Finding the Motivation to Work Out

How to make the most out of your work out especially when you’re unmotivated:

• Clothing – I always recommend that people find workout clothes that you feel comfortable in and that you actually want to wear. If you want to work out in the morning, go to sleep in your workout clothes and there’s no excuse for you not to work out since you’re already dressed and would just need to get out of bed. If you are going to go after work, pack your gym bag the night before so that you can just grab and go or be even more proactive and once your gym bag is packed put it in your car the night before so there isn’t a risk of you forgetting it.

• Music/podcast/etc. – Every person is different about what they like to listen to when working out but a lot of times what you’re listening to can be a big distraction from what you’re doing at the gym and instead of staring at the clock you won’t realize how much time you’ve spent doing your workout. Personally, if I’m doing a cardio workout, I’ll watch Netflix to pass the time and be entertained and when I’m doing a strength workout using weights, I’ll turn music or a podcast on to distract me from how long I’ve been doing something. I’ve even caught myself at times working out longer to finish the podcast episode that I was listening to. You can even make your music selection personable to you by creating your own work out playlist featuring songs that really pump you up and make you want to move. There are also some great streaming music services such as Spotify, Pandora, YouTube Music, and Amazon Music. I personally really enjoy Spotify because I can create my own playlist with an unlimited music selection, or I can even search playlists that other people have created. Spotify has a feature to search for music based on your mood which includes work out. If you’re a runner or want to keep up a certain pace, they offer playlists that correlate with a certain amounts of beats per minute (BPM) so it allows you to run/jog/walk to the same beat and maintain your pace in time with the music.

• Positive self-talk – If you’re going to be working out at a gym or even from the comfort of your own home, there will be days that you just don’t feel like doing your workout. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat in the parking lot of the gym just staring at the entrance and telling myself how I’d rather be doing this or that right now. I take this time to pull out a list that I made for myself which lists out all my reasons for why I’m working out and bettering myself. The list helps to motivate me to remember why and that my reasons for working out are greater than my desire to not go in the moment.

Cheers to your health,

Chelsea