Motivation plays an important role in everything that you do. Wondering how to stay motivated to workout? Workout motivation songs or music can help you boost motivation to workout. Read on to know how to motivate yourself to go to the gym and get motivated to lose weight and exercise.
What happens is that you lose your motivation to work out.
Therefore, if you want to work out and enjoy the benefits that come with it, you need to find new ways to stay motivated to workout at the gym or home. This is much easier said than done, and most of us know it.
In theory, the fact that exercising boosts your physical and mental health, improves your appearance, and brightens your mood, among other benefits, should be all the motivation you need.
In practice, these benefits are not immediate. Therefore, you will be tempted to give up exercising in favor of another activity that brings immediate, tangible benefits, like binge-watching Netflix shows.
Most of us dread exercising and eating healthy. We all want to feel and look fit, but getting out of bed or couch seems next to impossible.
Our mind is our biggest enemy and also a source of power. How you channel it is in your hand. Make it an obstacle. It will never let you exercise, make it a powerhouse, and you would feel fit and strong in no time. Train your brain to give you energy, push you to work out and be fit.
After all, it is the brain that registers and passes on the message, whether you are healthy or not. Just decide that you need to change your thinking, and you will find that exercising can be a lot of fun.
So, how to change your attitude towards exercise and stay motivated to workout?
Bonus – You can even find fun workout motivation songs or gym playlist below.
7 Ways to Change What You Think About Exercising
1. Let go of your inhabitations
To stay motivated to workout, you have first to let go of the inhabitants inside your head!
Our mind plays tricks on us; it tries to put a stop at everything new you’re gonna try. Every morning getting out of bed, you have to do so many chores and work commitments. Do you never realize where the day goes?
You wonder and make excuses that, if I cannot squeeze in two hours of work out, there is no point in working out at all. These kinds of thoughts limit your workout sessions. Squeeze in even thirty minutes of the workout, and it will be worth it.
If you feel the gym is not the place for you, take a bike ride with your partner, go hiking, take your dog for a walk, or better still join a club like “walk and snap,” “foot tour of the city,” where you get to learn and exercise at the same time.
Nobody is too busy to work out for even a small duration of time with some activity that is not a part of your daily routine.
Once you start, you will get hooked on exercising regularly and slowly. You would build on the duration too. It will take time, but don’t lose hope!
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2. Achievements need to be acknowledged and appreciated
To get motivated to lose weight and exercise, you must start appreciating and acknowledging your efforts.
Even when you are drenched in your sweat or find a slight change in the scales, any small object is your achievements. They are proof of your dedication and hard work.
So acknowledge, appreciate, and celebrate your accomplishments. Never criticize yourself for anything. Never curse for not being able to do your work out or being out of shape.
Be proud of your pulsating heart. Be happy that you feel sore after the workout. All of them indicate that you are working hard and getting stronger, better, and fitter.
3. Declare it to your friends or online
We spend a lot of time with our friends or online on social media, so why not share your fitness goals online. This way, whenever you feel like taking some time off, your friends will help you stay motivated to workout.
We usually take better care of those activities, where we know we are either not alone or need to answer someone. When we are accountable, we tend to perform better. It is just a mind trick to help you work out better.
Another added benefit of exercising outside is finding a company; it helps build your social life. You would get to meet new people, join a group, or take a challenge.
They all are a great source of motivation.
4. Don’t get upset. Just move forward
At the beginning of your journey, you might feel that some hurdles are not letting you achieve your goal. Be it weather, some illness, or an injury, or lack of support from your family and friends: never be discouraged by them.
Accept that something or the other will always create an obstacle. You will also find out a solution. Just try and move ahead. You might not be able to predict some of these hurdles, but never let them prove a hindrance, work around it. Make your mind, body, and soul strong
5. Jazz it up and make it more fun
If you do not feel challenged in your current workout routine, you need to mix it up.
Try a new class or a new workout routine: take up power yoga or weight training.
Never dread your regime. It makes you want to quit. Our body and mind both get bored easily, so make sure you keep it interesting and exciting. Moreover, using workout motivation songs can really help you to jazz things up.
