Fitness

I think one of the best ways to get motivated in the first place is just committing to doing it for two weeks, whatever your fitness goal is, whether that's going to the gym consistently or getting 10,000 steps a day is just to commit to two weeks. I found that when I was at the beginning of my fitness journey, I committed myself to going consistently for two weeks. And then by the end of those two weeks, I didn't want to give up that streak. And so that really helped me get in the habit of going. And then by the end of it, I really liked it. And I wanted to keep that good habit up because I knew I'd already accomplished doing something hard.

So staying motivated has been a struggle for me the past few years since I have retired from all of my competitive sports that I always had to train for but something that has helped me a lot is still having a goal to look forward to physically and that's I wouldn't I mean for some people it works but for me having like a body weight goal or looking a certain way isn't really my goal because that's not the type of thing that really motivates me that much but for me it's like I by May I want to do this half marathon so I need a train for that or I signed up for a surf competition in July so I need to train for that certain things like that that is set in stone that you can look forward to doing.

I think staying motivated is one of the hardest parts of physical fitness. Some things that have worked for me in the past though were to first like set a goal or for me even I like to run in races so I would sign up for a race and then that would motivate me to train for it because I already paid for it. That really helped me to establish a plan and helped me to continue to be motivated. Another thing that is really helpful and I've seen a lot of others find helpful is finding a workout buddy or a spouse or a sister, brother, friend, anyone who will hold you accountable and go with you to the gym or on a run or whatever it is that you're doing to to stay active. That's usually one way that I know I can hold myself accountable because if someone else is going to show up at the gym and I don't show up I don't want to let them down. So that's really helped me to stay motivated.

I think sometimes with the gym it's kind of hard to get into it especially if you're not seeing like the best results like you just don't feel like you're making that much progress in the gym so I think it's important just to remember and look at it as a whole like okay I'm staying at a good routine like it's a healthier lifestyle choice like instead of being like okay I want to lose this amount of weight and blah blah you gotta look at it as like a whole picture thing.

In order to keep motivated, it's important that you have a support group around you, and usually it's really helpful to have people who work out with you, like workout partners or just friends that also have the same goals that you do. That helps a lot because you're held accountable to them. If you keep on a good consistent schedule with them, that can help you stay in the gym more and get in shape and stay motivated even, you know, months or even years into whatever program you're doing, because other people are there to motivate you and help you move along and keep you accountable.

Something I've noticed about staying motivated for me is that I need to be doing it for the right reason. I can't just be getting big or trying to be the best because I want to be better than someone else. For me it's all about setting goals for me of being healthy and strong and I think of I want to take good care of my body because it's a gift and because I know that if I don't that when I retire I'm not going to be able to do the fun things I want to do so that's my motivation.

I think it's super important that you're not working out for the wrong reasons. If you're looking out because you want your body to look a certain way or you want people to view you differently, you have to be very careful to make sure that your motivation is not coming from what you how you think other people will view you. Find ways to motivate yourself that come from within, such as your mental health, such as your confidence. You want to be able to have strength, have endurance. You want to train for a goal that you've always been working towards. Motivation that comes from within will always last longer than motivation that's purely external.

Think about why you're doing it, not just the positive mental aspect of it, the positive physical aspect of it, but the sheer power that you have over your own body and the self-control that it gives you just makes your life so much better. And just think about what you're losing if you don't.

Usually I find people with a common misconception in order to stay motivated they have to fixate on one single thing, that they have one thing that's supposed to keep them motivated throughout their entire program or their longevity of their training career or whatever goal they have that's set for them. I believe that's completely wrong. I believe it's necessary that you find multiple different things to keep you motivated, different sources of inspiration. Find every little thing that you can that you get your hands on to fuel that tank, to fuel that motivation. The Iron Cowboy, I forget his name is, he mentioned this in a podcast where in order for him to run 100 marathons in 100 days, he literally had to rely on even the smallest amount of, you know, gratitude, the smallest amount of information in order to keep him going. So don't fixate on one different thing in order to keep you motivated. Try to find several things and make a list.

I think the biggest part of staying motivated or how to stay motivated is just starting. Honestly, it's always so hard to like the first five to ten minutes to get up and go and work out. Once you start, it's pretty easy. So just maybe having like a workout partner for at least your first week or two that you really get into it and after that just kind of becomes habit. But it's for sure those first like ten minutes of getting up and going to work out, you just have to go and get it done. So have someone you set the goal with to keep you accountable and that has really helped me to stay motivated.

