How do you stay motivated to workout?

I find it challenging to keep myself motivated to go to the gym and I only live one minute from it. I workout really hard for a whole month, then I just get burned out and go back to my old habits -gaining back all the weight I had lost. I was wondering what you do to keep you on track of your goals of working out? I want to be healthy for my children and be able to live a long healthy life. I wish I had more people around me who liked to workout to help motivate myself to exercise. Do you find it easier or harder to workout out with another person?

I do mostly work-outs I enjoy doing.
I’ve always chosen my gyms because they were pleasant places : good atmosphere, nice sundeck, jacuzzy, pleasant dressing rooms nicer than my own bathroom… then the equipment and classes, but well, they all have that. Because I know that I need to think : “Now I want to finish work quickly and be at the gym… I want to make my hair with their super-hairdryer…” and not “Fff… getting out in the rain to go to that sweat stinking dirty garage they call a gym, let’s be courageous… oh tomorrow, the courage…”.
Of course, when I’m there it is to exercise. But seeing others doing it makes me want to join.
These days, I train mostly at home. So I come here to see others exercising…

Then I take activities I really love doing.
Recently, on this board, I’ve tried to give myself more concrete goals and challenges. My current goals are about running a half-marathon, and getting to the next level at yoga. That works very well… for exercising. Oh, i’m not yet at the half-marathon, but so far I have done twice more running and running preparation than I would without that project. I’ve also researched, read book about it. The more interest you get, the more you want to do it.
I don’t do it “with another person”, but I surely discussed it with many other people doing the same thing. Yes, that helps.

I think having and setting goals is important to keep you motivated, but more than that I think it needs to become a ritual – something that is just part of your regular routine, like brushing and flossing or going to work every morning. When I am most successful at it, it’s just a habit, something I do…usually as a result of me having a pretty set schedule and plan for each day. I am trying to work it into my work schedule and that’s where I have had trouble – I travel a lot for work, and tend to get off of any kind of regular routine while travelling. So now I’m normalizing how I travel a bit so I can have a routine around that aspect too.

I guess you need to set up some more defined goal for yourself.
If you workout just because you need too, I guess you’ll end up bored because there is no precise reason to do so.

I mean being healthy is a goal, but maybe not precise enough. I know people who work out every day without a defined goal and they do it every day and been doing it for years with no precise reason. I know I can’t and it seems to be the same with you.

I think you should define a goal big enough so you don’t get to it to soon and big enough that you have to work hard to get to it and you have no other choices. But not too big so it’s not out of reach.

For my self, as I started working out when I was 210lbs (I’m 5’7) with 32% of bodyfat, I figured out very fast that without a precise goal, I would drop pretty soon. So I defined I goal for myself and that was finishing an Ironman (triathlon with 2.4 mile swin, 112 mile bike and 26.2 mile run). So it was something almost impossible to even think of at that time since I wasn’t able to run more than 4 miles. But it was such a huge goal, that I had no choice than run, bike and swim every day. And add itensity all the time, add lenght all the time to get ready for my Ironman. 18 months later I was on the finish line. In the process I had lost 70lbs and was down to 12% of bodyfat.

Of course along the way , I set up smaller goals so I was able to keep track of my progress and know where I was going on shorter terms.

I was afraid that once I got to this goal, I wouldn’t know what to do next. So now my goal is to qualify for the Hawaii Ironman where only the top 5 to top 10 of each age group can qualify. This is a huge goal, because it seems impossible. But so did finishing an Ironman was when I first started. So now I need to work out even more to get to this goal.

The thing is that, Idon’t know why or how, but this goal is something I wake up for every day. I think about it all the time, so it is not something I might do someday, it is something I must do. So anything I need to do to do it, is something I must do.

I’m not sure that’s how everybody works but it is how it worked and works for me. The bigger the goal, the most I need to work out for it. You probably can’t finish an Ironman if you don’t work out 15 to 20 hours a week, so I have no choice.
When I wake up (most of the time around 4:30am to give me enough time for my workouts), I don’t have a choice, I know that I have to get out, run or bike, because if I don’t I won’t qualify for Hawaii. So in my mind, it’s not something I’d like to do, it’s something I must do, no matter how cold it is outside, if it’s raining or snowing.

And to answer you’re quesiton about doing it with another person, I always workout alone. From time to time I run or ride with a friend of mine. It’s a welcome change from my daily training, especially that it is usually less hard than when I train by myself. So it’s more like a “leisure” workout than an actual training.
The problem when training with someone else, is that it will always (or at least very often) be someone with a different fitness level than yours. So if your partner can’t follow, it’s not fun for you because you need to slow down and yo udon’t get the workout you want. If you can’t follow your partner, then you have to work too hard or you have to have your partner slow down, which can make you uneasy because you might be ruining your partner’s workout…
It’s true with running and biking (outside at least), but it could work with weight training since every one can lift the weight he wants without bothering the other. Same on a treadmill or on a steady bike, since you’ll still be next to each other, no matter what each other speed will be…

Hope this helps a bit… but in any case don’t let yourself down. You started working out, that a incredibly wonderful thing you did. Please don’t give up!

This is something that I dtruggle with on occassion, but as Iron dave said goals are really the best way to keep yourself from getting bored with a workout! The workouts I used to do had no progression in them and I felt like it was entirely useless. So I created a workout where every 2 weeks I am always increasing weight. It may not always be for every lift, but if your able to increase in some areas, then other areas will increase soon enough. Also my wife has no love for the gym, although I could live there. I had here on a weights program for a while, but it didn’t help her complete her goal. So I made a cardio intense weights program. Much more fun and not just boring, old weights 4 days a week with some cardio. So changing up your workout and get someone to go with you if you can! another person lifting with you always helps you stay consistent!

