4 Ways to "Motivate" Yourself to Workout After Work
I love exercise, like I genuinely love everything about working out. The sense of accomplishment you get after a session, the endorphins that rush through your system after a run, and the results you see after weeks of consistent effort. I live and breathe fitness and nutrition training, and can't stop thinking about it. That being said, I absolutely despise working out after work! It's horrible. After a long day of work, the last thing I want to do is exert effort into working out. And that's coming from an exercise obsessed person who never gets tired of working out; imagine how the average person feels. Unfortunately for most people, post-work is the only time they have to squeeze in a workout. Fortunately for you, I have cooked up four strategies to help you stay "motivated" for a workout even after a long day. BTW there's a reason why motivated is in quotation marks; scroll to the bottom of this text for a mini-rant.
1.Accountability Partner
Having someone waiting for you at the gym/park/video chat will make it much harder to cancel your post-work workout. Your accountability partner should be someone you enjoy spending time with, like a friend, family member, or partner. Ideally, you and your accountability partner have similar goals so that once you start seeing results, you can hype each other up and further develop the incentive to stay consistent. Focus on accountability rather than competition: it is not about who loses the most weight or who gains the most muscle. It's about showing up and being a good friend and motivator for your workout partner.
2.Financial commitment
Hire a personal trainer or an online coach. I guarantee you will show up to your workout when the penalty for not showing up is 90+ dollars.
3.Habit Tracking
Record your accomplishments the old fashioned way and use the dopamine hit you get from checking a square to get your workouts done. The first step is to create a habit journal: it can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. The journal's primary purpose is for you to physically check the box that represents your workout, making you conditioned to keep up your checkmark streak. Don't obsess over it. You can miss two days in a row, but don't go three in a row. Here's a simple habit tracker you can copy (Link), do not print this out. I want you actually to draw the grids and the habits in yourself; writing it downs makes you commit to the habits. Be sure to keep it on your fridge or somewhere in your home where you can always see it.
4.Netflix/podcast/ audiobook/entertainment
Listen to a podcast or audiobook when you are working out. It's a great way to educate and or entertain yourself. I'll usually listen to Freakonomics or planet money during workouts; these are podcasts on subjects I know nothing about, which helps me forget about the resistance I feel towards working out after a long day. If you work out at home, pop on some Netflix, and binge away while you work out, I call it "Netflix and pump."
Milad, why did you put motivation inside quotation marks?
I'll tell you why its because sometimes there is NOTHING that will motivate you to workout. No amount of meditation, or detox tea, or journals, or money will motivate you to exercise, and when that happens, you just have to show up and start the workout. I guarantee you that after 10 minutes of moving, you will feel 50% better than before you started. That's it, no shiny or fresh advice, sometimes you have to start the workout without being motivated. Imagine how good you'll feel on the other side of the workout tunnel and use that as a spark to get you going.