Do you want to exercise, but never get around to it? You know that exercise is healthy and exercise is essential for good health… But still, it doesn’t work? Do you often use excuses such as; I don’t feel like it, I don’t have time, I’m tired…
Do you always sit on the couch with your lazy ass, a bag of chips, and Netflix? You don’t feel fit, have little energy, and often feel lethargic?
Then NOW is the time to motivate yourself and plan sports and exercise into your daily routine! But how do you start doing this? How on earth do you get to motivate yourself to start exercising, and then continue to do so?
In this article, I give you 9 tips to boost your motivation to start exercising.
Table of Contents
No motivation to exercise?
Apologies and subterfuge are usually the biggest reason why we don’t exercise or continue to exercise. I’ve learned in the meantime that all kinds of excuses or subterfuge are pure bullshit.
We tell ourselves that we don’t have time, for example. For starters, you need to stop making excuses, no lame excuse is good enough for not exercising. Too tired, no time, no sense, that only exists in your head!
Stop sticking negative thoughts in your head, think positive, and go for it!
9 tips for finding the motivation to exercise
With the following tips you will certainly find the motivation (back) to start exercising:
Tip 1: Choose an activity that you like to do or have been wanting to do for a long time
There is always something you like. If you haven’t exercised in a long time, do a little digging in your memory and look at what you used to enjoy doing. Maybe there is something you want to pick up again.
Look at your group of friends what kind of sports they do. if there are things you like and want to do yourself, you immediately have a buddy to exercise together.
If you have no idea what you want to do, try a few things and eventually you will find something you like and want to keep doing.
Tip 2: Make exercise a routine
To stay motivated, it is important that you continue to exercise consistently and that sport becomes a regular part of your life. Choose for yourself how often you want to exercise and plan this on a fixed day or time, for example. Be strict with yourself and follow this schedule strictly.
Don’t miss a day and don’t make excuses. A hard day at work is no excuse not to exercise, on the contrary! Make exercise an ongoing part of your day.
Tip 3: Make progress by starting small and building up slowly
If you have to start from scratch, don’t expect to be in top shape or do the craziest things after 2 weeks. Build it up slowly and you’ll get there over time.
If you have been sporty in the past, you probably still have a certain basic condition, in this case too, it is best to build up again slowly and not immediately expect top performances from yourself.
Don’t burn yourself by wanting too much at once, you’ll never last. Take your time to get better. Don’t let yourself be demotivated if things don’t go well for a day, that’s completely normal.
Tip 4: Make sports fun for yourself by adding some extras
I often hear from people that jogging or riding a bike for hours is boring. It just depends on what you make of it. Sports never has to be boring.
For example, while walking or jogging you can listen to music or a nice podcast, and your training will fly by. You can also find someone to do sports together, this way you can have a chat…
If you like to ride your bike for hours, map out your route so that you cycle past some sights, and have the possibility to stop at some nice places.
Make it fun and interesting in a way you feel most comfortable with.
Tip 5: Exercise is important for your health
Recreational sports are healthy. Do you have some health problems, are you overweight, are you lethargic, stressed,… always keep in mind that exercising is healthy. Anything you do is better than doing nothing.
It won’t always go to plan but it’s important you just did again. If you only walk 3 km for a day instead of the normal 8 km, that’s no problem!
By exercising you will make your body stronger and without a doubt, you will ultimately reap the benefits.
Tip 6: Exercising makes you happy and makes you feel good afterwards
Exercising is not only very healthy, but it also makes you happy. During exercise, various substances (endorphins, serotonin, and dopamine) are released that give you a blissful feeling.
If you are exhausted after exercising, keep in mind what feeling exercising gave you. Take this with you to your next session, you want this feeling again and again and it will motivate you to keep working out.
Tip 7: Keep track of your sports performance, compare and see the progression
What could be more fun than making progress, getting better at the things you love to do,… nothing, right?
There are a lot of resources to track your sports performance, but if you’re just starting out, pen and paper can be enough to log your performance. Write down your best time, longest distance, and so on… on paper each time you exercise and compare.
Compare only with yourself and your own achievements, not with others, there will always be people who are better at something than yourself, just like there are people who are less good than you. It’s about you and your achievements, progress, and successes.
Tip 8: Set fun and achievable goals for yourself
Knowing what you are going to do sports for is the ultimate motivation to keep up with sports. Set yourself an attainable goal that you want to achieve by exercising.
Tip 9: Exercise doesn’t have to be expensive
Apart from sports clubs, exercising doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. You ultimately make it as cheap or expensive as you want. Sports in itself can be done for free, nature and public sports locations and roads are everywhere.
Final thoughts
All you have to do now is get started right away. Don’t wait any longer, delay will come again. Put away your excuses and subterfuge and get started today!
