8 Tips To Regain Your Lost Motivation And Love Your Workouts!

Raise your hand if you get bored with your workouts every now and again. Yup. It happens. It may even be hard to come to terms with this fact because you LOVE working out. You LOVE going to the gym and sweating and working hard and lifting heavy, doing yoga or whatever it is that you do.

The truth is, we are human! There are going to be times in your life and times throughout the year where you just don’t have that desire or pull to do your workout. I am a true believer in doing things that excite and challenge you when it comes to your workouts. They should invigorate you, motivate you and keep you excited for the next session.

I’ll admit it. There are times I’m lacking something; maybe its inspiration or fun or challenge or something NEW. Its not necessarily that I want my body to change; its that I want to be PSYCHED to exercise and I just am not in the moment. The trick with loss of motivation and excitement with you workouts is that you have to realize that this is something that is easily fixable! I sometimes get that fear of ‘omg, I’m not inspired and I will never workout again ahhh” as if I would fall completely off the wagon. The thing with that thinking is that I know that will NEVER be me. My body is so happy when it moves. I just have to find out what will really spark my interest this time around. Here are some of my favorite tips for regaining that lost motivation. Take a look and try out 1,2 or all of them to see what new inspiration you uncover!

Incorporate New Tools/Classes/Equipment into your workout

I have gone through such phases with my own workouts and I love to bring these to my clients because I never know what will really get them to say “I LOVED this, Naomi” There are some really fun and different tools that you can try if you have available to you like:

• TRX or other suspension trainer
• Sled/prowler
• Sandbag/sand balls
• Kettlebells
• Gliders

Simply incorporating new tools into your program may really spike your interest and get you to learn more about it. You never know what your body will respond to and how much your training can change by just trying something new.

Kettlebell Swings

 

Slider Lateral Lunges

Full Body Workout

Try POSITIVE Thinking

You may be rolling your eyes at this one, but changing your outlook can be as easy as flipping a switch. Its the difference between I HAVE to exercise and I GET to exercise. Realize that your abilities are a gift. You are able to push yourself. You are able to get out of bed and engage in something that makes your body feel amazing. There are so many people who don’t have this luxury for a number of different reasons and wish everyday that they could do something as simple as go for a jog. Your lost motivation may just be due to the fact that you are hard on yourself. You aren’t getting in enough milage, you aren’t lifting enough weight, you aren’t able to get through your whole workout. Once you stop beating yourself up and recognizing the amazing things that you are doing to reach your goals, your mind, outlook, energy and workouts will change as well.

Set a Goal.

I am a HUGE advocate of this. It may be a reason why I competed in 5 shows over the course of two and a half years. I LOVE having something to look forward to and to push myself toward. If you aren’t sure what goal you want to achieve, I encourage you to sit and make a list of everything that you enjoy when it comes to physical activity.

It doesn’t have to be complicated.

It doesn’t have to be expensive.

It doesn’t need to be fancy.

It doesn’t need to be far away.

It doesn’t even need to be competitive. It can be something for you.

Sign up for a race, fitness competition, enter a transformation challenge, take those jeans out that you want to fit into. Find SOMETHING that makes you so motivated to get out of your bed every morning.

Talk to Someone Who Did It.

Network. Life is so much about the interactions we make every single day. I love the days that I have a conversation with a new member at the gym or co-trainer that I normally don’t chat with to see what they’re all about. I tend to be a very open person because I love hearing other peoples stories. Most of the time there is some connection that brings us together and if not, it is so interesting to me to learn about something new. I get so inspired daily by the stories that I hear from clients.

I remember before I started competing, there was a girl at my gym who I KNEW was training for a show. She had her CSF bag and always came in, so regimented and focused. One day, I went up and struck up a conversation with her about what she was doing for her workouts. She began to tell me she was training for her first bikini competition and told me all about Cathy Savage Fitness. It was there that I was inspired like I never had been before to sign up. I literally went home that night and signed up for the program, knowing I would too be competing in my first bikini show in the near future.

All I can suggest is to not be afraid at all. Don’t hold back. Most people want to talk about what they do, especially if its something they are passionate about. They want others to love what they love.

Surround Yourself With Like Minded People

There was an indescribable feeling the very first time I walked into my first Exercise Physiology class in College. I was seated in a class, within a major that I CHOSE. Every student in that room had a purpose for being there. It wasn’t a general education class like art history or Anthropology that I was forced to take to fill requirements but rather a class that I wanted to take to further my studies in a field that I was so passionate about. I always felt a sense of calm when I was surrounded by my classmates knowing that they wanted to be there just as much as me. They asked questions, engaged, participated and worked together. It motivated, inspired and started a fire of passion within me.

