Yesterday, I had a idea-laced call with my good friend, Lindsay. Remember her, of 50-lb weight loss Zumba success? Yes! Well, it turns out, Zumba at her workplace was cancelled awhile back. And, well, over a period of time, she’s lost her work out mojo.
She sent me a text:
Oh I love challenges like these! So, as promised, I called her the next day at lunch to discuss how to get her going again. Here are a few of the ideas we came up with:
1) Join a local gym that offers free classes with membership. She liked this one but needs to save money right now so it wasn’t the best option for her. However, I pointed out that if the workout classes make her feel happy, healthy and fulfilled, they are most likely worth the sacrifice — even if it sets her back. If you aren’t happy, the rest of life will be a lot harder.
2) Make a schedule. Part of the problem people have with working out (and the problem I have with strength training, budgeting, organizing…) is that it’s so open-ended. You can say “I’ll work out three times this week” but if you don’t know when or where or what, it can pretty easily end up not happening. So…get a little calander just for workouts and write what you will do and when you will do it for the week.
3) Mix it Up. A Taebo video one day, magazine tearout work out the next, a treadmill HIIT workout the next, outdoor jogging the next. Vary these exercises or you will get bored to tears thinking about the next 45-minute same pace, kill me now elliptical climb.4) Make your workout clothes readily available. Actually, put them on as early as possible. Sometimes on Saturdays, I put my workout clothes on hours before I plan to excercise because I know I will be more likely not to skip and put them to use. Half the battle is getting dressed.
5) The Minimal Investment Commitment. Give yourself permission to work out for only 15 minutes and be done. You know what happens when 15 minutes are up, don’t you? Yeah, you will want to stay longer.
6) Imagine the Endorphin Rush. Seriously, I do this. If I’m being a lazy butt depresso person on a Sunday afternoon, I can will myself to imagine how I feel after a work out. I imagine how much better I will feel, how much happier I will be, how much more alive I could feel. Then, I drag myself there and sometimes I just power walk for 30 minutes. But that’s good enough, right? And it gets me level again.
People — these SERIOUSLY work if you work ’em. It really does all come down to “just do it” but sometimes you gotta take some action steps to get there. We’ve all been in a work out rut — you are NEVER alone, remember this!
So. stop moping around and complaining about how you are unmotivated. Motivation is a myth — you are your own motivation. Say it to yourself, SUCK.IT.UP. And give yourself a better day now!
PS: Here’s our email exchange from the end of the day:
