make your time on the treadmill no trouble at all with the right audio.

Give Yourself Healthy Rewards

Find fun rewards and save them for your workout days. Adding incremental rewards for consistency and small milestones recognizes your accomplishments. Maybe once you hit a goal you'll choose to get a massage, or take some time for your mental health and enjoy a night doing one of your favorite activities. You can also choose a physical reward, such as buying new workout gear or investing in a new hobby.

Add Variety

Variety not only keeps you interested and engaged in your workouts, but it increases overall fitness and prevents injury from repetitive strain. Keep a consistent schedule in order to reinforce the habit, but vary the activity and intensity of workouts to keep them from getting boring.

Create Fun Ways to Track Progress

Use a fitness tracker or an app to track your progress and add rewards, or keep a list, log, or journal. Tracking progress reinforces healthy habits, and reminds you how far you've come. An app also gives your friends a chance to congratulate your accomplishments, and some even turn fitness tracking into a fun game.

Recruit a Friend

Having a workout buddy or team increases consistency and accountability, and often boosts performance as well. Adding a social aspect to a fitness routine also enhances your mind and mood, so find a friend to workout with, or make friends at your gym or facility.

Monitor Your Mindset

If you think of your workout as a recurring chore, something you “ought to” or “have to” do, it's easy to procrastinate and avoid it. Thinking of it as an act of self-care, something you “get to” do in order to burn off stress, catch up on your podcasts, or take care of yourself for a change, makes it more enjoyable and improves consistency.

Don't “Throw the Baby Out with the Bathwater”

Finally, forgive yourself for missing a day. Don't let a single setback demoralize you, or undo your hard-won progress. Shake it off and keep on going, without giving up or feeling like you need to start over. One of the biggest ways to lose your progress is by giving up after missing a day. You can chose to make up for that day, to just get back on track and continue moving forward.

When You're Ready to Start, Have a Great Team Behind You