3 Ways to Motivate Yourself

People always ask me how do I motivate myself to work out, especially after a long day. It can be a tricky and difficult thing to do when you feel tired. Fortunately, exercise is shown to help boost energy, stimulate endorphins, and help you sleep better. So how do you motivate yourself to get to the gym when you don't feel like it. Try these 3 easy steps.

1. Small Steps Are Best

Whenever you don't feel like exercising, break it down into smaller steps. That way, getting from A to B seems much more obtainable. For example, tell yourself, "I'm just going to put my gym shoes on." From there, tell yourself to just stand on the treadmill. Now tell yourself your going to turn it on.....and so on and so forth. Each small step brings you a bit closer to exercising. Soon you forget that you were unmotivated because you will be focused on the small steps.

2. Get Your Tunes On

Research shows that people who exercise with music are more likely to exercise longer and harder. Try picking music with a fast tempo or beat. You want something that is at least a 140 beats per minute (bpm). Your body will develop a rhythum with the beat, and before you know it, you will be working out hard. Not sure where to get some good beats? Check out Songza's playlist for working out.

3. Start With 10 Minutes

If you tell yourself you are only going to workout for 10 minutes (after you have motivated yourself to at least stand on that treadmill) more often than not, you will end up going longer. After that first 10 minutes, your blood will be pumping, your endorphins will be flowing, and you will be more into the exercise. It will be easy to extend that work a little bit longer!