6 Ways to Stay Motivated to Exercise

Everyone, even the veteran fitness gurus, needs to get motivated at one time or another. If you find yourself unable to move from the couch to get to the gym, try out one of these tried and true methods of motivating yourself to start exercising and keep at it.

6. Leave Yourself Notes

One way to provide yourself with constant motivation is to leave notes for yourself. Take a few minutes out of your day to print off your favorite motivational quotes. You can even write down your own reasons for wanting to change. Now, take these quotes and personal notes and place them around your home strategically. Stick them in places you know you’ll see them throughout the day. You never know when a few kind words to yourself can change everything.

5. Turn on YouTube

YouTube is an excellent resource for educational tools, cat videos, and motivation. Simply type in “motivation for weight loss” or “motivation goals” and click on one of the more popular videos to start you off. You’ll soon make it a part of your morning routine.

4. Listen to the Right Kind of Music

We all have extensive libraries on our phones or computers that stem across multiple genres. Instead of letting your playlist go on random mode, why not pick and choose those songs that get you pumped up? Make a pre-workout playlist. The songs will be for getting you amped up and ready to hit the gym.

3. Keep a “I feel like…” Log

After every workout, in between sips of protein shake, write down in a notebook how you feel. Chances are you’ll be feeling great as the endorphins rush through your body so capture that moment. The idea is to remind yourself just how incredible you feel post-workout. In this way, you’ll be chasing after that rush of feel good chemicals every day.

2. Choose Your Favorite Exercises

You can take this in a few ways: First, you can literally build a workout surrounding your favorite exercises. If it’s Back Day and you love pull-ups, then do pull-ups. If you need to hit your Quads but you’re not feeling the Leg Press but you are liking the idea of Sumo Squats, do those!

The other way to look at this: Not all exercise takes place in the gym. If your goal is to be more active and lose fat, select physical activities you love doing such as rock climbing, hiking, or canoeing.

1. Bet on Yourself

Money is one of our biggest motivators. If you really want to push yourself to accomplish your fitness goals, get money involved. If you have some friends who have similar fitness goals, make a betting pool. Everyone puts in $100. The person who loses the most weight, gains the most muscle, or improves their personal records the most takes all. Imagine being able to win hundreds of dollars just by improving your health.

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How do you stay motivated?

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