Doing a workout is such an interesting concept in motivation. The hardest part of doing a workout is actually talking yourself into doing the workout. If you can show up to wherever it is that you actually do the exercise, then you have actually conquered the hardest part of the entire process. The workout itself is like any other task, you get in there and do it, which is a pretty neutral event that you can make enjoyable, and then afterwards you feel elated and like you’re on top of the world getting important things done. It is truly motivation in reverse. So, how do we work around our thoughts about working out when the hardest part is motivating ourselves to go in the first place? Below are the tips that I use to keep me disciplined and motivated in showing up to workout at least 3-5 times a week.
Before we dive in though, a quick word on finding your “why”. I could have added this as a tip, but this is more about understanding why you want to incorporate exercise into your life. Yes, of course, we all know that we should workout to stay healthy, but you need something stronger than “I should be doing this”. For example, my “why” is because I want to age well and to be able to take care of myself as I get older. I want to be a vivacious woman who will be able to retain her independence into her senior years. Muscle mass peaks in our 30s and then starts a long, slow decline. Muscle-loss, also called sarcopenia, affects more than 45% of older Americans, especially women. Also, loss of strength increases the risk of falling, the top cause of death from injury in older adults. To me, it’s very important to age well and to have good mobility, especially now that I have turned 40 and my muscle mass will start to decline if I do not keep up my workout routine.
gain clarity about why you want this for yourself
After you find your “why”, take some time to do some journaling to help you gain clarity about why this is important to you. At the top of the page write as a heading, I Want to Incorporate Working Out into My Life Because (insert your why here). Below that, do a subheading – Reasons Why This is Important to Me: and list out the reasons why working out is important to you in terms of what you want to get out of it. Some examples that I have written for myself are, to have more energy, to help prevent diseases as I get older, to feel great about my appearance, to be able to hike mountains in my senior years, to travel to walkable places like Paris or London even when I am older, to have maximum vitality as I age, to help regulate stress better when it occurs, to be a vivacious woman, and to keep my heart strong in case I ever find myself hospitalized.
Another subheading I will also do is, How Will Working Out Make Me Feel? I do this because at the end of the day, the only reason we want anything is because of the feelings we think we will have when we get it (thank you for this clarity, Tonya Leigh!). This is a way to get my mind on board with what I want. Some feelings that I have written down are strong, safe, capable, attractive, comfortable in movements, vivacious (again), confidence, and to feel-good inside and out. Write out the feelings you think you will have once you start working out to help get you excited about starting.
I have internalized the above reasons within myself, and they drive me to keep going, even if I find myself temporarily out of routine. When that happens, I will sit back down with my journal and reiterate to myself why I want to get back into routine again.
invest in quality workout clothes and accessories
You can get workout clothes anywhere nowadays. They are sold in nearly every shop that you walk into, and they also come in every shape, size, color and style you can think of. But why invest in quality pieces instead of getting something more budget friendly? Because surroundings matter, always. I have tried some budget friendly pieces myself in the past, but because they were not great quality, I found that they could fit weird, bunch in weird places, and honestly it just doesn’t look good which then in turns makes me feel not my best self while working out. But, when I started investing in quality pieces from places like Athleta, Lululemon and Alo, that’s when I started feeling like the best version of myself working out. The clothes fit well and looked great on me and gave me more confidence to work out even more. I started looking forward to my cute gym outfits every morning as I was putting them on. Just like how one should find their personal style in life, the same is true for workout style as well. My style is a simple pair of either yoga pants or biking shorts in neutral colors and simple tops (tanks, short and long sleeve) in neutrals, but I also have a few color tops in blue and green as well. As I mentioned above, workout clothes come in all different styles now, but try to keep it minimal to help create more ease and keep the pieces simple in form and function. It can be frustrating to try and put on and take off tops or bottoms that have multiple straps or weird holes that you have to figure out. Keep to simple, basic styles, but in the colors that you love.
create a pinterest board
I find creating a Pinterest board to be fun in general, but my workout inspiration Pinterest board does something a little extra for me. Remember how I mentioned above that getting yourself to go work out is the hardest part? This is where my Pinterest board comes in to give me a boost. I am a very visual person and visual inspiration is my go-to for creating my life outside of journaling. Therefore, when I wake up early in the morning and I want to try and stay in bed, I will instead grab my phone, open Pinterest and go straight to my work out board. I will start scrolling through all of the images, quotes and ideas that have motivated me. The images stir the motivation inside of me of wanting to be “that girl” who works out and takes care of her body. In fact, I call my board “that girl” as well. Here is a link to my Pinterest if you would like to visit my boards to get you started on creating your own inspiration. Ultimately though, find what motivates you, is it also something like a Pinterest board of beautifully, curated aesthetic images, or maybe it’s “that girl” TikTok’s or reels, or “workout with me” videos on YouTube? There is no shortage of media available at our fingertips, use it to your advantage to help create that spark of motivation first thing when you are most likely to talk yourself out of working out.
find movement that feels good to you
There are so many different types of workouts out there that one can choose from, and your mission is to find the kind of movement that you enjoy. Not that it shouldn’t be a little challenging or get your heart rate up but find the movements that feels good to you. For example, I don’t like push-up, lunges, planks, or deadlifts as example, so I do not incorporate them into my workouts. I do love certain types of squats, lifts with free-weights, interval cardio runs as well as some yoga and walking. I have experimented with this over time to find what it is that I enjoy so that I will also enjoy the workouts too. Our brains are hardwired to want to pursue pleasure and to avoid pain (or things that we simply don’t enjoy), so that is paramount to keeping up the routine. As long as you are moving your body to keep it healthy, that is the main thing…not trying to get skinny, not trying to see fast results, not trying to bring your body to the brink. These will burn you out and you may end up quitting. Getting leaner may be a great result of the workout, but if this is your only “why” as to why you are working out, the results will not come fast enough, and you will probably give up.
