We can all pretend we love exercise. Sometimes we genuinely do! But mostly we love the feels you get post-workout. You know, those ‘I’m an untouchable goddess and ain’t no body gonna bring me down’ kinda feels. But it isn’t always easy to get your ass in gear – when the alarm interrupts that fantastic dream you’re having about a cheeky rendezvous with Chris Hemsworth, you’d much rather roll over and continue said dream than remove yourself from your comfy, warm bed and exercise. And it’s totally fine to do that once in a while – but sometimes you need a metaphorical kick up the booty to stop this becoming a habit. So, I’ve put in a few things that I find really help me get back in to a workout stride:
- Mix up your routine: Trust me, going to the gym everyday is a sure fire way to kill your motivation. Also, your body get’s used to what you’re doing making it less effective. So, shake it up a bit! Throw in a swim session or exercise class here and there – it makes exercising less of a chore!
- Book in: Speaking of classes, book them and pay in advance. One you’ve done that there’s no way you’ll back out. I’m on ClassPass (which btw is FAB, I’m going to start putting up reviews) Anyway, they charge you for cancelling within 12 hours of the class and I only book within this period of time, so I give myself no choice but to go.
- Find a buddy: Not only will this make the chosen activity a lot more fun, but it will probably make you work that little bit harder when the competitive devil within makes an appearance.
- A reward chart: Like children have star charts for their chores, make your own little work out chart. Lets say you plan to exercise 4 times a week, every time you exercise you get a star. If you reach 4 stars then at the end of the week you can have your chosen reward. Be it a Krispy Kreme donut or entire tub of Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream. If at the end of the month you’ve tallied up enough stars you can treat yourself to a bigger reward – like that new bag you fancy or those jeans you’ve had your eye on.
- Insta-ration: (Okay that was an awful attempt at combining instagram and inspiration but just roll with it) Follow some people on insta that put on little workouts or are advertising fun classes you may not have known about otherwise, like aerial fitness! (This will help with points 1 and 2).
- Create a killer playlist: Music for me is a big thing, if I’ve made a fresh playlist with a load of my favourite songs (new and old) I’m basically skipping out the door so I can exercise to it – I’m too busy singing a long to pay much attention to how far I’ve been running! (Check out my Motivation Station! playlist on Spotify!)
- Buy new active wear: (This has got to be my favourite one of the lot!) I’m not even joking when I say it has been scientifically proven (isn’t this excellent news??). You want to show off your new gear and give it a test drive. If you are wearing snazzy new gym clothes you’ll be looking flyyyyyy, looking good makes you feel good. Being in a good mood often means exercise is more likely to happen. So now you have a totally valid excuse to spend money on gym wear. Hooray!
I was going to include a Number 8. Make sure it’s sunny – because for some strange reason those energising rays urge us to be productive and wanna exercise and stuff, but I didn’t because you know, the weather controlling thing, not really up to us! I hope this helps! Happy Workout!
Daisy x