5 Ways to Motivate Yourself to Workout

Disclaimer: The following post is sponsored by adidas. As always, all opinions expressed are genuinely my own.

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One of my favorite health mantras is, “By being a little less perfect, you’ll be more consistent.” For years, it’s been a reminder to me that a healthy lifestyle means having a positive relationship with yourself, the food you eat, the exercise you do and more. It’s all about overall healthy habits that are done consistently, with wiggle room allowed for when life happens and you aren’t “perfect.”

It’s the last week of January, which unfortunately means that lots of people have already given up on their healthy living resolutions for the year. This makes me sad because creating real, lasting change means committing to new healthy habits that are not quick fixes. If you feel like you’ve messed up your 2019 healthy living goals already, I urge you to not give up. Forgive yourself, push reset, and move on by getting back to it.

I’ve worked out consistently for as long as I can remember. Once in a blue moon I may miss a planned workout, but truth be told, there has never been a long stretch of time where I haven’t exercised. I’ve always made it a priority, and I like reaping the benefits of getting my endorphins pumping.

My dog Harley pushes me to get my daily steps in with her… otherwise she gets crazy hyper!

But at the same time, I’m a human being and I certainly do not always feel like working out. Today I’m sharing 5 ways that I motivate myself to exercise when I’m not particularly feeling it. Whether you’ve made a 2019 workout goal that you’re going strong with or struggling with, I hope these tips serve as a little dose of inspiration. If you’re a seasoned exerciser who almost never misses a sweat session, I’d love to hear some of your tips as well! Leave me a note in the comment section below.

1.) Do workouts you actually enjoy. This one may sound like a given, but I’ve often seen people plugging away the elliptical counting down the minutes, or those who hate running deciding to train for a marathon…In fact, back in the day I actually did this myself! These days, I do not run at all because a.) I get no pleasure from it, and b.) my injuries flair up when run.

Finding a type of exercise that you don’t hate will make you more likely to keep up with it. If you’re more of a social creature, commit to group fitness classes. Love swimming? Join your local YMCA. If you enjoy dancing, try Zumba classes. Take the time to ask yourself what activities you actually may get joy from doing, and then go do those things.

Stats from a recent reformer Pilates class workout

For me, I like to switch it up, so this also means doing different workouts so that I don’t get bored and de-motivated. Lately I’ve been into biking, kickboxing, and reformer Pilates (which sometimes I do not enjoy when I’m shaking and struggling in a plank or lunge, but I always feel awesome afterwards, so I cling to that feeling!). Recently I took a tennis HIIT class completely by mistake, but wound up feeling challenged and accomplished by the end of it.

I’ve been rocking adidas sneakers during my daily walks with my dog. 

2.) Sport cute athleisure. If you’ve got fun workout gear in your gym bag ready to go, or you’re lucky enough to be able to sport athletic wear during work hours, chances are it’s going to put you more in the mood to get a workout in.

Because I work from home and exercise most days, you can typically find me sporting athletic wear. Now that it’s winter, I’ve been wearing long, comfy workout leggings, a short sleeve/sleeveless shirt, and a warm zip-up most days. Since I take my dog for long walks every day and I’m freezing my butt off in this northeastern winter weather, I also have been sporting gloves and a scarf a lot.

Since I go from working in my office, to working in the kitchen, to running errands, to walking my dog, to working out at a studio or home, I think that layering is key, as is being in cute athleisure underneath my winter coat!

I’ve been living in warm leggings this winter, and these adidas high rise tights have been a favorite of mine. 

I nab new athleisure somewhat often since I wear it so much, and a new outfit seems to always give me a bit of workout inspiration. Over Christmas I was gifted several new workout pieces because my loved ones all know that I live in athletic wear!

3.) Do your best to schedule workout times that work better for you. Not much of a morning person (If so, I’m with you)? Don’t schedule 6 am classes. Instead do evening workouts or save your big workouts for the weekend and schedule just 1 or 2 morning workouts during the work week. I know we don’t always have the luxury of choosing what works best for our bodies with exercise scheduling, but it’s a factor that can change your workout game. You’re more likely to follow through on a workout routine if you plan it for what feel like ideal times.

Case in point: I used to always workout in the evening, but recently I started feeling like I had less energy later in the day, and it was making my workouts feel kind of blah and forced. So, I decided to switch my sweat sessions to mostly first thing in the AM, with one or two lunchtime workouts sprinkled into my week. It definitely has made a difference!

4.) Get inspired. We’ve all been in an exercise funk at one point or another, and something that seems to always help lift me out of it is getting inspired via podcasts, motivational quotes, YouTube videos (there’s an endless amount of motivational videos on there!), or by reading and reflecting on mantras that I’ve written down that resonate with me.

Tip: Check out Will Smith’s motivational videos and speeches. He focuses a lot on failure, fear, and success in general, and his talks always have a way of getting me up and moving!

5.) Reward yourself. If I seem to be going through a week or any given period where working out just isn’t appealing to me, I like creating a reward for when I reach my goal. My goals vary from completing a certain amount of workouts that week, to something more specific like rowing to a certain number of strokes. I’ve rewarded myself with everything from a massage or a pedicure, to a visit to my favorite smoothie shop for post-workout fuel. It doesn’t have to involve anything fancy, just something that you gives you joy in some way. A post-workout epsom salt bath while reading is a good one that I’ve done a few times lately.

Keep in mind, this only works if you make a deal with yourself, and then promise to follow through in order to get whatever your reward is. If you cheat, you’re really only cheating yourself.

Tell me.. What are your top workout motivation tips?