The alarm is going off. You groan and turn over to look at the time. Its 6am, its dark, and your bed is so warm and cosy, and you really don’t want to get out.
The familiar thoughts start going through your head, “I need to exercise, “come on, get up” and “I have to lose weight!”. You have an inner battle with yourself; should I stay in bed, or should I go to the gym…
Then one of two things normally happen.
1). You choose to stay in bed and go back to sleep, and when you get up to go to work, you feel guilty and you are annoyed with yourself. You berate yourself repeating, “why can’t I just motivate myself to go to the gym”, “what is wrong with me?” and “I HAVE to go tomorrow” …
2). You get up and go to the gym, you get there and you aren’t sure what to do, you go on the treadmill or the elliptical and you play around with a few weights. Then you join a HIIT class, as they burn the most calories, right? You didn’t enjoy it, but you are glad you did it, and you make a promise to yourself to do the same thing tomorrow.
The next day the alarm goes off and the same thing happens again, the inner battle of should I stay, or should I go? Its ground hog day every day.
What if I could tell you there is not only a way to feel motivated to exercise, but to enjoy it as well?
Read on as I share my top 6 tips on how to feel motivated and enjoy exercise.
1- INTENTION IS EVERYTHING
Exercising to lose weight, change your body shape, or doing it because you think you have to do it, is the number one reason you have no motivation to exercise. This is because exercising purely for these reasons, gives you a really negative relationship to exercise from the get-go. Shifting your intention behind exercise, means choosing to exercise because of the way it makes you feel, and for all its other wellbeing benefits such as better sleep, less stress and more energised.
Takeaway:
Rather than saying I have to exercise, or I need to lose weight. Start your day with- “I am choosing to exercise to feel energised today”
2- ENJOYMENT IS KEY
We have grown up with the message, “no pain no gain”, so it is no surprise that we think exercise has to be hard work, boring or punishable. But the truth is, boring, painful, and punishable workouts are not going to motivate us to exercise, in fact, they do the exact opposite. When we choose to move our body in ways that we enjoy, not only are we more likely to stick with it long term, we will actually want to do it, rather than seeing it as a chore.
Takeaway:
Choose to move only in ways that you enjoy, and choose exercise that you want to do, not that you think you should do. Ask yourself, what exercise do I enjoy?
3- KNOW THAT ALL EXERCISE COUNTS
For years, I believed that only hard exercise “counted”. I thought that if it wasn’t hard work that it didn’t count and there was no point doing it. This meant that I hated exercise and saw it as a chore, and something I had to do, rather than ever actually wanting to do it. Now I know that this is a complete fitness myth and I want you to know this too. The truth is that all forms of regular movement have the exact same health benefits, it doesn’t matter if it is a walk, or a high intensity class.
Takeaway:
You don’t have to kill yourself in the gym anymore. All movement, no matter how small, short, or intense; it all counts!
4- KNOW THAT EXERCISE DOESN’T HAVE TO BE STRUCTURED OR MEASURED
I spent years measuring my workouts. I had to exercise for a set amount per day, walk a set amount of reps, burn a set number of calories, and be dripping in sweat as that’s what I believed exercise was about. This is another fitness myth. Exercise doesn’t have to be structured or for a set amount of time, it can be anything you want it to be!
Takeaway:
Exercise is anything from hoovering, walking to the shops, and dancing around your living room! Choose what feels right to you in the moment rather than forcing yourself to do something because you feel that you have to.
5- CHOOSE REALISTIC GOALS
Its January, you join the gym, and you start going every day for the first week, your endorphins are high, and you feel great! The next week comes along, work gets busy, you are tired, the kids are sick, and you start missing your gym workouts. The next thing you know, you have gone from going every day, to not going at all. Please know that you aren’t alone, this happens to all of us, and the reason that it happens is that we set ourselves up with unrealistic goals. By setting realistic exercise goals that fit in with your lifestyle, and more importantly that you want to do, you are more likely to be motivated to do it, enjoy it, and be able to stick to it.
Takeaway:
Choose realistic exercise goals that work for you, and that you want to do. Don’t compare to anyone else. Just do what works for you!
6- EXERCISE IN COMFORTABLE AND SUPPORTIVE ENVIRONMENTS
One of the reasons you may not be motivated to exercise, or enjoy exercise, is because of the environment that you are exercising in. Some fitness spaces can have very toxic messages such as the no pain no gain, or a strong focus on aesthetics, weight loss and transformations. Exercising in an environment that makes you feel uncomfortable, that is judgemental, or has a strong focus on body shape, is going to be negatively affecting your relationship with exercise, not only how you feel about it, but also how motivated you are to go.
Takeaway:
Find a supportive fitness environment, or one where you feel comfortable, if that’s working out at home, with a friend, or at a gym that is supportive.
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