Motivation Hacks To Enjoy Exercise

Over the last few weeks I have discussed aerobic training, its benefits, the methods used to improve it and the ridiculous improvements this will have on health. This is hardly rocket science or difficult to understand, however, it is really hard to actually find a way to become consistent.

There are a few beliefs, thinking patterns or mental strategies that can make a huge difference with whether you are consistent or not. These include:

Zoom Out – If you look at exercise from the angle of how much you’ve done over the last 12 months, you will probably find it is not that much. Maybe you went a bit wild in January and did three sessions a week, but if you add in the many months with no exercise you may find you average way below 30 minutes a week. This should guide you about setting a goal going forwards. Why are you starting a three-hour-a-week training plan when you’ve yet to sustain 30 minutes a week without a break?

Forget About Minimum Time – I think this is the joint major reason exercise does not become consistent. You’ve set yourself 45 minutes in your mind, yet have only 17 minutes spare. Common sense says do the 17 minutes, but most people just miss the session instead. Just do something, anything!

Forget About Minimum Effort – Very often we find that what stops us is imagining the pain ahead in a training session. You should know by now that you can get fitness benefits from Zone 2 training, which barely feels any effort at all as it sits below the point most people perceive as difficult. Just do something, anything!

Know What The Hell You’re Doing – It amazes me that people who don’t have a clue what they’re doing in the gym somehow expect to enjoy it. Exercise is an easy skill to learn, but it’s still a skill. Spend a few sessions learning from a trainer, a friend, or even short tutorials. Once you know what you’re doing, it’s 100 times more enjoyable. Then return to it regularly. Like anything else, it takes a while before you’re really good at it, or can expand your skill set.

Wait For The Body To Be Ready – It takes two to three months to train many aspects of fitness to be ready to go full out. You can’t just instantly develop the enzymes, mitochondria and tendons to handle hard, challenging exercise. Fitness trainers are a big part of the problem here, as many push new clients far too hard when they just need to chill out and let the body adapt over the weeks and months ahead.

Drop The Arrogance – A lot of people get demotivated because others are much fitter than them when they start out. This puts them off classes or gyms because they think it looks bad, or that others will laugh at them. For me, that’s madness. If I took up piano tomorrow, it’s obvious I’d be worse than someone who’s trained for four years. Exercise rewards consistent effort over time. Your job is simply to keep getting fitter, no one cares what level you are to start with, everyone is to busy focusing on themselves.

Focus On Self-Improvement – The antidote to worrying about others being better is to accept exactly where you are, even if it’s behind, and focus on being a little bit better than yourself today in a few weeks or months. The good thing is the lower your starting level, the quicker and easier it is to improve.

Don’t Hide From Data – Using fitness data can actually boost motivation hugely. As you get fitter, training will still feel like hard work because you push yourself harder, but your performance will be far higher. Without data, you might feel you’re not improving, but if you re-test old sessions you’ll see big progress. Numbers don’t lie and can be a massive lift when motivation dips.

Other People Hold The Key – Stop trying to do everything on your own. Other people are often the difference between giving up and pushing through. They inspire you, they teach you, and they hold you accountable. You can get far alone, but not all the way. Don’t let a few bad experiences with gyms or groups put you off finding the right ones.

Become What You Believe – A few weeks ago I wrote about the study showing how what people believed about a meal affected how it physically influenced their body. The same applies to exercise. How you decide to think and feel about it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you decide exercise is painful, boring, or not for you, it will be. If you decide it’s something you enjoy, that improves your life and energy, you’ll prove yourself right too.

Listen To Your Feelings – These guides aren’t random, they’re pointers about what needs to be worked on. For example, if you feel uncomfortable in the gym, it’s telling you to spend more time there until that feeling fades. If you find something dull, it means you need to find a different form of movement that excites you. If your knee keeps hurting, you should add in some knee rehab work or look at your technique on the exercises.

What This Means For You

I’m not sure there’s a more important thing to develop than your beliefs around exercise if you want to become consistent and turn yourself into a fitness machine. Once you crack the mindset side, the rest becomes automatic, because motivation isn’t something you find, it’s something you build.

Photo – Another Hyrox last weekend, another personal best, this time by 4 minutes in the Pro Doubles. I absolutely destroyed myself out there but the power of consistent training showed through as we were much quicker than last year. We got 1.06.50, which included a lost minute for getting on the wrong rowing machine.

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