6. Don’t let your blues and dues get you down
Mostly I get bored or start feeling low because of some reason or the other. And other times, it is just a fleeting feeling. But if I let my mood govern my day, I would cry and mop all day.
So take those 20 or 30 minutes and shut out the world and go for your choice of work out.
The adrenaline will help elevate your mood and change your state of mind.
7. Prepare yourself to win
If, after reading the above points, and you feel motivated, don’t waste these positive vibes. Just prepare yourself for tomorrow or better still, start today; now!
Change into your gear, put on some music, and head out. Drown the world in your music and hit the gym or the circuit. Just prepare yourself, and your mind will be ready to leap.
Train your brain and make it your buddy. Change your perspective on working out, and you will find it much easier to get up and move. So common brain…Let’s go and work out!
5 Ways to Keep or Boost Your Motivation to Work Out
So now that you have learned to perceive exercise differently, let’s ding into staying motivated to work out regularly.
How can you avoid procrastinating heading to the gym? You might as well need some additional motivation.
It would help if you also had further reasons to put exercising before other activities, turn it into a priority, and keep with it. I know it because I’ve been in your shoes, and I’ve been finding excuses not to work out for years.
Finally, I did manage to find the motivation I needed to work out. And I hope to help you find yours in the following lines.
How To Motivate Yourself To Workout Or Go To The Gym?Â
Here are some amazing ways to motivate yourself to go to the gym and workout!
1. Set Cues
If you leave your workouts to chance, you will never find the time or the energy to go through with them. You need to include them in your daily routine, and cues can help you do that.
You know your schedule better than anyone, so find the time of the day when you can squeeze in a one-hour workout and set the alarm or connect it to some other activity.
For example, during high school and at my first job, it seemed much easier to wake up early in the morning and go jogging. I used to set my alarm one hour earlier than usual, ran my heart out, and go home and get ready for school or work.
Later, as I took on a second job and the kids showed up, it felt easier to stop at the gym on the way home from work or work out in the evening, right after putting the girls to sleep.
It is up to you when you work out, but try to avoid anything that could prevent you from doing it, and make sure you set reminders.
2. Reward Yourself After Every Workout
For some people, simply knowing that exercising is beneficial for their health is all the motivation they need. For others, it takes a lot more. If the benefits of working out are not enough for you, it will help find some other motivation.
The personal reward system can help you learn how to get motivated to lose weight and exercise. And also stay motivated to go to the gym.
What is your guilty pleasure, the one thing you cannot give up every day, the small treat you still enjoy despite your efforts to lose weight or stay healthy?
Some of the workout rewards to stay motivated to go to the gym are:
- A chocolate
- A glass of wine
- Soap opera
- Shopping session
- Playing online games
- Coffee or beer with your best friend
- Watching a football game with the guys
Try setting this pleasure as a reward for exercising. And you will soon associate exercising with the pleasure you experience from the reward and look forward to the next workout sessions.
You will enjoy that guilty pleasure anyway, but you’ll make something good out of it. Moreover, you will motivate yourself to go to the gym.
This is not just an assumption, but the conclusion of scientific research concluded at Iowa State University. Alison Phillips, assistant professor of psychology here, found that, besides cues, like the morning alarms or the end of their workdays, rewards help motivate subjects and make them more likely to respond to their cues.
Truth be told, the study focused on intrinsic rewards. However, in my case, the chat with friends, a glass of delicious red wine, or a couple of strawberries dipped in dark chocolate work like magic, better than repeating to myself things I’ve always known.
3. Use Fitness Apps
Most fitness apps are designed to measure your progress, not to keep you going. However, some apps can make your workout more. Certain apps also sync your work out motivation music.
It is not my idea, but the result of a study conducted by Abby King, a Stanford University Ph.D. professor.
He found that social apps that allow comparisons between users promote behavior change through social support and customize their users’ avatars to reflect good behavior motivate their users to exercise more.
It is up to you to find the app that has this effect on you.
