Friday Five: 5 Ways To Get Motivated To Work Out!

Happy Friday everyone!! For today’s Friday Five I wanted to share a topic that I have personally been focusing on lately, and that is working out! I’ve always been pretty active, but let’s be real.. when life gets busy, workouts are the first thing to get cut from my to-do list. Then one day turns into a week, which turns into a few months.. and it’s SO hard to get back into it at that point. We’ve all been there. Trust me! I was there a couple months ago. So what changed? I decided to make working out a priority because my health is not something I take for granted, and working out is a big part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Here are a few of my personal tips for getting (and staying) motivated to work out:

1. Do workouts that you enjoy! Whether it’s running, pilates, boxing, weight lifting, hiking, HIIT, etc.. find a workout that you enjoy and you will look forward to exercising! There are so many ways to workout – try a few and see what you like and what you don’t! Back in college I used to force myself to run on the treadmill, and I would find any excuse not to go to the gym because I hated running (still do!) Fast forward a couple years, I discovered weight lifting and loved it!! I started to actually look forward to working out. Weight lifting is still my primary workout, but I do want to start getting into more classes (pilates & spin are two I’m very interested in) because it’s always fun to mix things up.

2. Workout with a friend. Having a workout buddy (or a group) makes a huge difference!! Not only does it help to have someone cheer you on and motivate you to keep going, it’s also way more fun!

3. Set goals. Setting goals and writing them down will give you something to work towards, and it will feel so good when you accomplish them! I like to set mini goals for each workout, for example: bike X miles in X minutes, or do X number of reps at X amount of weight. This helps motivate me to keep going even when I’m tired.

4. Listen to music. This might sound weird, but I start listening to my “workout music” before I even leave for the gym. Music can completely change your mood, and it totally gets me in the zone and ready to go and workout. Of course I keep listening to music during my workout, otherwise I’d probably be useless haha.

5. Reward yourself. I’m not saying to go and buy a new Lululemon set every time you finish a workout, but it is nice to treat yourself every once in a while when you’re working out consistently! We are all so busy these days, and I know it takes a lot of effort to find time the day to workout. So whether it’s new workout clothes, wireless headphones, a pair of shoes, whatever will get you excited to keep it up!

And if all else fails.. take pre-workout!! Haha totally kidding.. kind of 😉 Anyways thanks for stopping by!! Hope ya’ll have a wonderful Friday!