Workout motivation can be a struggle, not only to get motivated, but to STAY motivated. Whether you had a workout routine before kids or it is your first time getting into a fitness routine; everyone has a busy schedule and it only gets busier once you add babies and kids into the mix.
I had always been healthy and fit before kids and wondered how I would ever be able to get back into a routine once I had kids since there was no longer any predictability to my day.
Here, I am sharing the strategies that have helped me to keep fitness and health as a priority in my life after having 2 kids. I am about to be 38 years old and just wore my Sweet 16 dress for this past New Years party and it still fits great!!!
This post shares 10 LIFE-CHANGING steps to help get you motivated and keep you motivated to find a way to consistently fit fitness into your busy lifestyle.
1. FIND YOUR “WHY”
Identifying a deeper reason for working out makes a major difference in how successful you will be at meeting your goals. There will be days when you may feel tired or sluggish or times when you are traveling or on vacation that can make it even harder to stick with a workout routine. Having a deeper reason is key to pushing through those times when workout motivation and energy are low.
Most people would think of more superficial reasons to workout like losing a certain amount of weight or fitting into a certain size of clothing. But the truth is, more meaningful goals that have more to do with your lifestyle or your body’s ability over appearance have been shown to be far more effective as an enduring motivator.
What is your WHY? Is it to improve your overall health? Reduce stress? Increase your energy? To feel more confident? That’s a good start, but you need to get more granular for a WHY to really stick. Find a way to make it more connected to your life now.
Take one of these vague reasons why, for instance, and go down the rabbit hole of why until you find your most powerful and clear WHY. For example:
See? Now your goal has become something much more personal which make it more meaningful to you.
Now, the next step is to take that WHY that you have defined and write out a very vivid summary of how you want the future to look.
– Do you want to be at your child’s wedding one day?
– Do you want to be there for the birth of your grandchildren?
– When you spend time with your children or grandchildren, do you want to be able to run and play with them?
– What do you imagine those events being like?
Be specific. Keep this summary in your phone. Also, having images saved with that summary that help to inspire you towards that goal like a favorite photo of your child or images of grandparents running and playing with their grandchildren will help to give you a little boost of workout motivation when you are on the fence about whether or not you should workout that day, just pull out your WHY doc and read it & look through the pictures to remember your WHY.
2. WORKOUT MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES
Find a few motivational workout quotes that really resonate with you. In those tough times when you are low on workout motivation or even during a workout to help you push through those last few reps having some quotes that you can say to yourself as mantras can be really powerful. See some of my favorites below:
- “You will never regret a workout”
- “The only bad workout is the one that didn’t happen”
- “Every workout is progress”
- “Change is uncomfortable. Push through the discomfort to see the change”
- “Progress, not perfection”
- “Your fitness journey never ends”
3. SET SMALL GOALS THAT ARE SPECIFIC AND ATTAINABLE
Now it is time to set small, specific and measurable goals that are attainable. Getting too ambitious when starting out can backfire. If you can’t follow through with far-reaching or unrealistic goals it can make you lose confidence and enthusiasm which makes it easier not to follow-through with your goals.
By having some early wins it helps to energize you and further motivate you to see that you are able to cross off some of your goals. Keep your goals small as stepping stones to larger goals and breaking them up into manageable pieces.
Start with a small goal like “Workout 3 days a week for 20 minutes” and once you achieve that goal for a few weeks, bump it up to 4 days for 30 minutes, and so on. Maybe you have a goal to just complete an entire workout without having to take a break, or to be able to level up in the weights you are using in your workouts. If your workouts have progressions (like yoga and pilates) maybe your goal is to be able to level up to a progression in some of your exercises.
The key is to start with consistency as your goal. Once it becomes a habit, then the length and intensity of your workouts can advance as well.
4. HABIT STACK OFF YOUR CURRENT ROUTINES
The best way to make something a routine is to habit stack. That is when you take something that is already a habit and piggy-back off of that, using it as a cue for your new habit. For instance, if you make coffee every morning already, maybe while it is brewing is when you can workout and the coffee is the reward for your workout! I am always trying to drink more water and ended up starting a routine of drinking one glass of water while my coffee brews to make sure that I at least get water in first thing and coffee is my reward. By habit-stacking working out can become a habit that you don’t need to think about or talk yourself into.
5. SCHEDULE AND PLAN YOUR WORKOUTS
Look at your schedule every week and see where your pockets of time are. Make an appointment for your workout just like you would for a doctor’s appointment or a business meeting. This may require you waking up 40 minutes earlier or cutting down on your evening TV time. But that’s when you need to task another look at your WHY and remind yourself that it is more important than watching a Netflix show that you can watch anytime you want or more important than another 40 minutes of sleep.
