Looking for some workout motivation, this post is for you. I love working out. I want everyone to love it too. Because working out is not just for body builders or super hot people. Exercise is for everyone. We all need it and deserve it. Our hearts need it. Our muscles need it. Exercise prolongs our life span. Exercise keeps our bodies Alive and younger and properly functioning a lot longer than what we imagine. Too many times we give into the false belief that the minute we start to age, it’s over and it’s time to accept it. That ’s not true. Social media is proof of how many older people can still touch their toes to their head, do the splits, a bridge, and heck even lift have super chiseled bodies. You are only getting older if you let your body shrivel up and die. But working out is awful you might say! It hurts! Well, how can we make it fun? How to get in some workout consistency?  Here are my 5 tips I have used to stay consistent and get myself to go to the gym and workout consistently for decades now. .

1. Go with a friend

There is nothing better than going to the gym with a friend. 

For years I was lucky that my husband  and I were able to be together to go to the gym. During the hardest times of our lives we actually went 5 days a week. Getting in the car with someone else was what helped me push through when I din’t have workout motivation. 

I remember that the times when we went the most, we did it because I needed it as a way to get out of the house and be around other human beings. It didn’t matter if I didn’t really talk to everyone. I just needed to be in a different environment. This occurred mostly when I had my fourth child. I was so busy being a mother I barely had time for friends. Or sleep. My mental health was trash. 

Starting my day leaving the house and going to the gym helped me to socialize first before i would hit a super hard day ahead of me. Between driving, nursing, changing kids, and cooking. Starting the day this was did not feel like a burden. It was the best way to start my day. 

I always say I would have never done it if it wasn’t for my best friend also helping me to get the kids ready so that we could take them to the day care. We also were able to take turns chaining kids diapers when accidents happened during a work out.

The longer I went to the gym the more I also made friends at the gym. So eventually I also was able to socialize with other moms while working out or after. Talking to other adults and like minded moms who valued exercise as much as I do also helped me to want to show up and know that someone was going to be there. It created another element of accountability. 

The days I didn’t want to get up, I knew my friends were going to be there. We all sometimes struggle. But we all were showing up anyways. 

Eventually I also was lucky enough to have some of my own best friends outside of the gym either drive with me or show up and workout with me. The gym was now my favorite place to socialize with my best fiends while doing something that made us get a hot body. It was a win win all around. With my friends at the gym I love that now we can stay after class and stretch and just talk about our life worries. 

2. Consider if you like going solo or go to a group class

Going to the gym can be stressful when it’s boring and when I have zero plans as to what I plan on doing for a workout. I change my strategy based on where I am at in life.

I have lived in places where I did not like my local gym and I have had a beautiful home gym. During those times I have loved working out from home. I also would access my fitness apple workouts for 9.99$ a month with classes that ranged from 10 minutes to 45. 

Offering anything from yoga, to weight lifting, to dancing classes, to treadmill workouts. For me for a while this was heaven. I was also able to work more on my form. I didn’t have anyone to compare against when pushing my self to my own limits. 

Other times instead I have needed to get out of the house and I was ok with planning my own workouts because I was training for a race or I wanted to strengthen a certain part of my body. For example for a while I needed to strengthen my hips and I needed to do some exercises recommended by my physical therapist. During those times I loved doing my own workout at the gym. I would put on my favorite music and just go and do my own thing in a quiet corner. 

Lately for example I am at a point where I don’t have a lot of time to plan ahead what workout I need. I want a fun workout and I just need to show up and get a killer workout. So I like to attend classes that are planned by a really good coach. 

I also have noticed that I push myself more when I am around other people. There is nothing more motivating to me, than when I am in the middle of doing some squats for example, and I look around the room and I see everyone pushing through even though I am thinking inside my head: “ Aargh, I just wanna go home and rest today!” 

