Who hasn’t told themselves, “I’m getting up early tomorrow and exercising!” to only fall short over and over again? Motivation is difficult, especially when it comes to exercising because it requires motivation and some dedication. But after decades of experience with winning and losing myself, I’ve figured 5 ways to trick yourself into exercising more often.
Set a simple goal.
I do this all of the time. Tell yourself that you’re just going to go for a walk around the neighborhood to get your body out of the door. Once you start walking, you’ll feel rejuvenated, breathing in the fresh air and increasing your endorphins, you probably will want to keep going and before you know it may get a couple miles in. Or tell yourself that you’re just going to do the first section of a workout DVD, that way you’ll ease into it and potentially do even more, and if not, at least you did something, right?
Make plans with a friend.
Committing to go for a jog or to the gym with a friend will give you less opportunity to bail on yourself, or your friend for that matter. Making plans to do some form of exercise with someone you enjoy spending time with each week and scheduling it on your calendar, will no doubt trick you into working out more often. And maybe you’ll love the time away and how you feel afterwards so much so that you’ll keep it going?
Lay out workout clothes each night.
This is one of my tricks to exercising more often. I deliberately lay out my workout clothes on my bedside table each night so that when I get up it’s the first thing that I put on. Once you’re in your exercise clothes you’ll get in the mood, creating a much better chance that you’re actually going to exercise. The last thing you’ll want to do is take them off without exercising because that won’t help your confidence on any level. Try this, it works!
Crank up your favorite tunes.
Let’s face it, when we hear our favorite dance music, we’re going to move our bodies and there’s truly no better exercise than dancing. Crank up the tunes and get the whole family moving or put in your earbuds and create your own dance floor wherever you might be. You’ll be surprised that something as simple as putting on music will trick you into exercising so do this often.
Do a 5-minute workout.
Motivation can be tough for everybody, especially for busy women. Whether it’s a DVD with a 5-10 minute workout option, or doing the best 5-minute busy woman workout made up of a collection of traditional exercises that you can do anywhere, tell yourself a few minutes is always better than nothing. But just like the ‘set a simple goal’ trick above, once you get started, it will feel so good, you probably won’t stop.
