Motivating Yourself to Work Out

If sticking to a workout routine was easy, we’d all look like The Rock. Many of us are fully aware that we should try harder to make fitness a priority, but we can never seem to get ourselves to the gym. If only getting in shape could be done with just one massive push of effort! Instead, fitness requires a steady habit. You won’t get visible progress every time you go to the gym. Progress can be slow, and may seem to come in fits and starts.

So, during all of this, how can you make sure that you stay motivated? Of course, everyone has a different formula for success. For many of our clients, healthy meal delivery from Lean Lifestyle is an essential tool to help them in their fitness goals. Here are a few more ideas:

Measure Your Progress (don’t worry about anyone else’s)

While competition can sometimes be a great motivator, the only person you really need to compete with is yourself. Instead of browsing through picture-perfect fitness accounts that make you feel bad about your own body, concentrate on measuring your personal progress in quantifiable ways. Go beyond what you see on the bathroom scale. Here are some suggestions.

  • Take weekly pics of yourself at the same time of day, in the same setting and outfit. Often, you’ll only see the progress when you look back at how things were a month earlier.
  • Keep track of your resting heart rate and see how much better it gets when you start doing regular cardio.
  • Measure yourself against a certain outfit. Put on those skinny jeans again and see how they look after you have put in the time for a month or so.
  • Notice the progress in your capabilities, whether that’s how much you’re able to bench, or how fast you can run a mile.

Sign Up for a Race

Perhaps you never thought of yourself as the marathon type. However, signing up for communal races is an amazing motivator. It’s not just about the race day itself; knowing that you have a specific deadline and goal makes you take your workout more seriously. It can also turn an intense personal challenge into a great thing to share with family and friends.

Keep It Interesting

Humans crave variety. That doesn’t mean that you have to do something new for your workout each day, but it does mean that you’ll easily lose motivation if you’re just doing the same thing week in and week out. Sign up for a new class, view a tutorial, or talk to a trainer to find new activities that will keep both your body and your brain engaged.

Revamp Your Workout Mix

Research shows that the music we listen to during a workout greatly affects our output. In fact, tracking the BPMs of some of your favorite songs and placing them in the right configuration to get your heart rate up will keep you moving even once you’re tired. Not the type to enjoy a blood-pumping workout mix? Sometimes it’s easier to look forward to a workout when there’s a podcast or book on tape that you’re enjoying.

Lean Lifestyle Helps You Meet Fitness Goals

Here at Lean Lifestyle, we do whatever it takes to help our customers realize their fitness goals. When your workout routine is paired with our specially planned meal delivery, it’s hard NOT to see results. Contact us to learn more!