I would say the biggest factor in staying motivated is realizing what your end goal is and making little small goals along the way to get there. So with my programs, I love having like phases. So like the first phase, we'll be doing one building part of the program and I'll just like, okay, I have three weeks of this. I do it so many times a week. And then you just kind of can count down until you get your first rest week. And I think having those intermittent breaks is super important because it gives you something to look forward to and to help keep you motivated so that when you come back, you're like, okay, cool, another three weeks, let's get it. So just having something like that to look forward to in structuring your programs so that you're not just constantly go, go, go, go, because that can be super hard to deal with. So give yourself breaks and be okay with that.

I think one of the best ways to stay motivated is to not only have a big goal but to have smaller goals, whether that be weekly or daily or even hourly. I know for a long time I've tried to stay on track of a diet and if I'm kind of more active, if I have something to do every hour of every day, then I'm less likely to eat and I'm less likely to eat outside of my diet, it's a snack or whatever it may be. So just having small goals that facilitate a bigger goal is a great way to stay motivated and a great way to keep on track.

The key to staying motivated is to do it in a way that you actually enjoy because you're not going to do it if you don't enjoy it or you're not seeing results from it, but mostly I think you should be enjoying it, like doing something outside that you enjoy, just finding a way to incorporate things that you enjoy into fitness because you definitely can.

I think the biggest part of staying motivated is going and showing up to the gym every day. I know it's hard, but just going there, it really helps me to do effective workouts whenever I'm at the gym. And just encouraging yourself that you can do it.

In all honesty, you're not going to stay motivated. You never will. And so, that's the thing. It's just discipline. It's being able to still go and push yourself, even when you don't want to go. Because motivation is like, okay, I'm gonna go. I feel good. I'm hyped. You're on that momentum. But then when you're like, I don't want to go, that's when you're not motivated. But that's when those, that's when you really see those who actually really want it. Because they go when they don't feel like they want it in the moment, but they still go anyways because they have that discipline.

Honestly, a really good way that I stay motivated is I take progress pictures. I know everyone doesn't like the camera against that, but take progress pictures for yourself. Put them in like your my eyes only, and it's a really good way to motivate yourself because you can physically like see the change in yourself over the amount of time that you've been doing it, and so that's a good way I would say to stay motivated.

The answer is there's none. Every day is you don't want to do it. You're not gonna be motivated all the time. You just have to get it done. You need discipline, meaning that self-love. You're gonna do whatever is best for you no matter what, even if you don't want to do it. Like what's said famously by many people, but one individual. Hopefully you figure out who it is. You gotta do what you hate and do it like you love it.

I think that staying motivated, it's best to just kind of make smaller goals, you know, like, oh, I did one rep higher on a certain lift or something. The second one, kind of silly, take it or leave it, creatine monohydrate. It's kind of nice just to kind of like see a temporary result, I guess. So that one, honestly, I do think using creatine can help you stay motivated.

I think for me it's always the three-week mark, whether it's I've started running or I've started going to the gym. It's really really hard until you hit the three-week mark, and if you can just go for three weeks, then after that it's kind of become a habit. It's a little bit easier to go, it's kind of just become a part of your routine, so just tell yourself that. If you can get through the three weeks, then it'll probably get easier.

Something that we do to stay motivated while working out is to go with a friend. So we always go together and it's really helpful to challenge each other. And it's very fun because sometimes when you're working out you're just by yourself and you feel uncomfortable in the gym but when you go with a friend it's so fun. It's very fun.

So my main advice for fitness and how to stay motivated is you just got to get yourself into a habit. When I first went to college I wasn't on any more like sports teams like I'd done my whole life and so it was kind of like up to me myself you know to like carve that time out of your busy day to stay motivated. In my first semester I ended up not working out very much at all just because I didn't have that set time and a set habit but then I started getting into a routine again. I just kind of you know you just kind of have to get through a couple weeks of just like seriously forcing yourself and once you get into that habit you can keep it up and I just don't ever stray from it. That's my advice is just build that habit and that routine and just stick with it and the results will come in whatever area of fitness or learning you're trying to do as far as sports go.

So oftentimes when I have a workout idea, perhaps I'm not as consistent as I'd like to be. And one way that I keep that consistency is I have a rollout mat for working out, you know, to do push-ups, sit-ups, whatever on it. And my goal is to do that in the morning. And so what I'll do, and oftentimes I'll forget. And so something that came up recently is I typically I'll have that mat under the bed and I'll pull it out when I need it. And so before I go to bed, I pull out the mat from underneath the bed and have it sitting there. That way in the morning, the first thing I do is I wake up and I step onto that mat, and that reminds me to do what I need to do. And so I think that could be a great option for anybody out there that's struggling with that consistency or memory to do their workout.

