7 Motivational Tips For When You Are Struggling To Workout

Working out is tough when you lack motivation. Getting on a workout routine and diet in the first month of the year is easy. However, sustaining a workout regime is difficult when your motivation dries up. Here are some motivational tips for when you’re struggling to workout:

 

1. Set specific and reasonable goals - Don’t aim for general fitness since it’s too vague to give you a tangible goal. You should be as specific as you can so that you can fulfill your goals and reap the huge boost in morale to continue on the path to fitness after tasting initial success. Aim to achieve running laps of 2 miles within a certain time limit instead of just increasing your stamina. Aim to lose a couple of inches from your waist instead of losing weight. When you are specific you can measure your results and that achievement gives you more motivational fuel.

 

Moreover, you must set yourself a challenging yet reasonable goal. For instance, you can’t lift over hundred pounds of weight for strength training within a month if you haven’t exercised for years. It’s important to set reasonable goals so that you get further drive from reaching them instead of demotivating yourself after following an obvious path towards failure.

 

2. Get a proper workout plan - There are several ways to reach your goal, whether it’s to finish a marathon or if it’s to get better-looking muscles. Whether it’s a training plan you get from a workout app or your gym, you need to get on a workout plan. The workout plan will have specific sets and reps and a diet that will help you inch closer to your goal every day. When you accomplish your daily goals and track your progress you get a sense of accomplishment that makes you do it again the next day.

 

3. Don’t overtrain - Workout plans are usually balanced. They are designed to keep your body on a slow and steady path of progress that keeps the whole process sustainable. Hence, a lot of people fall prey to the trap of overtraining. For instance, you may feel like running faster and longer than your daily limit and reap more benefits. However, going overboard would tire you out more easily and make you disinterested and in the worst case leave you injured. So stick to the structured workout regime to stay motivated on a progressive path to fitness.

 

4. Remind yourself about the reasons you are working out - You may be training to run in a charity marathon or participating in an amateur weight lifting competition to raise awareness for a disease and raise funds for the same. Surround yourself with reminders of why you’re working out. Keep the pictures of patients of the disease you want to raise awareness for or the people who inspired you to do it in the first place. If you’re running for charity, set audio reminders with your daily alarm and keep the picture of the charitable organization as a wallpaper on your phone or computer. This helps you to get the added inspiration you need on those days you want to slack off.

 

5. Throw away guilt - Even the toughest triathlon athletes and mixed martial arts fighters have a cheat day or two. You are only human and you will make mistakes. Don’t guilt yourself over a missed day of exercise. Except that there will be some mistakes on your journey toward your goal and you have to face a few setbacks. This mentality will prevent you from using a missed day of workout as an excuse to give up.

 

6. Unhealthy comparison is your enemy - Everyone is different and there will always be someone faster, stronger, or more flexible than yourself. If you are someone who draws inspiration from those people to improve yourself, you are good to go. However, most of us get demotivated when we constantly compare ourselves with peers. Focus on yourself. Do not let others demotivate you. Your goal is to improve yourself, nothing else.

 

7. Surround yourself with positive motivators - Find people who believe in you and have faith that you can achieve your goals. It may be friends, family, neighbors, coworkers, or even peers at your gym. Ask them to encourage you and help you stay on track so that you can make it to your goal. It’s also important to gently remind your buddies and cheering squad from going overboard. You need helpful reassurance instead of nagging.