1. Listen to music. So simple, and yet so effective! Personally I highly recommend some type of metal/hardcore and/or rap/hip-hop. Dubstep is also good. I mean listen to whatever gets you pumped and your adrenaline going, but frankly josh groben or brad paisley aren't gonna do much for you haha. And it has been proven that termites eat wood twice as fast when listening to heavy metal ;)
2. Workout with other people, or don't workout with other people. Personally I find working out with other people makes it more fun and you can constantly help push each other to new heights. Conversely though, you might be tired of having to deal with other people all day and want to get away, or you just aren’t comfortable working out with other people around. Nothing wrong with that, and in the future I'm going to post workouts that you can do at home with basically no equipment.
3. Find exercise that you enjoy. It's much easier to get a good workout when you enjoy what you're doing. Playing sports, hiking, swimming, biking, running, zumba, parkour, rock climbing, etc... Point is, get off your butt and do something! Now, I still recommend a well balanced workout schedule to keep your muscles/joints healthy and strong. But you don't have to hate every minute of exercise you get, having fun is ok too :)
4. Have other people keep you accountable, especially if you’re new to working out. Surrounding yourself with other people to yell at and/or encourage you to workout even when you don't want to is a great way to stay consistent. This also applies to eating healthy.
5. Make working out part of your lifestyle, not just something you do. If you build a consistent habit of getting exercise everyday, it will be much easier to do. The workout really hard for awhile and then stop type of lifestyle doesn’t work, and will catch up to you when you’re older.
6. Pre-workout supplements. These can be a great tool but I don't recommend it for everyone. It is way too easy to use this as a crutch, especially when first starting to workout. In fact I don't think you should use them at all unless you're going to do very intense and long workouts, such as Sealfit. Also, I wouldn't use them if you have heart problems as they cause your heart rate to elevate faster and drop slower. That being said, if you're looking for an extra push I find them very helpful and I can cruz through a 2 hr workout with no problem.
7. Set goals for yourself. If you have something to work towards you'll be less likely to slack off because you know you'll be farther away from reaching your goals. Also, a note on setting goals. I recommend having ultimate goals that you will probably never reach, because as Bruce Lee once said "A goal is not always meant to be reached, it often serves simply as something to aim at." This will help keep you from getting complacent, so you will always be trying to improve your fitness and health. However, it can be easy to get discouraged if you just look at your end goals. So I think it is also a good idea to have smaller goals (i.e. do 10 pullups in a row instead of 5 within the next 4 weeks) to help measure your progress.
If these tips still don’t help you to stay motivated, take a look at this picture. Not sure about how accurate the percentages are but I’d say they're definitely true to some extent. Just think about how much money you can save on medical bills in the future! That should be motivation enough to start consistently working out and eating healthy.
Anyhow, that was probably a bit lengthy but hopefully something I've said can help you stay motivated.....Next week I'll be posting about why exercise machines are a waste of your time, exciting right? ;)
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