One thing is for sure: it doesn’t hurt to try. If you have friends who use the same app, you can see their performance updates, rewards obtained within the app, and progress charts.
Having someone to turn to when you have questions or need encouragement could surely be a step forward.
4. Get a Solid Gym/Workout Playlist
Music and songs can help you motivate to go to the gym and workout. Playing your favorite songs while working out boosts your mood and motivates you to work out better. These songs are all set to power up your next cardio workout and motivate you to reach your goals.
Workout Motivation Songs
Here are some of the best workout motivation songs or playlists for your gym or at-home workouts.
- ‘Dance Monkey,’ by Tones and I
- ‘Lemon,’ by N.E.R.D and Rihanna
- ‘Taki Taki,’ by DJ Snake, Cardi B, Selena Gomez, and Ozuna
- Thunder by Imagine Dragons
- ‘Nonstop,’ by Drake
- ‘The Light Is Coming,’ by Ariana Grande and Nicki Minaj
- ‘Sunday Morning,’ by Matoma and Josie Dunne
- ‘No New Friends,’ by Labrinth, Sia, and Diplo
- ‘So Am I,’ by Ava Max
- ‘Back That Azz Up,’ by Juvenile and Lil Wayne
- ‘Woman,’ by Kesha and The Dap-Kings Horns
- ‘Soulmate,’ by Lizzo
5. Find Workout Buddies
Working out on your own may not be very pleasant, especially if you have a job that keeps you locked in an office or behind the wheel all day. Even with work out motivation music, it may be difficult to motivate yourself to go to the gym.
Having someone to exercise with you could provide the additional motivation you need. On your own, you could be tempted to quit, but your workout buddy will hold you responsible. When you get tired, you could be tempted to stop, but seeing your workout buddy continue will make you want to do the same.
It’s not just an assumption, but the finding of professor Damon Centola from the University of Pennsylvania and his team of researchers. They found a way to use social networks and the internet to motivate people to exercise more.
The key to their success was program buddies, participating in the same exercise program, and using the same network, even though they did not know one another very well.
In the end, workout buddies can help you to get motivated to lose weight and exercise.
Drawing the Line on Workout Motivation
Trust me, I know better than anyone what it feels like to want to work out yet not keep at it. I also know that, if you want to, you do it.
I’ve tried gym subscriptions, online workout programs, jogging, aerobics, Kangoo jumps, and many other types of workouts I can’t remember.
I still have extra pounds to worry about, and I still get bored and feel tempted to skip exercising. However, combining all the above motivational tricks, looking at myself in the mirror, and dismantling my excuses not to exercise keep me going.
When I don’t feel like going out, I work out with Daniel from Team Body Project (on their videos, lol). When I don’t have a babysitter, I take the girls with me. I let them run wild on the local football court.
When I can’t afford the gym subscription, I take my headphones, put on work out motivation music, and go jogging by myself.
My Concluding Message On Workout Motivation
If you really want to exercise, you will find a way and do it. If you are looking for excuses not to, there are plenty you can use. In the end, it is all up to you and how much you treasure your health and well being.
Key Takeaways on How to Stay Motivated to WorkOut
- Working out is beneficial for your health and well being. To get motivated to lose weight and exercise, you have to let go of the inner blockage inside your head.
- You can do many things to motivate yourself to go to the gym or work out at home as well.
- Workout motivation songs can play an important role in achieving this.
- One way to stay motivated to workout and go to the gym is, try setting your guilty pleasure as a reward after exercising.
- Most fitness apps are designed to measure your progress, not to keep you going.
- To increase your motivation, pair with someone to exercise who could boost and provide the additional motivation you need.
- Another added benefit of exercising outside with a company; it helps to build your social life. You would get to meet new people, join a group, or take a challenge and even get some vitamin D.
- In the end, it is all up to your determination, how much you love and value yourself, and how much you treasure your health and well being.
I hope you will try the above suggestions to boost your motivation and help you stay motivated to lose weight and exercise.
How do you stay motivated to work out? What motivates you to lose weight and exercise? Which are your favorite workout motivation songs?
Don’t hesitate to leave a comment and share your story!
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