When my alarm went off at 8:45 a.m. this morning after a late night of studying, I forced myself out of bed, ate breakfast, put my workout clothes on and headed to the gym.
I felt a little groggy this morning, and the second I walked into the gym I was thinking about how I couldn’t wait to leave. For one reason or another, I was not motivated to workout, which is very unlike me.
And when I hopped on the spinning bike, I knew I wasn’t giving it my all. I was not pushing myself through the first few songs. My resistance was lighter than usual and I was taking leisurely water breaks between segments.
But about three songs in, something clicked. The only person I was hurting was myself. I was not giving 100 percent, and I was only wasting my own time. No one around me cared about how hard I was pushing myself.
It was my workout, my time and my body.
So I cranked up my resistance, increased my speed and started to feel the burn.
I wanted to make my workout count. If I continued at the pace I was going my first three songs, I would leave feeling unaccomplished, and my workout would be a waste of time.
I’m glad I snapped out of my funk. After an hour on the bike I was drenched in sweat and couldn’t feel better about myself. My tough ride motivated me to push through a tough ab workout.
And I left the gym feeling good about myself.
You know when you don’t give it your all. You may try to make excuses for yourself; you’re tired, you’re stressed, you have a lot of work. But deep down you will know these are only excuses, and you won’t leave the gym feeling as good as you could have felt.
If you put aside an hour to workout, give 100 percent. It’s only an hour, and the more you put into your workout, the more you will benefit.