How To Enjoy Working Out (And Stay Motivated For Good!)

If you’re reading this, it’s probably because you haven’t been going to the gym as often as you should or you’ve skipped a few runs or bike rides. That’s where we step in. After reading this article, you should be feeling more motivated than ever, and ready to smash your goals with no excuses. Once you learn to enjoy working out, it’ll never feel like a chore again. So, what are you waiting for?

Make sure you’re comfortable in your activewear

This should be the first thing you think about when it comes to motivation. If you know that your gym top will chafe you or your running leggings will keep falling down as you move, it can be hugely off-putting. On the contrary, if you’ve got fresh, comfortable, stylish activewear, you will look forward to putting it on and showing everyone else at the gym what you’re made of.

Stock up on comfortable ultra cool sports tops for the summer and base layers for the winter. Make sure you have running leggings that don’t slip down (or ride up) and have a discreet pocket for your valuables. Fashionable and good-looking gym wear can completely change your mood and having new activewear to look forward to wearing can be the best motivator there is.

Keep it fresh

Change up your routine regularly and don’t let it go stale. This means not only what you do within the session, but what sessions you’re doing and when. Don’t always go for a run on a Monday and do a leg session on a Wednesday, mix it up week by week. If you’re following a specific training plan, then this perhaps doesn’t apply, but if you’re still finding your groove, mixing it up can really help with motivation. It’s also important to make sure your training regime fits in with your daily routine, as there’s nothing worse than having a big gym sessions planned after a long and tiring day at work.

You should definitely change the exercises you’re doing within your training sessions as regularly as possible. However, that said, it can also be motivating to create a specific routine and try to beat your own time each week. This will help to motivate you as you will have a very focused goal and something to work towards.

Workout with a buddy

Sometimes, getting up off the sofa to go for a run on your own can seem a bit boring. By training with a friend you can keep things fresh and have something to look forward to. Not only this, you will be letting them down if you don’t show up!

Working out can be much more enjoyable if you have someone to talk to and to compare notes with. However, don’t let working out with a buddy distract you from your training. Keep your eyes on the prize!

Find a sport you enjoy

If pounding the pavements for mile after mile isn’t your thing, that’s okay. You might find a sport that you absolutely love and when this happens, exercising will never feel like a chore again. If you’re enjoying a sport then that will be your focus, rather than the fact you should be losing weight or seeing results. Lose yourself in a sport like triathlon, CrossFit, tennis, or any number of others and you won’t be watching the clock or checking the scales every day as you’ll have a new focus.

Not only this, a lot of sports are team efforts and so it can be a great way to meet new people and make new friends. Mingling with like-minded people can really help with motivation and could also help you learn more about the sport so that you can become more interested in it.

Create a killer playlist

One of the best ways to enjoy your workout more is to have a killer playlist to listen to. Spend some time finding new songs which pump you up and motivate you or a single album by an artist you like so that you can spend your entire session listening through it. Having music you know you like to listen to will really motivate you and looking forward to discovering a new album can help you get out the door when you’re not feeling it.

Remember why you’re doing this

This is possibly the most important point on the list. One of the best ways to enjoy working out is to remember why you’re doing it in the first place. Maybe it’s to see results in your appearance or to perform better in a sport or race. There’s nothing more motivating and rewarding than seeing results and realising you can do something now that you couldn’t do before. Once you’re no longer a novice and can competently do the exercises, you will begin to enjoy the process a lot more.