find your workout space
You need to find a space to where you want to work out in. This could be a gym, your home or outside or even a combination of these. I have used all of these depending on where I have lived. In my first house in Jacksonville, I wasn’t too close to a gym, so I did strength training in my living room and running out in the neighborhood. When we bought a house, we were on a busier road, but there was a gym nearby, so I joined the gym. At my new home, we do have a nice little gym, but the free weights section can get crowded, so I do my strength training at home and do my cardio at the apartment’s gym (this section is never too crowded). You want to find the space where you will enjoy the workouts so that way you will look forward to going there day after day. You want it to be clean and as luxurious as possible. The environment will help keep you motivated to come back for more workout sessions.
invest in what you need
Another important aspect is to invest in the things that you need to create ease around working out. For me, I have a gym bag, a water bottle I enjoy using, I’ve had small workout gloves to keep my hands from getting callused in weight training, headphones, hair ties, a lock and hand sanitizer (for when I had joined a gym), good socks and shoes. I personally also do saunas, so I also have a pair of sauna sandals and a small towel for personal use. At home I have invested in a thick yoga mat and free weights. Coming up with excuses as to why you can’t workout comes easily to us, but don’t let the lack of things you need be one of them, otherwise you will be able to use this excuse nonstop.
create a workout playlist
Music just makes everything in life better, and working out is no different. While there are many playlists available on Spotify, including mine here if you would like to check it out, take some time to create a playlist that you find motivating. I like to think of myself as a chic, vibrant woman, and so my music selection reflects that. When I work out, I feel like I am at a luxury gym and that I am elegantly taking care of my body when I listen to my playlist. It immerses me into the workout and creates that environment of chic elegance which then reinforces back to me why I want to come back and do it again. Find some descriptive words for the kind of woman you want to be, and then build a playlist around those essence words. This will make working out so much more luxurious and simultaneously reflect back to you a self-image that you have created for yourself.
get ready the night before
The day that you plan to go to the gym is not the day that you get ready for the gym, you do that the night before. This is especially true if you are an early riser to work out like I am. Make sure that everything is ready to go before going to bed. Pack up the gym bag with everything that is needed and set it out to easily grab. Set out the full workout outfit and shoes you plan to wear so that you can change first thing. Make the water bottle and put it in the fridge, or if you have an insulated one just leave it right by your bag as the water will stay cold until the next morning. Make sure the headphones are charged and ready to go, set out anything that is needed to do first like brushing teeth, deodorant, hair pulled back, etc. The idea is that when it’s time to go workout you are ready within minutes. Again, this is to ensure an efficient way to get out the door because any little setback will create an excuse to abandon the task all together. Create this routine as soon as possible and it will create ease around getting yourself to the workout. If you are working out at home, set everything out the night before as well. When I do my strength training at home, I set out my yoga mat and weights so that they are just there and all I have to do is show up. If I had to pull it all out every morning, then I would probably tell myself that I don’t have time and not workout at all.
SHOW UP
All of the tips before were preparing us for this moment and this is the hardest tip of all. I will say from my own experience that eventually showing up will become more of a habit and eventually it won’t be so hard, but until you get there your brain will fight you along the way. My friends always asked how I wake up at 5:00 a.m. to work out, I would say to them, if I had a job where I needed to show up at 6:00 a.m., and therefore needed to wake up by 5:00 a.m., then I would do that. So why would I show up for work, but not show up for myself? This is by no means a perfect attendance record on my part either. Life happens and sometimes you need to put off a workout, but with all of the tips listed above, I am able to back on my routine pretty seamlessly to keep showing up again.
it’s not going to be perfect, you will fall out of routine sometimes
Here’s the thing about any routine, at some point something is probably going to happen to cause you to fall out of routine with whatever practice you are doing. I do workout and quite regularly, but there are many times that I have fallen off my routine for various reasons. Just this past spring I had covid and was not only sick for two solid weeks, but it took another two weeks to fully heal and breathe right again. I hadn’t worked out in 4-5 weeks at this point and getting started again did feel like an arduous task, but by using the tips I listed above I was able to successfully get back to working out regularly. My Pinterest and journal are especially helpful in keeping me on track for my goals. Just because you fell out of the routine is not a reason to give up or beat yourself up mentally. Life comes in waves and sometimes we are not able to pursue our goals like we wanted, or it didn’t pan out the way we thought it would but keep up the externalities of the journaling and social media inspiration and you will have a much better chance at finding your way back to starting up again.
my personal workout routine
I know there are some of you who are interested in what my current personal workout routine is, so I will share it below. As mentioned above, as my living circumstances change due to moves, so does my workout routine. Like most things in my life, I keep my routines simple, but effective. So as of today, living in a high-rise apartment, this is my current Monday-Friday workout routine.
Monday, Wednesday, Friday – Wake up 5:30 a.m. – Interval strength training workout at home using free weights to work arms, abbs, thighs, legs and glutes. Breakfast: Avocado toast.
Tuesday, Thursday – Wake up at 5:15 a.m. – 20-minute interval cardio on treadmill (walk for 3 minutes, run for 2 minutes). 10-minute interval on elliptical machine (5 minutes forward pedaling and 5 minutes backwards pedaling). Afterwards, 15 minutes in the sauna. Breakfast: Blueberry smoothie (recipe will be posted tomorrow), then a snack of mixed nuts around 10:00 a.m.
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