Seeing others not quit makes want to keep going. It also reminds me that if others can do more reps, perhaps so can I. I can go through stages as I am getting older where I don’t realize that I am making excuses. I start telling myself that perhaps now that I am older it’s no longer time to do certain exercises or to push myself. When I see someone who is 30 years older than me, busting out their best moves, and lifting heavier weights than I… I totally believe that we need to listen to our bodies. But I also know that sometimes we underestimate what we are capable of. I thrive from being inspired by others. 

3. Plan ahead

This in really important to achieve workout consistency. When do you decide you will go to the gym no matter what? The day before. You make a resolution ahead that you will go. When those gnarly thoughts comes that say: “ Maybe I don’t wanna go tomorrow? Or “ Uugh! I don’t wanna go to the gym!” I replace them by saying I will go to the gym. I go to the gym. I go to the gym no matter what. When I train my brain to do what I tell him to do, my brain also responds. 

When I also decide which days and what time I will go, I make it happen. I say no to meetings, I schedule everything in my life around the gym. I don’t let things get in the way. People don’t need to know why I am rescheduling. They just need to know that during my gym time, I am unavailable. My calendar is booked! 

4. Find what is fun for you

I have spent many years helping my kids hone in which sport was the best for them. Yet as adults I have noticed that sometimes we think that exercising means to  just go to the gym and repetitive and boringly either walk on a treadmill, spin on a bike, do painful reps, and you either have the will power and patience do suffer through it, or just stay home and get fat. 

Well, there are plenty other alternatives to make exercise something fun. 

Exercising can be fun!  The trick is to find what is fun to you! I have loved trying all sorts of different classes over the years. Some I still love to this day. Others I have done in stages. 

Exercising doesn’t have to only happen at the gym. Lately for example I even signed up for a gymnastics class. In fact the more we exercise while moving and having fun, the less we will even notice that we are purely moving just to stay fit and get big muscles. Gymnastics for example, work out a lot of my back muscles and helps improve balance and proprioception,  which is the body’s awareness of where we are. Especially when being upside down or going backwards.

 I can work this element of my body while doing yoga, or I can do it in a fun setting while learning how to do a back flip. That to me is more fun. Less scientific and boring. It’s a challenge and just plain fun to learn. I still love yoga for so many other benefits. But gymnastics for me is a workout that doesn’t feel like one. It’s my sport. Just like dancing and soccer are to someone else. 

5. Switch things up

I have also noticed how important it is to switch things up everyone in a while. 

Doing the same things over and over again is not only ineffective, but also boring. 

When we don’t switch up our muscles plateau and stop growing

As adults there are also so many muscles we own’t realize we are no longer using, the more we channel into our inner child and are open to trying new things, the more we will work in different elements, environment. We will remain challenged and keep on growing. Put  simply, life will continue to be fun!

I plan in the future to start taking martial arts for example. I find kicking and punching a great way to engage the core, the hip muscles, develop leg strength I have probably lost years ago and I don’t even want to know about it! 

My goal which gymnastics is to learn how to do a back flip again. Doing something I haven’t done in ages is fun. Makes me feel young and alive. Doing something new is also exciting. 

I hit a point a couple of months ago where I was super bored and tired of doing the same few classes and workouts at the gym. For me, it took changing up my workouts to start seeing exercise as fun again. 

Most recently I also realized some days I wanted to hit it hard at the gym and I needed cardio. Other days I wanted a gentle and fun workout. Those days I usually like to do a dance class. Dancing is another great way for me to workout and not notice what I am doing. It also helps me work on my body coordination. Everyone has something they know they need to work on. Finding what works for each individual is the key. And being open to switch things up is also the key! 

Last but not least remember to take breaks. It’s super important to allow the muscles to rest. Rest days are a very important part for our bodies to recover. Also for everything to regenerate and come back ready to go hard. It’s like going on a vacation for our bodies.

Last but not least: Working out can be fun!

WORKOUT MOTIVATION QUOTES:

5 ways to always go to the gym