How To Get UN-Stuck With Your Exercise Routine

It’s no secret; sometimes (okay, maybe A LOT of the time), mustering the motivation to get your workout done can feel like a Herculean effort. Be it the busy life you lead, the endless amount of distractions, or the fact that willpower is a muscle that tends to feel its weakest when exercise is on the table, we get you. This week we’ve got a quick post aimed at specifically helping you address how to get out of your rut and back into your routine so you can get back to beast mode in no time.

Motivation is the RESULT of discipline. Often times, we feel like failures if we can’t get motivated to exercise. We think that something must be wrong, or that exercise just isn’t for us, or that somewhere along the line we just weren’t blessed with magical exercise willpower abilities. The problem lies in the equation. Most people think in terms of motivation = discipline. Now, let’s spin that around and put discipline first. Even though you don’t want to do it, you get up and make it happen, however begrudgingly. Slowly over time, you start to notice positive changes physically and mentally, and you’ve created a new routine.

The results pump you up and you want to keep up this new habit, which motivates you to keep going! But notice how the motivation comes after? Discipline and habit creation are what lead to intrinsic motivation, not the other way around. You’ve got to get a little uncomfortable first, like an awkward first date (or two) that later becomes the love of your life. DISCIPLINE is what gets you started and MOTIVATION is what keeps you going. We know, totally backward right? But if you’ve been doing things the other way around and it hasn’t been working, give our equation a try; we have a feeling you’ll love the results! So, lace up those sneakers and make your workout happen – eye boogers, eye rolls and why-am-I-up-at-the-butt-crack-of-dawn thoughts and all.

Something is better than nothing. We couldn’t have a blog post about motivation without throwing in one of our favorite cliches. For the record, we wholeheartedly believe in this one. Seriously. We’d rather you get 10 minutes of movement instead of ZERO. The next time you’re struggling to talk yourself IN to a workout, promise that you’ll just do the first 10 minutes and assess how you feel after that. Chances are, you’ll want to keep going – and if not? Good on you for getting ten minutes in! Use the compound effect to your advantage and slowly build over time until you’re a bonafide 45-60 minute workout superstar. It’s in the cards for you, we feel it ?

Get on the boutique fitness train. We know, we know. A boutique wellness studio advising you to join a boutique wellness studio!? No, but really … the entire concept for our studio was to offer stellar service and create a community of people that encourage, motivate and uplift. Could we have opened a big box gym? Sure. But we wouldn’t be able to achieve the fit family we have and to really get to know everyone on a deeper level. Having a smaller community to keep you focused on your goals has proven benefits in the long term motivation department. You also get access to top-of-the-line wellness professionals who dedicate their life to improving the health of their community. The best part? We know you’ll make a friend (or two) on a similar journey who can be your accountability buddy!

Reward yourself. Set fitness milestones and increase your confidence with every improvement! You can track things like:

Time to complete a workout
Number of reps improved over time
Overall strength, performance, and agility
Number of classes attended in a month
Number of calories burned per class
MEPS achieved in a given month (we offer heart rate training at the studio)

Then once you’ve achieved the milestones you set for yourself, think about small but impactful things that signify your progress. Could be a new workout outfit or shoes, a great book you’ve been meaning to read, tickets to an awesome show in your local community … so many ways to reward yourself! This creates a healthy habit loop: make progress on your wellness journey, reward yourself with something meaningful, repeat!

Write your manifesto. When the going gets tough, it’s hard to keep sight of what your journey really means to you, and what keeps you going when the honeymoon period has lapsed. An exercise that’s proved especially helpful for our clients is to write out their “why”. Consider things like:

What does this journey mean to you?
How do you feel when you practice healthy habits versus when you don’t?
How does your overall wellbeing improve when you exercise consistently?
What are your main stumbling blocks with exercise, and how can you overcome them?
What are some excuses you’ve made in the past, and how can you overcome them?
What would your future self-say once they’ve achieved their goals, to you right now?

Being mindful about your intentions with exercise sets the stage for a healthy habit that sticks!

Have additional strategies that have worked for you? Share them with us in the comments!

Talk Soon,

Sham & Christina
Inspired Wellness

About Inspired Wellness
We are a wellness movement aimed at cultivating greatness in all areas of life. We believe that everything is connected and that having the body of your dreams shouldn’t come at the price of your mental and emotional health. You CAN have it all; you just need some determination, grit and the desire to truly change your life!

Catch us locally in sunny Sacramento CA inspiring lives at our wellness center with fitness, nutrition and lifestyle programs, or online doing the same thing with our new online training site + community coming soon!

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