I got that same feeling the second I walked into the CSF studios back in 2011. I was so nervous, I sat in my car for 10 minutes before getting out. When I walked into that studio and saw the amazingly fit, beautiful and powerful women, all whom had a passion for the competitive sport, leading a healthy lifestyle and fueling right, I knew I was at home. 

The motivation you may just be seeking could be as simple as surrounding yourself with more of those like minded people. If you are training for a race, sign up for free runs at your local gym or sports store. Talk to as many people as you can because you never know if they have that same passion you do! If you love yoga, you KNOW how good it feels to meet someone who also loves practicing. If you make a date with a friend to take a class or workout together, you KNOW you will always show up. 

If you’re looking where to find these ‘like minded people’ just take a look at your gym, your first 5K, the health foods store, the farmers market, free fitness events in your city, in Spinning class and just about any place where fit and healthy people tend to frequent to support their lifestyles-even healthy restaurants! 

Take a Break

Its hard to REST. I know. Mentally, this is the hardest thing for me to do. Tell me to NOT workout? Whhhattttt. But yes. It works and it is SO needed. When we workout, we are constantly putting our bodies in a stressed state. Some may be experiencing overtraining without even knowing. 

Extra fatigued? 

Unmotivated? 

Restless? 

Hard to focus? 

Step away from the gym to clear your mind. If doing that is truly not something that you can do, try taking walks outside or resorting to vinyasa yoga. Try something NEW besides exerting the body to its max. 

Another way that you can take a bit of a break without taking a FULL break is to just decrease the frequency of your sessions; workout less. If you are used to a 5 day body part split, try out a 2 day full body workout and during those two days that you are NOT lifting, go for a walk, work on some mobility or spend some time foam rolling.

Shorten Your Workouts but Increase the Intensity

There is no better feeling knowing I worked my butt off twice as much as someone in half the time. The higher intensity, shorter duration workouts have their time and place in any workout program. During exercise we burn both carbohydrates and fat but depending on the type, duration and intensity we burn different amounts of both. When workouts are short but intense, this creates more of a fat burning enviornment meaning its a win win for fat loss! Another benefit to shortening your workouts is that you will NOT be bored. 1 type of workout I personally love is creating a timed circuit. I dont have any time to look at my texts or check instagram. I set up my timer, leave it in front of me, throw my headphones in and work my butt off. I don’t touch my phone unless I need to take a breather or grab water. Other than that, there are no distractions, I am done in 20-30 minutes and I am off to the rest of my day.

Another benefit to more metabolic styles of training is that you will increase your cardio capacity and improved hormone profile. If you were to engage in more metabolic styles of training for a couple times a week, this will elecit a greater hormonal response and will promote a greater amount of lipolysis (fat loss hormone’)

****FULL BODY BLAST***

• Set a timer for 50 sec work/10 seconds rest.
• Repeat the following circuit 5x through

EXERCISE	WEIGHTS
Thruster with two KB or DB	10-25 lbs
KB swings	12-20 kg
Burpee with shoulder tap at bottom	NA
Renegade Row to double KB clean (or just Renegade row)	10kg-14kg KB or 10-20lb DB

****BODYWEIGHT BLAST****

Set a timer for 45 sec work/15 seconds rest.

Repeat the circuit of 10 exercises 2x or 3x through.

EXERCISE
Burpee with push up at bottom	Side plank dips (left)
Narrow and wide squats	Side plank dips (right)
Suitcase sit ups	High plank jacks
Reverse lunge with hop (left)	4 high knees/4 mountain climbers
Reverse lunge with hop (right)	RKC plank hold

Be YOUR Best

Whatever it is that you are doing and that you enjoy doing, stop trying to be perfect and compare yourself to anyone else.  I always hated seeing women at the gym able to do things that I couldn’t do. They looked better, seemed happier, had a better workout, had their shit together more than me. Why did I ever think this way? I had no idea what was going on with them. I judged both them and myself. Then, after a while, I began to be more comfortable in my own skin than I ever had before. it took me years to be OK with skipping a workout or not necessarily having a plan or trying a new class that I would always sit and judge. Life is about trying everything that is thrown in front of you. I no longer wanted to live in a cookie cutter. I wanted to have new and crazy goals, workout with new friends, try new equipment and just be my best self. 

Stop looking at Instagram models and people you wish you were.

Stop thinking you wish you could have her abs. And her butt. And her arms. 

Stop the self hate and start the self love.

 

 

I hope you enjoyed these tips. NOW….go kill it

 

xoxo

Naomi