5 Ways To Keep You In The Gym
While we all sometimes like to believe that we have bottomless willpower when it comes to working out and showing up, the truth is there are days when we don’t. We all have those moments when we can barely get ourselves to the gym, let alone have the motivation to do our actual workout! This is for everyone who needs a little help going and staying there. Here a list of 5 things that help me to show up, especially on days when it’s already hard to even get up.
5. Prepare the pre-workout essentials
I often find a lot of reasons to leave early when I’m not in the mood, so I try to lessen my own excuses to go home whenever I can. Make sure you’re always prepared with whatever you need to keep you focused. For this, you need to manage two things: things you always have in your gym bag and things you always prepare the night before. In my gym bag, I always make sure to a water bottle, a padlock, a pair of extra earphones (in case my bluetooth ones run out of battery) and small, healthy snacks in case I need more energy. While before I sleep, I try as much as possible to ready my gym outfit (the cuter it is, the better chances I want to show it lol), iced coffee and a towel. I don’t usually have breakfast before my workout but I swear by a little caffeine to get me awake and have more energy!
My workout buddy, Wayne.
4. Find a workout buddy
When I’m going through a difficult time in my personal life, my first instinct is always to sleep in or binge eat. Soon after, I often begin to gain weight and start a cycle of frustration. Having a friend that can routinely interrupt your negative thoughts and redirect your attention from things you can’t control (like external circumstances that are making you down) to things that you can (such as having a strong body that you’re happy with) helps in so many ways. I’m lucky to have a partner that shares in my lifestyle goals and makes sure to remind me to exercise every day (one way or another) and makes an effort to improve his diet with me so I don’t feel bad when we go out to eat. We make sure to hold each other accountable for our fitness even on vacations!
3. Have a workout binge show
I hate doing cardio but I definitely know that I need it. While I can tolerate it when doing sports like basketball, HIIT or group classes like zumba or boxing, I can’t for the life of me enjoy treadmills or the elliptical. For this reason, I have shows I only specifically watch when I’m doing machine cardio that I’m not allowed to watch any other time. While the shows I’m currently watching are designed to inspire and are focused on self improvement (*cough* Queer Eye *cough*), it’s also a great idea to have shows designed with cliff hangers so you have no choice but to show up to the gym to watch the next episode!
2. Create positive triggers
It takes a long time to get the body we want. It’s always a little bit demotivating to stare into a mirror and think your last week’s workout was ineffective. We all know the line “Good things take time”, but it’s still so hard to live by it. For this reason, I’ve pavlov-ed myself through positive triggers that I establish right after my workout. My ideal body might take a longer time to get but at least I get to take a nice dip in the pool for 15 minutes after this one workout!
Thankfully, the gym had gloves!
1. Be mood flexible
If you really, really can’t stay focused on your routine… Be prepared to do something else! In an ideal world, everyone has the willpower to do a solid routine all the time. But for me and many others like me, there will always be days when I will suddenly be in the mood to do something else. Instead of running out of the gym right away, I make sure I have options to workout in other ways. Whether it’s having my boxing gloves, a downloaded 30 minute HIIT session ready, an app that walks me through dumbbell workouts, a basketball to substitute cardio with or even a frisbee, giving myself the illusion of choice definitely helps. From “do I work out or not?” to “What kind of workout can I do”, I’ve realised that a different workout is always better than no workout.
Like many things in life, consistency is key. But also like many other things in life, consistency isn’t easy. It’s okay to admit that you have days when you don’t have the motivation to do what you’re supposed to do. I’ll be lying if I say I’m not still working on the grit to show up every day too. It won’t come right away. But if you make excuses on a good day, you can make excuses on a bad day, and no one wants to really live a life of excuses everyday.
Be kind to yourself and power through until you’ve created habits that bring more comfort than frustration. If showing up to work out becomes your first success of every day, imagine the other things you can do if you just put your mind to it.
