Lacking Motivation to Work Out? Try These 5 Proven Ways

Lisa Franchi September 08, 2014

A lot of us want to sweat more often. But only a few seem to be making their wish a reality. Despite knowing all the amazing health benefits of exercise, many people struggle to make it a daily ritual. Fortunately, studies have been done on how to get ourselves motivated to the point of really doing it! If you’re one of the millions of people in the world who are having a hard time keeping the motivation to work out, here are some scientifically-backed tips you can try:

Don’t just visualise. Plan.

When starting a fitness programme, many people often dream of the results – fitter body, leaner muscles, sexier figure, etc. It really helps to imagine how it feels to complete a fitness programme and get into one’s ideal weight. Unfortunately, most of them get stuck in this stage. What these people forget is to think about possible obstacles and plans to overcome them. Health experts suggest that after identifying your wish and visualising the outcome, you need to identify what’s holding you back from actually doing it and getting the results you want. They call the process “mental contrasting”. In one study, a group of researchers from the University of Hamburg in Germany, Utrecht University in Netherlands, and New York University in US, asked 51 female participants to imagine the benefits of nibbling on better foods. They found that those who identified the trigger that made healthful snacking difficult for them and came up with a plan to reach for fruit when cravings hit were most successful at sticking to their goal.

Reward yourself.

Of course the major rewards you will get from exercising regularly are these: healthier body and sexier figure. But they may not be enough to keep you going. Sometimes, what works best is keeping an eye on an extrinsic reward – such as a new pair of running shoes, a new dress, or a treat to the spa. This tricks your brain to think that the behaviour is actually worthwhile, and therefore, increases the chance that it becomes a habit. And when that time comes, you will find yourself exercising not to get any extrinsic reward anymore but because you know working out makes you feel better (as your brain releases more endorphins every time you work out).

Keep a ‘progress’ journal.

Making a daily journal for your workout plan is important because it follows both sides of your journey. It gives you a detailed report of your successes and failures, so you can properly visualize how well or how poorly you are doing, and ultimately, adopt better plans to succeed. By seeing that you are doing well, you are motivated to keep on performing to achieve better results and to get to better heights. And by seeing that you are doing not so well, you are given a mild kick on the backside, and you are then motivated to push a bit harder.

Make it public.

You can promise yourself a hundred times that you will start exercising but it is more effective when you tell it to your friends and family. You can make it more challenging by agreeing to pay your sibling a few pounds every time you skip your workout session. Because there are people keeping an eye on you, you will be committed to really work towards your goal. Not only that, these people can also be a source of strength and support when times get rough.

Join a class.

It’s not always easy to exercise on your own at home. There’s boredom, a lot of distractions, etc. In such case, you may consider signing up for a gym membership. Join a fitness class on a schedule that best suits you. It doesn’t have to be daily. Check with local gyms if they have MWF, afternoon, or weekend classes. The good thing about a class is that you are working with a group of people. You also have an instructor who will guide you through and motivate you to keep going.