Can’t Get Motivated to Exercise?

January 3rd, 2013

I have many patients tell me they know they need to get more exercise, but can’t get motivated to do it.  As the New Year has just begun, this is a great time to start new healthy habits and keep them!  Here are some tips to keep the momentum going.

• Workout with a friend, your partner, or your kids.  You get the benefit of spending quality time together and burn calories together.  This also makes you accountable to someone else.  Its easy to make excuses for yourself, but hard when you have to make excuses to another person.
• Tell yourself “just 10 minutes”:  A workout does not need to be an hour long to be effective.  We all find ourselves between obligations like work and dinner with less than an hour, and it is easy to make an excuse that the time would not be enough for a decent workout.  I believe that “every bit counts” no matter how short the exercise time.  You will be surprised how much exercise you can do in 10 minutes!
• If you are feeling tired, exercise may be the last thing on your mind.  Don’t let that be an excuse.  In fact, you will feel more energized after a workout.  If you need a boost, drink a cup of green tea, listen to a motivational song (create a playlist on your iTunes for just those moments), or splash your face with cold water to get your energy level up.
• Cold weather doesn’t mean you cannot get exercise.  Just because you usually run outdoors, and you don’t have a treadmill at home does not mean you can’t burn fat.  Crunches, push-ups, sit-ups, step aerobics, and yoga can all be done in your living room.
• During your lunch break, find a stairwell in your office and walk up and down for thirty minutes.
• Update your workout gear.  A new set of sneakers or perhaps bluetooth headphones will get your running.
• Keep a gym bag by the door with all your workout clothes and sneakers.  This will make it even more convenient for you to go to the gym.
• Download workout apps.  There are tons of apps that can track your run, workout, and challenge you to do more.  Some even allow you to compete against other users.

There is a law in physics that a body at rest tends to stay at rest and that a body in motion tends to stay in motion. This is certainly true with the human body.  So keep moving!