I think motivation works for gym and things like that in long term and the short term. And so whether you have like a goal weight in mind or something like that, that you keep in a keep note on your phone, or whether you have a specific physique in mind, I know like it's really kind of like pop culture to like pick like anime or like superhero physiques and be like, I want to look like the Chris Evans Captain America, I want to look like Goku or whatever. It's like, if you need a Goku or Captain America to like motivate you, totally perfectly great. But one of the big things that like, I think motivation kind of doesn't get after is just that you're not always going to feel motivated. And so when motivation isn't happening, you don't turn to discipline. Discipline is giving up what you want now for what you want the most. And so when it comes time to skipping the session or having that cheap food that you're not cheap, it's kind of a term just foods aren't a part of your diet plan for that day or something, you know, gotta stay disciplined.

To stay motivated, it's going to be a few things, at least in my opinion, that you should be doing. For one, you need to not compare yourself to others. There's always going to be someone that is either stronger than you at the gym, there's always going to be someone that's going to be leaner than you, there's always going to be someone that has a better body type, a better face, maybe they just don't have as much of a double chin just because they were lucky that way. There's always going to be someone that is better than you in your own eyes. And so you need to compare yourself to your past self. If you're making progress, that's good. Another thing, eat healthy foods. If you eat healthy foods, that'll put you in a happier mood and it'll keep you just more energized, which will give you more motivation to work out. Another thing, stay consistent. If you go too long without working out or doing something physical, you're going to feel lethargic and lazy, which is going to kill your determination and motivation to continue exercising and staying fit. So I'll work on those three things in particular.

Staying motivated can definitely be very difficult at times. I know for me personally, one thing that's helped me, you know, stay consistent and stay motivated to go to the gym to get a workout in each day is just trying to do it earlier on in the day. I find that when I wait to do a workout later on in the day towards the evening time, I just get tired and I'd rather be hanging out with friends or just keeping things chill. I'd rather just lay around and not do too much. I know everyone's different, but for me, getting that workout over with, if you will, sooner rather than later definitely makes me feel better during the rest of the day and it helps me to continue to be motivated to go each day in the morning.

One good way to stay motivated is if you're on social media, follow people that are motivating and people that when you see their content, it makes you happy, makes you want to work out rather than the opposite. And just think about how good you feel after your workout and that'll get you to do every workout.

Although it can be hard sometimes, I found that going to the gym with my friends makes a huge difference, even if it's just like one or two other people, especially when I'm trying to go in the morning because when my alarm goes off at 6 15 and I don't want to get up but I know that someone is coming to pick me up or that I'm in charge of picking other people up to go to the gym, it just helps me get out of bed and it makes it so much more fun and it's honestly a great way to start the day, like being able to laugh and hang out with people, get some physical fitness and it just makes a really big difference.

So the goal of staying motivated is probably that you stay consistent. What I would say is there are some workout sessions where you're going to feel super motivated and there are other workout sessions where you're not going to. The super motivated ones, awesome, good to go, have a great gym session, but the other ones I think that it's okay to call yourself out a little bit to say I don't want to go and so when I don't have motivation I have discipline. Discipline, that ability to continue to do something even when circumstances are difficult or increase in difficulty. Very, very crucial for gym culture, for personal gym culture. But then the other thing that I would say is the best that you can to habit stack something that you like doing. So let's say you really like audiobooks or you really like music or you really like reading, incorporate that into the gym. Bring your headphones, bring your audiobook, and then all of a sudden it's two birds one stone with something you want to do.

I think something else that is helpful in regards to trying to stay motivated to go to the gym is honestly what you're what you're eating. I find that when I'm eating healthier foods like fruits, veggies, you know, good carbs, I feel better, more energized throughout the day. You know, when I'm eating cookies and ice cream and candy all the time, I just feel heavy. I feel gross. My stomach's upset. So when I'm at the gym, after eating, you know, that stuff, I just don't feel as good. I don't feel as motivated. I feel slower. And so again, it just kind of ties in with the idea that diet is key. What you put into your body is really important. And that's something that's definitely helped me stay motivated and see the best results, quickest results as well.

A good tip to stay motivated for fitness is to not burn yourself out. So if working out every day is a really big time commitment and you're really busy and it's difficult to do, don't beat yourself up about it. I think it's really good to maybe space your workouts out, maybe do three workouts a week, but make them really effective. I think that's just a good way to manage your time and not get burnt out.

One of the best ways I've found to stay motivated for fitness is to find a group of people to get together and to do something, like work towards something like a race or a certain fitness goal. I remember in high school me and my buddies would get together and we would all try to bench 225 and that was a great time. I've trained for races before with a friend and that's also been very motivating, but sometimes when you don't feel like doing things your buddy will be there to motivate you. The more people you have, the easier it is to keep yourself accountable.

Who's gonna carry the boats? Get a liftie, buddy! And the logs?