What To Do When You Just Don’t Wanna Workout
She doesn’t seem to be suffering from poor motivation!
First things first. Unless you’ve been hitting the gym day in and day out for weeks and truly deserve an unloading week, then you need to get over it. I know, tough love 🙂 and sure, I’m making the assumption that you want to either be leaner, fitter, faster, stronger or maybe just meaner. You probably wouldn’t be here otherwise.
So. That being said, here are my top 10 suggestions for what to do when you just don’t wanna workout.
1. Caffeine pre-workout increases strength and motivation and even helps you burn more fat. Down a short or long black and get on with it. Just don’t have it post workout (at least not until after you’ve eaten) or you’ll further elevate cortisol. Not good.
2. Get some rocking tunes happening. There’s something about Keisha (I know, I’m supposed to put some weird symbol in there) that just makes me want to move. I put on the iPod, and bam – I feel into it all of a sudden. Take some time this weekend perhaps to work on a workout playlist. You might actually start looking forward to training.
3. Java Stim is a FANTASTIC Poliquin supplement for if you don’t do coffee. Or even if you do and want more buzz 🙂 it gives you the kick without the jitters. Enough said. (My husband gets really cranky if we run out of this).
4. Enlist a friend. The great thing about training in pairs or more, aside from the handy spot, is that there will invariably days when one of you will be down, depressed, and feeling too blah to move. The other one will be up. This is a good thing; you can kick each others butts into some fat-burning work! Personal trainers have a similar benefit, although hopefully they keep their down days to themselves.
5. Join my Woman Incredible Fat Loss Workouts! They’re new, and they rock. I’ll get you moving, trust me!
6. Think about the outcome rather than the perceived pain of it. When you focus on what you DON’T want to do, you’re going to get all caught up in that. Force yourself to dwell on how you usually feel after a workout, psychologically as well as physically. Chase that feeling.
7. The 10-minute rule. You’ve heard of this before, yes? You just promise yourself you only have to do 10 minutes, and then you can stop. Yes it’s obvious. Too simple, perhaps. And it works, so therefore it’s a fabulous rule.
8. Get naked! Maybe not in public. In the mirror at home should do it. So long as there’s no Tim Tams nearby of course, ’cause it might have the opposite to desired effect 😉
9. Try something new. There’s nothing worse than being stuck in the same old same old workout routine. If you’ve been making it up as you go along, or following a stale program for weeks/months/ever, then you need to mix it up and get serious about results based training. Join a bootcamp, go to a class even, and definitely consider having a program written for you by a (good) trainer. Poliquin PTs are the best IMO 🙂
10. Set a reward. Not a food reward, although if you’re eating super clean all week you sure deserve a night off on the weekend. How ’bout a ‘new gym gear’ reward, or a massage. Maybe a book? Something! Anything!
What do you do to get motivated when you just can’t be bothered?
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