4 WAYS TO STAY MOTIVATED TO EXERCISE

If your motivation to exercise during the pandemic is as elusive as flour and antibacterial wipes, that’s not surprising — and you’re not alone. “It’s totally fine and totally normal to have your motivation wane,” says Steve Magness, a Houstonbased running coach who has seen athletes at all levels lose initiative as the pandemic wears on.

Here’s why you may be feeling this way and what you can do about it.

1. Be kind to yourself

First, don’t beat yourself up or attempt to power through if your drive is low right now.“Give yourself time to get through almost what I call the grieving moment,” Magness says. He says it’s important to allow yourself to “wallow” or do “whatever you need to do.”

Magness says staying home has been especially challenging for his clients with young children. Instead of struggling to squeeze in challenging workouts, they’re going for walks with their kids “and maybe doing a few random exercises”— which he says is absolutely fine.

Jennifer Harrison, a Chicago-area triathlon coach, agrees. She says if you can’t muster the energy to work out for a day or even a week,“Give yourself some grace.”

Harrison says that“the most important thing is continuing to move,” even if it’s only a 20-minute walk.

2. Set new goals

With our lives upended, many of our pre-coronavirus fitness goals no longer make sense. If that’s your situation, select a new goal that accounts for your circumstances and priorities. The more meaningful your target, Magness says, the more committed you’ll be to it, so choose wisely.

Right now, he’s encouraging his athletes to focus on outcomes that are unrelated to performance. Before the coronavirus, his workouts served to prepare him for racing; now the goal is time to himself and a welcome escape from Zoom calls.

3. Stay accountable

Once you select a goal, being accountable, even if only to yourself, can help you achieve it. Harrison suggests keeping a simple chart on your phone or your fridge where you can check a box for every day you work out.

Friends and family members can also help you stay on track.

Since the coronavirus took hold, Harrison has been offering free group challenges each month that are open to anyone. May’s participants earn points for doing 15 minutes of yoga, completing a bike or run workout without music.

4. Look forward

If you’re feeling too tired to exercise, Julie Emmerman, a sports psychologist in Colorado, suggests focusing not on how low you feel now but on how energized you’ll be when you’re done, or how you might feel if you skip it.“A body at rest wants to stay at rest, and a body in movement wants to stay moving,” she says. Changing clothes and starting can be the biggest hurdles.

The promise of a post-workout treat can also entice you to lace up your tennis shoes, Emmerman says. A reward might be a dessert or a meal you’ve been looking forward to or anything else you enjoy, such as a show, a hot bath or a scented candle.

Finally, it’s important to stay optimistic, Harrison says. Believing the future will bring races, events and workouts among friends is vital. “Hope is not a plan and hope is not a strategy,”she says,“but it sure as heck is a motivating factor for people.”

PEXELS