I’ve been struggling a bit with my motivation to exercise. I was training at an extremely high level with loads of confidence before I got injured. My running and endurance were perhaps the best they had ever been and I had just completed a half marathon in a personal best time. While I cut back my running miles right after the race, I was increasing mileage on the bike and I was putting in a lot of work in the weight room. Once I was able to return to regular activity, I felt good about the work I was putting in, regaining a lot of what I lost during the 2 plus months off.
Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve lost a bit of my MOJO. I’ve been working out perhaps 3-4 days per week, but even that has been a struggle. I was sick for about 5 days and that certainly didn’t help with my motivation. I can certainly chalk up some of my lost motivation to simply losing momentum after the injury and being under the weather, but, as I am physically able to do most anything, I’ve just found myself in a funk.
The good news is that this can happen to the highest performing athletes as easily as it can happen to beginners. And there are numerous ways to get your MOJO back. The bad news? It’s going to take some work. As Ted Lasso says, you need to be a goldfish.
All of the recommendations assume that there is nothing physically wrong. Obviously, if you’re healing from injury or recovering from sickness, your body is going to need time. But if you’re experiencing, or have experienced motivation issues, read on for tricks to get back on track.
Revisit your goals - Keeping your goals top of mind can help you power through a case of the blahs. When I’m not training for a race or something similar, I stay active to stay healthy. I try to keep this top of mind, especially when I’m not feeling my best.
Change your approach - I’ve written at length about building exercise into your schedule each day (or for each day you intend to workout), slotting in the amount of time that fits with your work and personal life. This approach is a declaration of sorts that you intend to workout on a given day. For me, intent has never been a problem. It’s been the execution and follow through. I’ve found that it can be easier to talk myself out of an evening workout after a long day than if I just did the workout first thing in the morning. As I vowed to get back on track this week, I’ve made it a point to schedule my exercise earlier in the day and so far, I’ve stayed on track, for this week anyway.
Shift Your Mindset - you can literally talk yourself into our or of just about anything. And if you’re experiencing issues with motivation, it’s likely that you’re talking yourself out of exercising more often than not. Here’s a recent conversation I had with myself.
Self - You really need to get a workout in today.
Turns to wife - what time are you going to work out today? Wife - going to do it later.
Self - okay, sounds good.
Self - It’s later, but the Cowboys game is on (which, by the way, I should have skipped!). Maybe get in a quick one after the game..
Self - I’m annoyed the Cowboys lost. Let’s get back on track tomorrow.
Of course, the game provided the excuse. Had they won, I probably would have told myself to take the day off anyway. My mind was effectively made up and it was easy to talk myself out of exercising. In these situations, as difficult as it can be, you have to try to replace negative thoughts with positive ones. Some real life examples of what I try to tell myself to stay on track include the following:
It’s X minutes of your life.
Step away from the television.
Working out is a privilege.
You know you feel so much better after you’re exercised.
Just get in 10 minutes of core work.
You don’t have to go all out!
Just slow down if you’re struggling.
You get the point. Frankly, there wasn’t anything I was going to say that day that was going to get me to hit the weights or ride the bike, but I did vow to turn it around and so far, I’ve stuck to it.
Get a Workout Buddy - As I previously illustrated, you can talk yourself out of just about anything. That’s why it can help to find a workout partner who can help keep you accountable to your goals. I find that working out with a partner ensures that we both stay on track AND ensures that we both get in a great workout. As I was coming back from my injury, I frequently would ask my wife to workout, which was a game changer for me. I mean, the last person that I want to slack in front of is my wife and she has proven to be a great motivator.
It’s not all or nothing - I am a huge proponent of breaking up workouts into 5, 10, 15, 20, or 30 minute segments. Now of course, if I’m planning to bike 20 miles or run for anything longer than 4 miles, this isn’t possible. But if you break up your daily workouts into sections, it can ensure that if you can’t get to everything, you can at least get something done. Here is my workout from today, which is a perfect example of why I find it beneficial to break things up.
Strength - Arms and Shoulders for 10 minutes
Strength - Core for 5 minutes
Bike - Climb Ride for 20 minutes
Bike - 15 minute 90’s ride
I completed my strength workout without interruption. About 8 minutes into my climb ride, my screen froze for about a minute due to an interruption in my WiFi network and then, about three quarters of the way through my 15 minute ride, a circuit tripped. Thankfully, these things don’t happen frequently, but had I been in the middle of an hour long workout, I would have been quite upset. But this approach ensured that I got almost all of my work in. Additionally, if you prioritize the exercise in addition to breaking up your workout, you will ensure that you accomplish what you set out to do, even if something comes up that prevents you from completing the workout. You can always return to it later, time permitting.
Don’t Sweat Missing a Day - It’s fine to miss a day here and there. The trouble starts when one day turns into several. A few years ago around the holidays, I just stopped working out. It likely started as a few days of rest that ultimately turned into 2 months. Even if it means fitting 5 or 10 minutes of something, just to keep the consistency and momentum going, do that. I find that once I’m dressed and on the bike or running, a planned shorter workout usually turns into something more substantional.
When all else fails, will yourself - You’ve done the work before. Sometimes it’s just a matter of fighting through the negative feelings and willing yourself to exercise. A 5 minute walk or core workout can be just enough to kickstart your workout routine again.
If you’ve experienced motivation issues and have some additional tips and tricks, please feel free to share them in the comments. Until next week, happy exercising!