Exercise is boring. I can’t find time to do it. I don’t have a gym. It’s too hard. There’s always going to be an excuse not to workout. Trust me, I’ve used them all. But over the years I’ve learned a few tips and tricks that have helped me stay motivated and actually WANT to exercise. Below are my top 12 fitness hacks that you can employ if you find yourself in an exercise rut and need some extra motivation to get you back at it:
Deck of Cards
All you need for this one is a deck of cards. Basically you just assign an exercise to each suit, for example, Hearts are squats, Clubs are push-ups, Diamonds are burpees and Spades are sit-ups. If you draw a five of Hearts, do five squats. If you draw an Ace of Spades, do 14 sit-ups, and so on. See if you can do the whole deck! Time yourself so that next time you can go even faster.
Add on: On your first day, start with 5 reps of 5 different exercsies. For example, 5 squats, 5 push-ups, 5 sit-ups, 5 jumping jacks, 5 burpees. The next day, add 5 more reps for a total of 10 reps for each exercise. Each day add 5 reps so that on the last day of the week you are doing 35 reps of each exercise. The next week start with 10 reps of each exercise and work your way up to 40, and so on.
Grab Bag
Another way to keep it interesting is to make a grab bag of exercises. Write 20 to 30 different exercises on notecards along with the amount of reps, then drop them in a bag or basket or something. They can be anything from running a mile to running up the stairs to 30 bicep curls. Commit to a certain amount of “grabs” per day, say 10/day the first week, 15/day the second, etc.
Music Pace Matching App
Are you ever listening to your music, feeling really pumped up and motivated, then all of the sudden a slow song comes on and it totally ruins your mojo? Download the app Jog.fm and it will play music from your iTunes library that matches the pace you are running. Genius.
Wear an Activity Monitor and Set Goals
(Fitbit, Nike Fuelband, Garmin, Heart Rate Monitor)
If you’re like me, seeing you’re activity in clear, measured results drives your motivation. For example, when I run I ALWAYS wear my Garmin. I like to know how long and how fast I ran. When I workout at the gym I like to know how many calories I burn so that I can set clear goals for myself during the workout, so I wear my heart rate monitor. Fitbits are all the rage now because they will not only measure your daily steps, but they can also measure distance traveled, calories burned, stairs climbed, active minutes and hours slept!
Commit to 10 Minutes
Starting a workout is the hardest part about exercising. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone to the pool to swim laps and stared at the pool not wanting to get in. Sometimes I even shorten my workouts before I start them because I’m just not feeling it that day. But without fail, after a few laps my motivation has come back and I start to enjoy the workout. So just commit to the first 10 minutes. Tell yourself that you can quit if you still aren’t feeling it after that. Nine times out of 10 you’ll want to keep going.
Caffeine
I’ve got good news for all of the caffeine attics out there, myself included. Studies have shown that coffee before exercise can not only improve your mood and alertness, it can also help burn more calories, improve your blood flow and reduce perceived muscle soreness. So if you’re feeling too sluggish and tired to workout, try sipping on some coffee or green tea to rev up your energy and enjoy the many other benefits that caffeine has to offer. Just remember to not overdo your caffeine intake and do not replace water with caffeine or you will be too dehydrated for your workout.
Tip Yourself
Another way to stay motivated is by tipping yourself every time you workout. Create a tip jar and throw in $1- $5 every time you reach your goals during a workout or just workout period. By the end of the month, you can buy your self a new outfit (let’s be honest, a new workout outfit is motivation itself!).
Use Free Equipment
Anyone that comes to my classes knows that I love to use equipment in my workouts. Parks are the best because there are always benches, picnic tables, curbs, monkey bars, etc. Equipment is just a good way to make exercises more interesting and use different muscles of the body. So next time your bored with your routine, take it to the park! Some ideas include:
- Benches/Picnic Table – incline push-ups, dips, decline push-ups, step ups
- Monkey Bars – Pull-ups, negative pull-ups, hanging knee tuck, windshield wipers
- Curb – toe taps, dips, two-footed hops, calf raises, elevated reverse lunges
- Sand – try doing anything you’d do on land in the sand and see how much harder it is!
Grab a Buddy
I know I’ve said this before in other posts but this is probably my number one hack in terms of getting yourself to exercise. It’s been proven that scheduling a workout with someone else makes it less likely that you will bail on the workout!
Crank it Up
Eventually you’ll want to add some high intensity workouts to your routine to increase your fitness level and burn more fat. This will also help you to keep from getting bored with your workouts. One high intensity workout I’m sure you’ve heard of is HIIT. Running intervals outside or on a treadmill, sprinting laps in a pool and intervals on a bike will also get you to a higher intensity workout.
Create a Mantra
It may sound cheesy but any athlete or fitness enthusiast will tell you, it works. Repeating a mantra over and over in your head while doing a tough workout or in a race can help keep negative thoughts from entering your head and making you want to quit. Some that I use are:
- I can do anything for 10 minutes (or however long my interval is).
- Be paitent, it doesn’t happen over night.
- Nobody said it was easy (sung along to the coldplay song, of course!).
I always get inspired by Bridget’s posts. She is amazing! (Ok, yes, I’m her mom. But I do think she’s amazing)
Thanks for the awesome tips and tricks!