How to Motivate Yourself to Exercise

We all know that exercise is good for us. It makes us stronger physically and certainly helps our mental health but it’s not always easy to drum up the enthusiasm to actually do it.  It’s very common to have 'gym anxiety' and negative thoughts about ourselves, fear of failure or not being good enough and it’s easy to put off what may feel is like the ‘evil moment’ and maybe decide to start tomorrow, or next week…….but never get around to it. Sadly, these negative thoughts create negative behaviours and ultimately negative results. So what can we do to motivate ourselves to crack on and start exercising?  

Here a few tips to which will help motivate you and give you the drive and determination, not only to start exercising but to continue, giving you the best chance to achieve your fitness goals.

Firstly, think about what you want to achieve. Are you hoping to become stronger, more muscular, build your glutes? Perhaps you want to gain more flexibility to help you to be pain free when you are older. Maybe you want to loose weight and tone up. Whatever your goal, that is what you need to focus on. The key here is to visualise yourself having already achieved your goal. Picture yourself with that muscular frame, or a more toned physique or whatever you want for yourself and imagine how you would feel having achieved it. What’s essential is that the focus is on you and what you want to achieve. Visualisation allows us to block out the negatives, creating positive emotions which drives positive behaviours. You will reject unhealthy choices, feel better about yourself and begin to look forward to your workouts. Encouragement from others is great and has it’s place but ultimately, the drive has to come from inside yourself and visualising the successful outcome is what you must focus on.

Next, don’t to compare yourself to other people. There will always be those who are super fit, toned, stronger, more flexible and faster than you.  Comparing yourself to those people can lead negative thoughts, feelings of envy and frustration taking the focus away from you and what you are trying to achieve. Instead, turn those negative thoughts into positive ones. If they can achieve it, so can you and they are living proof!

Lastly, track your progress by recording your results each time you exercise. That way, you can compare your new results with your earlier results. Try to improve each time you workout. This could be by running a bit further, lifting slightly heavier, or doing more reps/sets. Seeing your progression will give a great confidence boost and encourage you to push yourself a little harder next time. You’re another step closer to achieving your goals!