Ten ways to motivate yourself

Finding the motivation to exercise when you’re not in the mood is tough. But it’s the difference between being a couch potato and being in good shape.

The people who motivate themselves to get their workouts done, are the ones who get results.

However, getting off the couch when you’re feeling lethargic can be very hard, so here’s some techniques you can use to give yourself a friendly nudge, and get you off to the gym. Sometimes, no matter how hard you try to motivate yourself you just can’t be bothered to workout.

On these occasions, find other ways to get active that don’t feel like a workout but still kind of are.

You can walk home from work, go for a swim, clean the house – anything that increases your heart rate and gets you a bit sweaty is better than nothing. whatever comes your way.

Create a playlist of your favourite upbeat songs and play them next time you’re feeling lethargic. Whether you compete with other people or you compete against yourself, some healthy competition really helps to motivate.

I always compete with myself. If I ran 5km in under 25 minutes last week, I’m going to beat it this week. If I lift 50kg today, I’m going to do 52kg next week.

Sometimes the best motivation to exercise is having something to train towards.

Sign up for a fun run, a 10km run or a half marathon – something you reckon you can tackle.

That way your work-out goal will be clear, and you can devise a way to work towards it while holding yourself more accountable.

This month I’m taking part in a challenge; Run 100 Miles in March. It has really motivated me to get out and do more exercise because I don’t want to fail!

Setting really ambitious goals may seem like they’ll be great motivation, but they can be really hard to stick to, and often have the opposite effect.

Instead of telling yourself you’re going to go to the gym, do an hour of cardio, then stretch, then get stuck into the weights, then go for a swim, then walk home – give yourself a more attainable goal. It could be to just complete four 10-minute HIIT workouts a week, for example.

Finding the motivation to exercise can be tough, but ultimately totally worth it in the long run.