6. MAKE WORKOUTS ENJOYABLE
Experiment with different forms of exercise. An athletic person may enjoy kickboxing, HIIT, Tabata or another high-impact workout. Someone newer to fitness or just getting back into it may want to start with low-impact workouts that can get progressively more difficult like Yoga, Pilates or Barre. If you are someone that loves to dance or needs to be social, try a Zumba class. A person that enjoys the outdoors and nature can do their workouts outside, or at a local park. Listening to an audiobook or podcast or watching a show you love while you workout can also help to make it more enjoyable as well. Maybe that particular show, book or podcast is something you only do when you workout and therefore you look forward to it and it’s almost like a reward while you workout. No matter what you choose, there should be an element that you enjoy and look forward to. Also, mixing up various types of workouts helps to make sure that you don’t get bored and your body continues to be challenged so your progress continues.
7. FIND SUPPORT AND ACCOUNTABILITY
You are much more likely to follow through with a workout if you have accountability. The way that you get accountability is by telling someone your plans or making plans with another person.
So for example: If you have a workout date with a friend and don’t want to stand them up. Also, when you add a social component to working out it also can make it more enjoyable as well.
Another example would be if you even just told your friend that you are planning to go for a run the next morning. You are much more likely to follow-through with your plans to go on a run the next morning just by saying your plan out loud to another person. That person could also check in with you and ask “How was your run?” which will hold you accountable or serve as encouragement to go on your run if you woke up that morning and didn’t feel like going.
If you don’t have any friends or family that you could use as an accountability person, consider using social media. There are many communities out there with other people that have similar goals. These communities are filled with others who understand your challenges and struggles which helps them to provide support and encouragement when your workout motivation wanes as you try to reach your goals
8. TRACK YOUR PROGRESS
It can be incredibly motivating to actually have evidence of where you started and how far you have come. You can track your progress through an app or even just through a journal. Make sure to write how you are feeling throughout your journey like when you wake up feeling energized and ready to go or when you wake up feeling very sluggish and low on workout motivation.
Tracking your progress serves 3 purposes:
- Another source of accountability as you write down whether or not you completed your workouts.
- Motivating to see data or a line graph in your app to rise or suddenly dip
- You can use this data to look for patterns and adjust your routine accordingly by seeing what is working and what is not.
You should look back every week or so to see if there are patterns or consistencies that can inform you on how to adjust your routine accordingly. Look for these things to get you started:
- Which days or times do you consistently skip workouts?
- Which days are you feeling really energized and motivated?
- Which days are you feeling very sluggish and unmotivated?
- Now look for commonalities within those days. What workouts did you do? What did you eat? Did you get enough sleep?
If you always start out energized and motivated on Mondays and by the time Friday comes around you are skipping your workout every time you might need to consider adjustments like this:
- Build in a recovery day with some yoga, foam rolling or stretching.
- Plan to do the more challenging workouts like HIIT in the beginning of the week you feel energized and are more likely to stick with you workouts
- Towards the end of the week you get tired and busy and find it difficult to stay on track (that’s when you build in your restorative workouts with stretching or yoga etc.)
- Track what you eat as well and you can assess if you are eating right in order to fuel your body to keep up with those workouts.
9. REWARD YOURSELF
Rewarding yourself as you meet your goals is a great way to stay motivated. However, you need to be careful that your rewards align with your greater goals. Don’t reward yourself for 1 month of consistently sticking to your workout routine with a big unhealthy meal. Reward yourself with things that reinforce your healthy lifestyle like getting new workout clothes, a manicure or a massage. These types of rewards support your long-term goals and help to further your progress.
10. BE KIND TO YOURSELF
It is important to remember that no one is perfect. There will be times when life gets in the way. You get sick or a family emergency happens. During those times it becomes infinitely more difficult to have workout motivation. You need to make sure that you aren’t too rigid with your routines or expectations and make sure you are flexible and give yourself grace. 
The key is not to dwell on those times when you slip-up. Acknowledge the efforts you made and use your setbacks as learning opportunities.
Keeping a positive mindset is crucial for long-term success in your workout motivation.
Consistency and progress are the things to focus on, not perfection.
Making tiny improvements and adjustments every day lead up to astounding changes over time.
Health is a long-term goal and it is a journey that will naturally have twists and turns and setbacks.
How you bounce back and learn from setbacks is what will solidify your workout motivation..
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