I have a “before” picture that is highly motivating. All I do when I think about missing too many workouts is look at it . . . then off to the gym I go.

But as others have said . . . write some goals down and those can be great motivators. Also, periodic measurements and progress pictures are a great way to keep encouraged. You want to see the improvements and don’t want to take backward steps. If you have visual keys to that, it’s very motivating.

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Nothing more rewarding than highlighting the new bod with some new clothes.

I do group fitness at my local gym. I loath being on in the cardio pit on the “dreadmill;” I feel like a hamster on a wheel. So, I go to class where people are expecting me and will ask me where have I been if they haven’t seen me in a while. I also go to classes with really motivating instructors who push me when I need to be pushed and make me want to work harder. Last, I make working out part of my day. I keep my gym bag in the car and I go there before I go home from work. I know that if I go home first, I’m not going to the gym.

Try regulating your workouts — set a schedule. The roller coaster plan isn’t going to be as healthy as just exercising regularly.

I go to a gym, and yes, all winter ran on a treadmill. Each time I was done I thought to myself how awesome it was to be able to go running and how great it felt. All true but I also find the treadmill boring and would rather be outside — except it is pitch black and freezing!

Think positive thoughts when you workout and you’ll find you remember that you enjoyed the time more.

What works for me (although this week having been working out much, partly because I’ve been sick):

My gym is where I work, (I work at a uni and go to the campus gym), make sure I go before I go home, because I know once I get home I won’t want to go out.
Sign up for things like boot camp, personal training … I will make the effort to go if it’s not just me and the gym, but there are other people involved.

I also try to keep thinking of new things to motivate me.

This is a completely vain motivational reason, but I’m going to the US and England in July (I’m an Aussie and have never been further than Japan), and as silly as it sounds, I don’t want to look fat in holiday pictures! Would love to be able to feel confident wearing a swimsuit on an LA beach.

when I first joined DB and started working out I was concerned I wouldn’t stay motivated what I find is as I start to see and feel results that is what keeps me going which really surprised me, the power of results and the over all “feeling” I get after a good workout works wonders, no scales or tapes needed…although I will check those periodically to confirm my results….

Become very vain. At least within the context of improving your body. Once you get to a point where you feel fit there’s a bit of pressure from the world at large that doesn’t work out to forgo on wearing clothes that show off your trim body. But that’s the fringe benefits of working out. Not having to wear baggy clothes or cover up so much. The primary benefits are health and stamina IMO. That’s all the motivation I need.

One method I’ve used when I really just don’t wanna go, is to tell myself I must go but only do a little. Just go and lift a fiew light weights (or what ever you like to do), nothing really exhausting. Then usually I still end up doing the whole routine, which always in retrospect makes me feel really good about myself.

Yet on long term, goals and routine is the best way, as almost everyone earlier in this thread mentioned. Make it obligatory to go to gym, yet make it easy for yourself. Like kathboo2010, on the way from work go to the gym. That way you don’t have to separately decide to go to the gym. You just drive there and workout. Also friends/gym buddies are great to motivate, you can’t break a promise to a friend as easily as you can break your own promise to yourself.

Just remember, workout should be fun!

Returning to old ways will probably be my motivation. Right now it’s wanting to lose this weight. I can’t speak from a fit person’s POV because I’ve never been there. I imagine though for people who do lose a significant amount of weight that their primary motivation is just not wanting to return to the old ways.

For people that are naturally more fit than others…well…watch the biggest loser or something, picture yourself in their position, and don’t let yourself get that way. I would think that would be enough motivation to keep from slacking off.

Routine helps out a lot as well. I have my workout in my routine now…so I’m working out at the same time every day. The only exception to that right now is Saturday, because I took the day off due to muscle soreness after Friday’s workout. The weekend is very different from the work week though for me, my routine is completely different, which is probably my main problem on the weekend…I tend not to hit my nutrition goals because I end up sleeping late and skipping breakfast and going straight to lunch. That’s something I’m still working on.

Also while working out I listen to weekly podcasts. If I don’t have that time while working out I’ll never get to listen to them (my commute isn’t long enough). So that’s an additional motivation for myself. You can listen to music anytime, but something that is renewed weekly will keep you motivated not to miss it (just like any tv show with an ongoing story). If you combine it with your workout, then it’s just an additional motivation to set aside that time. The key is to find podcasts you are very interested in that you don’t want to miss. My primary source is Tech stuff, mostly from the TWiT network.

I found the same thing. I’m a big guy being 5 foot 7 28 years old and got up to 306 pounds. I come from a family of big people with my dad being almost 500 pounds. What I found to really help is to tell everyone that I’m trying to lose weight and that I need people to be positive with me. Another thing I use is Wii Fit and another wii game called Gold’s Gym Cardio Fitness. When I get tired of on work out I can switch to another. The Wii is fun and it does work. I can feel the burn and I know feeling that burn makes me know its working. I’m already getting complements on my looks now

I found the same thing. I’m a big guy being 5 foot 7 28 years old and got up to 306 pounds. I come from a family of big people with my dad being almost 500 pounds. What I found to really help is to tell everyone that I’m trying to lose weight and that I need people to be positive with me. Another thing I use is Wii Fit and another wii game called Gold’s Gym Cardio Fitness. When I get tired of on work out I can switch to another. The Wii is fun and it does work. I can feel the burn and I know feeling that burn makes me know its working. I’m already getting complements on my looks now