How I Motivate Myself to Work Out

I’m a rare breed of human that enjoys working out. Hence the fitness blog.

Even so, I sometimes struggle to muster up the motivation to work out. Bizarrely enough, I found it easier to be consistent in my fitness routine when I was working full-time. I’d go to a fitness class before work, come home, shower, and head off to the office. Lather, rinse and repeat.

Nowadays my schedule is a bit of a hot mess. No two days are alike. My job can be physically demanding and real sweaty as a hot yoga instructor. Sometimes I don’t feel like sweating again when I’ve already taught two sweaty classes.

I’m adjusting to this new lifestyle and teaching a whole lot more than I previously was. Part of that requires me to listen to my body as not to overdo it. And part of that also means I’ve had to find new ways to stay motivated to work out. Here’s what I’ve been focusing on:

How I Motivate Myself to Work Out

I schedule it in.

I live and die by my planner. If I don’t write down what fitness class I’m going to take and at what time, it’s probably not going to happen. Every Sunday night I try to sit down and plan out my workouts for the week.

 

I spend money on it.

One of the perks of being a fitness instructor is no doubt the free classes. It’s pretty freaking sweet. But that also means there’s nothing keeping me accountable to show-up.

It’s one of the reasons I signed up for a membership at Bar Method, while free classes are amazing and I totally still take advantage, spending money on membership means I’m going to put it to good use.

 

I know if I don’t workout in the morning or early afternoon, it ain’t happening.

By now I know my fitness habits. If I don’t do it in the morning or afternoon, it’s not going to happen. Even if I tell myself I’ll hit-up SoulCycle later or go to the 5:30PM class at Y7, I always have a million excuses as to why I don’t want to.

Knowing this I do everything in my power to work out as early in the day as possible.

 

I focus on the fitness classes I love.

Nothing sucks more than motivating yourself to go to a fitness class you hate. I gave up doing trendy classes I dislike a looong time ago. Instead I focus on the classes I love which these days is barre, yoga, Uplift and SoulCycle. Even if I’m not in the mood to workout, I know I’ll at least enjoy the class I take.

 

I set mini-goals.

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a major fitness goal in mind like training for a marathon.

I’m not super goal oriented in my approach to fitness these days — I just want to feel good and feel confident in my body. Even though I’m not working out with weight loss or some massive goal in mind, sometimes I like to set mini-goals for myself. Right now I’m participating in a challenge at Bar Method which I have to take at least 10 classes from now until October 10th. At the beginning of September I set my own goal of attending 3 barre classes a week. The goals don’t have to be extravagant, just little things to keep you accountable.

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Your turn: How do you stay motivated to workout when you really don’t want to do it?