Last week, Holly posted a few things on Facebook and Twitter about some of the best exercise motivation tips she’s seen online.  Unlike me, Holly really struggles to do her workouts. I used to, but I’m really getting into it, which I’m happy about. I think the difference isn’t that I’m someone who loves exercising and that she’s someone who hates it. I think I’ve just found the right way to do it for me. I’ve found what drives me. Suddenly, it all switched on.

The Difference the Best Exercise Motivation Can Make

The way I see it, we’re not actually built to do a workout as a set thing. After all, for the majority of our evolution, we weren’t out there counting steps and making sure we got the best balance between cardio and strength training. We were doing what we could to overcome food scarcity. We were active because we were moving around to find the food, we were active to escape danger, and the rest of the time, we would be mainly resting because that was best for conserving energy. After all, who knew when the next big meal would be?

So, in my mind, we are somewhat programmed to eat when we can (which, for many of us, is multiple times per day) and rest the rest of the time. We’re not necessarily naturally inclined to get up and roar all around with our maximum intensity.  We move only when we’re driven to do so.  Therefore, as I see it, the best exercise motivation is what will actually make it happen. It will help us to work with our evolutionary programming and convince us to stop conserving energy and to burn it instead.

My Best Exercise Motivation Tips

I’m hardly an expert in the best exercise motivation. I just know that I’m running and doing other workouts on a regular basis, and I’m driven to keep doing it. Sometimes I don’t feel like it, but I have the drive to do it anyway.  What’s great is that once I actually get going, I’m usually just fine with it. It’s only getting ready and getting started that feels hard. Then, once I’m doing it, I’m content.

Here’s What Drives Me to Do My Workouts

1. I remind myself of why I want to do it in the first place. I want to be healthy. I want to look fit. I want to progress and do better in my next workout. I don’t want to lose the progress I’ve already made. These are just a few of the reasons, but they’re important drivers.
2. I work out with others when I can. Sometimes that means meeting someone in person to exercise. More often, it means doing it separately but at the same time, then reporting back to each other on our experience and sharing our fitness tracker data. It’s the social aspect that motivates me in this case.
3. I set small goals and reward myself. I like to set small goals along the way to my larger ones. Then, when I reach them, I celebrate with a little reward. These are never food rewards. Instead, it could be that I get to see a movie on my watch list, that I get to use that bath bomb I bought for myself to use as a reward, or something else like that. It makes it fun!
4. I keep a schedule. By doing the same things on the same days of the week at the same time, it’s not really a matter of if I’m going to do it or not. It’s automatic exercise motivation of the best kind. After all, you don’t need drive to brush your teeth, right? You just do it. That’s what I’m building into my schedule for workouts.
5. I focus on the workouts I enjoy. When I find something that I like to do, I do that the most, especially when I feel like it. Right now, that’s running. I know that will change over time. That’s okay!