How to Exercise, Even When You Don't Want To

Do you ever have those days (or weeks!) where you just can’t motivate yourself to get up and workout? You’re not alone; we’ve all been there. We also want to help you out, so we put together a list of some of the tricks we’ve used in the past to get our butt in gear and get that workout done. Here is the Academy Massage cheat sheet for motivating yourself to exercise, even when you really don’t want to:

• Lay out your workout clothes the night before so there’s one less thing to do before a morning workout – bonus points if you pick your outfit for work too!
• Plan the healthy meal you’ll nourish your body with after to give yourself the motivation to push through – one positive decision leads to another.
• Put your workout gear on before you decide to skip the workout.  If you still don’t feel like working out after that, take a mental health day and do something else that is good for you instead; read a book, get a massage, do some mild stretching or light yoga, or take a relaxing bath (with myo bath salts).
• Start a calendar or journal and mark down the days that you do workout.  Seeing all the checked boxes can help motivate you.  Keeping track of when you do and don’t workout can also help you find patterns or cycles that you go through with your body – especially important to note for females.
• If you hate cardio, just remember: “the faster you run, the faster you’re done.”
• Don’t let yourself miss two days in a row, ever.
• If you can’t stay motivated to go to a gym on your own, hire a personal trainer so there is someone else counting on you to be there, and a financial cost to skipping the workout.
• Join a group fitness program so you know you have a workout planned on scheduled dates and times.  It will help you build a routine, and you’re less likely to skip because it gives you a time for you to look forward to that’s just for you.
• Do your warm up.  If you’re not motivated after that, you can quit, but you’ll probably feel silly. 
• Break your workout into smaller sets.  Count to halfway through the set, and then back down to one.  It feels like you’re doing less because you’re counting half as high as normal, and counting back down to one pushes you to finish because you’re counting down the remaining reps – it’s all in your head!
• Find a podcast or audiobook you like and only let yourself listen to it during a workout.  Just like bingeing Netflix episodes, you’ll want to know what happens next.
• Think about how far you’ve come since starting and the changes you’ve seen or felt in your body. Hold on to that feeling and push to feel even better.

What tricks do you use to motivate yourself to workout?  We want to hear them!  Comment on this post below, or tag us in your posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.