Why It's Ok You’re NOT Motivated to Exercise & What to Do About It
The alarm goes off, you hit snooze and that motivation you had to crush your goal goes right out the window. AGAIN! And, all for a little bit more sleep! But, let’s be honest. It’s totally happened to us all on more than one occasion. I’m even going to go as far as saying that it’s a completely NORMAL part of everyone’s fitness journey! When you’re not motivated to exercise, it doesn’t mean you’re lazy, it means you’re just responding to the natural highs and lows in your life. Expecting to have those times when exercising and eating well is the last thing you want to do is the best thing you can do to stay on track. So, here’s why it’s just fine to not always be motivated to exercise and what to do about it.
What Causes a Lack of Motivation to Work Out
The number one reason that people lose their initial enthusiasm to consistently put in the work is a failure to see progress!
It might be that you’ve been going to the gym for a while now, you were getting results and now they’ve slowed down. You might have been thinking that you should have already hit your target. Or, it might be the thought that missing one workout won’t REALLY make a difference in the scheme of things. And, it probably won’t. But, one usually becomes two and two often becomes a trend.
Does that sound like what might have happened to you?
The Reality of Progression
The thing about fitness is that it’s a journey, not a destination. Progress isn’t linear! Even if you never miss a workout and 100% stick to your nutrition plan, you won’t necessarily make the same gains every week.
Unfortunately, it’s unmotivating!
Putting in the hard work and not seeing it translate into results as quickly as you’d like is kinda like your body is telling you “why bother? It’s not making a difference anyway…”
But, progress can happen in leaps and bounds, halt altogether, crawl along, take a backflip and then end up sideways lying on the ground. And, it’s a great way to empower your motivation.
Long-term results are usually hidden beneath a colourful trip of highs and lows mixed with a tonne of perseverance! Worthwhile things usually don’t come easy.
But, the satisfaction you’ll feel from achieving your goals will make it 100% worth it!
What to Do When You’re Not Motivated to Exercise
The first thing I want you to do when you’re not motivated to exercise is to FORGET INSTANT GRATIFICATION!
Unfortunately, we now live in a world where we want to look good, feel good, have fun and get results NOW!
But, next time you’d prefer to do something else instead of exercise or are going to eat that doughnut because you deserve to eat whatever you want, forget now and remember the future!
Isn’t what you truly deserve to be fit and healthy? To be strong enough to do all you want to do in life? And, to have a body that’s fuelled with quality nutrition?
I know you do!
What separates the people who get results from the rest is a healthy respect for delayed gratification. Embrace the process and believe that it will be 110% worth it!
Next, forget feeling ‘motivated’! Motivation is unreliable! Instead, make exercise a habit that’s as routine as brushing your teeth and showering. Even if you don’t feel like it, you still do it, right?
How to Create a Rock-Solid Exercise Routine
- Plan your weekly exercise routine to minimise the need to think about it.
- Don’t cancel your workouts in favour of anything ‘more important’.
- Listen to how you feel on the day. If you didn’t sleep well, haven’t eaten or are really sore from yesterday’s workout, still show up! Just maybe take it at an easier than normal pace and/or spend some more time stretching to help your muscles recover.
- Notice and appreciate how great you feel after choosing to do your workout and/or eat healthy, especially when you didn’t initially feel like it!
Forming a habit that means motivation isn’t the key to your success will be enormously helpful in getting you there! If you’re finding it hard to establish a healthy routine, sign up for personal or group training. It’ll help you to form a regular routine of accountability until it’s built into your life.
If you live in the St Kilda area and would like some extra help to overcome the not motivated to exercise feeling, don’t hesitate to contact me or the team today!