Exercise may feel like an uphill struggle; even though you know you should do it, your motivation may have flagged. But this doesn’t have to be the case! Here are three strategies to help make exercise enjoyable again!

Consistency is the cornerstone of healthy living goals. Here are five strategies for staying motivated on days you don’t feel like exercising: 1. Give Something New A Try

1. Change Your Routine

If you find yourself procrastinating on workouts due to lack of motivation, perhaps switching up your routine could help. Whether at your local gym or at home on your own, try something that challenges and interests you more.

Tracking your fitness progress can help keep you on the right path, whether that means the number of reps performed in weight lifting sessions or your in-body scan results – tracking will keep you motivated towards meeting your fitness goals and reaching them faster!

When it’s difficult to motivate yourself to exercise, tell yourself you will only do 10 minutes of physical activity such as a quick circuit or yoga sequence – this way if after 10 minutes you are still motivated you can keep going!

2. Try Something New

Switch up your routine when you don’t feel like exercising. Find something enjoyable and appropriate to your values such as playing a sport, taking classes or simply going for a stroll around your neighborhood.

Engaging in active social activities such as bowling or dancing dates with friends can also help keep you motivated. Looking forward to these dates can give your motivation an extra boost when motivation slips away.

An effective personal trainer or fitness coach can add structure and accountability to your workouts. Having someone accountable for monitoring your progress could make the difference between keeping with a regiment or skipping out altogether, plus they may make your experience more pleasant!

3. Set a Timer

A workout timer can help keep you on track by helping to ensure that you are resting appropriately (even when instinct tells you otherwise). Furthermore, it makes following video guides or workout plans much simpler.

By increasing motivation, the more likely it is that you will stick with your fitness regimen. Try marking it down on your calendar so it becomes part of your daily schedule – this way you are sure not to let anything interfere.

If you don’t have an hour to devote, try the 5-minute rule: set your timer for five minutes and do a quick workout (push-ups, jumping jacks or jogging around the block are great choices!). As soon as your alarm goes off, chances are good you’ll keep going and when it goes off again reward yourself with something sweet!

4. Focus on Your Goals

When exercising becomes unpleasant or hard for us to enjoy, it can be easy to develop the same negative self-perceptions that children do when trying to force them to clean rooms or practice piano: They require rewards, threats or trainers in order to complete what’s best for themselves. While this type of childish self-motivation might work initially, over time it actually makes exercise harder and unpleasant rather than part of daily life.

Focusing on your goals can help combat this feeling. Tracking quantifiable metrics such as weight reduction, body measurements, workout logs, strength gains, running times and flexibility is one way to gauge progress and reignite motivation. Celebrate every victory no matter how small and share them with others to reinforce motivation for further achievement.

5. Make it Fun

Sometimes even the most enjoyable workouts may feel like an ordeal, but this shouldn’t halt your progress.

For example, if music is something you find soothing while running or riding the treadmill or spinning bike, consider listening to it via an exercise playlist in order to help pass the time more quickly. Or if watching an episode from your favorite show is something you look forward to doing while working out or exercising at a higher intensity level is your goal, binging an episode while doing your miles is another possibility!

According to Perlus, if competition drives your motivation, why not sign up for a 5K race as something to work towards? Doing this could keep you focused and make working out even more enjoyable in the end!