Regular exercisers know how to self-motivate.  When you’re just starting an exercise program or are working on getting back into it, it’s often hard to get yourself psyched up for a workout.  That’s when the excuses start popping up –  I missed the class I had planned on, I don’t know what to do, it’s too hot today, I have a headache, I worked late….  You know what?  Those feelings never really go away, even for people who regularly exercise and have done so for years.  BUT… the difference between “US” and “THEM” is that they know how to talk themselves INTO the workout.  That’s what I mean by self-motivation.  It’s not always easy, but the better you are at knowing what your “exercise weaknesses” are, the better you’ll be at beating yourself at your own mind games!

There will always be obstacles… BUT do a little thinking about how to get over them!

  • What are the obstacles/excuses that most often result in a skipped workout for you?
  • How can you work around them?

TRUE CONFESSIONS OF AN MCC TRAINER…

Lack of time is my BIG excuse.  My solution is putting together a 10-20 minute blast that incorporates my home gym equipment.  I have 5 workouts taped to my wall that I use for a “no-brainer” workout.  Sometimes I wing it which also works for me – I do what I feel like, but I push it.  I have a particular workout playlist that I use with songs that make me work hard – some are fast, some are “angry” but all of them make me push myself.  I also argue with my inner voice!  She’ll say,

“You had a long day and you have to get up early…”

“It’s early, and you have a long day ahead of you….”

“Just get ‘this’, ‘this’ and ‘this’ off your list first…”

I also found a bunch of motivations just poking around Pinterest.  So there you go again with the excuses Kelly, you DO have time!  If I had time to make a whole Pinterest board of workout motivations, I sure as anything have time to squeeze in a workout!  So there’s another motivator for me – the Pin board. Click on MCC’s Pinterest Board for a peek when you’re feeling a little low on the self-motivation scale!!  It works for me… I let someone else’s wisdom motivate me or use a really amazing photo to remind me why I work out in the first place.

  • How do you self-motivate?

No matter what your obstacles are, one thing that is sure to help in many circumstances is an exercise contingency plan. If you have been coming to MCC 1, 2 or 3 times a week as your regular exercise routine, what is your contingency plan if you miss a session?  Do nothing?  I hope not! 

A while back, I made 2 workouts that I want you to have as part of your exercise contingency plan.  Your workout challenge for today is to check out the workouts (and the videos if you want a quick demo of the exercises) and complete one or BOTH as your workout!

DAY 13/21 WORKOUT CHALLENGE:  THE LADS WORKOUTS!!

The original posts are here on the blog.  Find them here:

LADS Upper Body Workout

LADS Lower Body Workout 

Here are the video demonstrations for a “how-to” and level options if you need them!

Lower Body Workout Tutorial

Upper Body Workout Tutorial

I’ll be using this video as motivation to work myself to work back to pre-baby shape!  Yikes!!  Here’s me doing the LADS lower body workout! 

Don’t forget to post today.  What do you use for motivation to exercise?