Do you ever find yourself in a workout slump? You have been rockin it for weeks, then out of nowhere, BAM! You can’t get yourself out of bed for your 6am workout or off the couch for that weekend run. We have all been there, you hit a motivation brick wall. Your willpower is gone and you find yourself frustrated that you are losing the progress that you have worked so hard to make.
So how do you remedy this? And why is it that some people seem to be able to stay more motivated than others? They seem to know how to dodge the slump. When you are feeling stuck, they always seem to be hitting their stride.
There a several things that these seemingly ‘always motivated’ people do to keep themselves on track. It’s not that they have an endless supply of will power, the truth is – they strategically channel the will power that they do have and then rely on outside sources to help them the rest of the way.
If you are ever feeling a lack of motivation try out one of these proven tips. In fact, don’t wait until you have lost your motivation – start putting some of these plans in place that are guaranteed to keep you on track.
- Plan at least 1 of your workouts each week with a friend. Having a buddy to show up for makes it much more likely that you will not bail. It also ensures that the workout is more fun.
- Schedule your rest days. You will avoid burn out if your body (and your mind) is getting regular recovery days from working out.
- Invest in something. Schedule personal training sessions, pay for a pack of yoga classes, join a boxing gym. It is going to make it much more painful for you to miss workouts if you know that you are losing money in the process. Plus, on those days that your motivation is lacking, it is so nice to just have a professional tell you what to do! On days like those all you need to do is show up and your instructor takes over from there.
- Always know your next challenge. With an end goal in mind, such as a race or competition it will give your workouts purpose.
- Learn something new – change it up. Instead of only pounding the pavement with your running shoes, learn how to rock climb, do yoga, box… it will keep your creative and motivational juices flowing.
- Ask for and hire help. Trainers and coaches have made it their life’s mission to help inspire motivate and encourage people on their fitness journey. It is their job to make it look easy, to give you new ideas and find what works for you. The same way people hire you or your company for your personal expertise – trainers and coaches have a different skill set then those who ever never trained in this line of work.
- Do some soul searching. Spend a little bit of time asking yourself (and then answering) why do you want to work out and live a healthy lifestyle? Who are you doing it for? How does it benefit you and those around you? When you are in touch with why you do something you are much more likely to commit to it with passion and purpose.
Life is a journey. It is filled with ups and downs, times of motivation and slumps. We have our own mountains to climb and lessons to learn along the way. So knowing this, that it will not always be easy, I hope that this helps you shorten the path on your way to health and happiness.
Written By Natalie Peterson:
Natalie Peterson is the Director of Marketing here at Imagine.
She is also a Strength and Conditioning Specialist, Yoga instructor and Nutrition Coach with Precision Nutrition.
She is dedicated to helping people break through the barriers that are holding them back from a healthy lifestyle. She would love to do the same for you.
