Here’s some from The Daily Burn could help you stick to your exercise plan for this year. If you need additional exercise motivation, consider using a self hypnosis audio download like, Exercise Motivation Booster. Almost 10,000 have downloaded it to date.
You might want to make your once-in-a-while spin class or strength class a regular thing. Maybe you’re just one of many people who don’t care.
People who work out and want to sweat more often but can’t find the motivation to make fitness a part of their daily lives.
Conventional wisdom hasn’t been very helpful in figuring out how to get into a routine and become that person who says, “I’ll meet you for brunch later.” I have to go for a run first.” People tell you that you must “want it” enough. Exercise motivation is a goal. Or that you have to do something for 21 days in a row before it becomes natural. But what do you do on the 29th day when it’s raining and you’d rather skip your run and sleep for another hour?
Exercise Motivation Made Easy
Economists and psychologists have been trying to figure out what makes us do things over and over again that we don’t always want to do. Here are some of their best ways to get more out of working out.
1. Give Yourself a Real Reward
Some people might be motivated by goals like “better health” or “weight control,” but these aren’t very clear. But if that doesn’t work, journalist Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, suggests making the benefits of working out more obvious, like by giving yourself a smoothie or an episode of Game of Thrones afterward.
“An extrinsic reward is so powerful because your brain can latch on to it and make the link that the behavior is worthwhile.”
He talks about making a “habit loop” in your brain, which is a trigger (like putting your spinning shoes next to your bag), a routine (like making it through spinning class), and a reward. “An extrinsic reward is so powerful because your brain can latch on to it and figure out that the behavior is worth it,” he says. “It makes it more likely that the routine will become a habit.”
Over time, exercise becomes self-motivating because the brain starts to link sweat and pain with the release of endorphins, which are the feel-good chemicals that give you that “I feel freaking amazing” rush after a good workout. Once you’ve taught your brain that the workout is the reward, you won’t want the treat anymore.
2. Sign a Commitment Contract
We can make promises to ourselves all day long, but research shows that when we make promises in front of friends, we are more likely to keep them.
You can raise the stakes even more by signing a contract that says you’ll pay a friend $20 every time you don’t go to Pilates. Jeremy Goldhaber-Fiebert, PhD, an assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University who studies health decision science, says, “It’s a simple idea of changing the cost.” “I say I’m going to commit to doing something for a certain amount of time, like working out for 30 minutes three times a week for 12 weeks. If I don’t do that, I’ll have to pay something, whether it’s money or the shame of having my friends find out I didn’t do what I said I would do.”
Goldhaber-Fiebert and his colleagues studied people who made online contracts on the site stickk.com. They found that people who signed contracts for longer times ended up working out more than those who signed contracts for shorter times. “We have to get past the initial discomfort before we can see the long-term benefits,” he says. “The problem is coming up with tools that can help make that happen.”
3. Rethink Positive Thinking
Positive thinkers have long recommended picturing the benefits of a behavior as a way to get people to do it. For example, when I’m deciding whether or not to get out of bed in the morning to go running, it helps to think about how the sun will feel on my face as I run around the reservoir. Or how happy I’ll be to see my new muscles getting stronger.
“Once you can picture the problem, you can figure out how to get around it and make a plan.”
But Gabriele Oettingen, PhD, a psychologist at New York University and the author of Rethinking Positive Thinking: Inside the New Science of Motivation, says that these feel-good fantasies only work when paired with more realistic ways to solve problems.
Here’s the last part of the formula for getting people to exercise: After figuring out what you want and imagining how it will turn out, you have to figure out what’s stopping you. This is what she calls “mental contrasting.” In one study, researchers asked 51 female college students who said they wanted to eat less junk food snacks to think about what would be good about snacking on better foods. Those who figured out what made it hard for them to snack in a healthy way and made a plan to reach for fruit when cravings hit were most likely to reach their goal.
Feel too tired after work to go to the gym? “Once you can picture the problem, you can figure out how to solve it and make a plan,” says Oettingen. For instance, you can switch to working out in the morning or at lunch, or you can go straight to the gym instead of going home first.
4. Find Your Fitness Tribe
Let’s face it: No one can pay you to do more squats, rack up more miles or lift heavier — and science proves it. Researchers in a recent study from the National Bureau of Economic Research found that rewarding new gym members with $30 or $60 gift cards for exercising made little to zero impact on their workout motivation. While it might sound like a sweet deal to get paid to sweat, what will ultimately inspire you to get up and start moving is a strong, supportive community. The laughs, high fives and words of encouragement from the bonds people make are things money simply can’t buy. From CrossFit boxes to run clubs to yogi circles, there’s a fitness squad for everyone. Find a workout that makes you feel good and surround yourself with people that help build your confidence as much as your strength. The cost of putting yourself out there? Priceless.
And remember, if you want to jump start your new exercise program and give yourself the best chance at success, download Exercise Motivation Booster – and take any doubt about not doing it off the table. Try it today.
