For the last three years, I have been working out almost four, five, sometimes six times a week, it has become such an important part of my life. Whenever I meet someone new, they always ask me how I manage to keep myself motivated or what have I done to reach such dedication to working out. Believe me, a couple of years ago, I used to be such a couch potato all the time and never thought about working out. I often get asked how do I stay motivated all the time, and my honest answer is that I sometimes don’t. I’m not motivated all the time, there are some days that I just don’t want to workout, sit around and eat the pizza, or the ice cream. And some days I do. Despite this, I always push myself to get back on the track after those kinds of days.
Today, I can’t think my life without sports in it, it is not just working out on a regular basis but being active as a lifestyle that makes me so much happier and in sync with my body. There are some things that I do that help stay motivated and dedicated to working out. So, I wanted to share with you guys my ways to keep myself motivated and fall in love with working out. I hope I would give some inspiration if you are searching for a positive relationship with working out!
First of all, I always believe that everyone should do what is best for your own body and soul. Don’t try to become a yoga addict just because “everyone” seems to be doing yoga these days. In order to incorporate an active lifestyle to yourself, you need to find what you would love the most. Even if this means trying a couple of classes without having any fun, or maybe realizing that you actually enjoy a kind of sport that you would never imagine yourself doing.
I have been doing fitness training (weight training, and sometimes cross-fit style body-weight workouts), and pilates regularly. I met pilates when I was 12 years old because I was trying to change my posture those days, and I never let go of it ever since. Pilates makes me happier than anything, whenever I feel tired or a bit down, I go to my reformer workout at a pilates studio that I frequent all the time and get out there feeling like a new person. This is the happiness I am talking about that you should find in a type of class.
To be able to do something regularly, you have to love it, enjoy it, so that it could help your body in return. For example, in contrast to my love for pilates, I did try to enjoy yoga couple of times. I might have tried more than five studios, watched online videos, practiced at home by myself… nothing worked. Even though I am pretty flexible due to years of pilates, I just couldn’t enjoy yoga. I am not saying that it felt good, but it just didn’t work out for me.
What I am really stressing here is that, in today’s world, with all the social media we use, we could get affected by how everyone is doing a certain type of workout, as if it is the only right thing to do. What matters is to get your body moving, whether by running, swimming, fitness training, yoga, pilates, kickbox or even simply walking around… Any kind of workout you do, it should give you happiness, joy, and motivation. People will always have their opinions on what you should do, and what works better, but you are the only one that knows what makes you feel better. Only you can feel and understand what is best for you. That is how you will love being active in the first place.
For this, I really recommend signing up for an application like ClassPass where you can try a variety of classes to understand what you enjoy without making a huge commitment. Sometimes going to a gym by yourself might not give you the motivation you are looking for, so being pushed by a trainer in a group class could get you moving. For me, I fell in love with Barry’s Bootcamp by trying them on ClassPass at first. Even though I have been doing weight training more than two years, I have always felt overwhelmed by that atmosphere. I felt like I might not be good enough for Barry’s. I can’t recall how many times I had reserved a class and canceled it the night before. One morning, I pushed myself and decided to give it a try. Now, I go there five times a week. I am obsessed with how motivating that red-lighted room is with its crazy atmosphere. Everyone is pushing themselves so hard for that one hour, you become a beast in your mind, go beyond your limits and feel so much powerful than ever. If I hadn’t push myself to try a class that I first thought I wouldn’t succeed, I wouldn’t have come this far.
Another way to keep yourself motivated is being programmed and organized from the beginning of the week. I always write down a plan for my week so that I would actually stick to it and accomplish my goals. I know that not every day turns out to be as you planned, but being organized actually keeps you motivated as you become more dedicated to getting that workout the day you planned. I usually workout from Monday to Thursdays, give myself a rest day on Friday and keep on going for the weekend. I try to adjust it according to other programs, such as my school work, like midterms and projects. It really helps me to plan my week so that I could be aware of what I am doing that day for my body.
I also believe that being consistent with such a routine does not happen over a night. I did not become this person I am today in just a short period of time. I had my own ups and downs. I did give some break and did nothing for a month too. I wasn’t this person all the time. However, seeing the changes in my body, seeing that it does respond to what I give, seeing results makes me so happy and motivated. I always say that I’m never ever working out for that “summer body.” I never have such a goal to reach. I think that such short-term goals will make you motivated for a short time. When the summer is over, you will get back to being who you were, not working out… that’s why I believe that working out should be for your health. To be healthy, to be in peace with your body and mind… Not just to look at your best for a summer, or for a specific event. If you be patient, and give yourself time, you will see that your body is in the same mindset with you, and it will start showing great results.
I believe that there is not one specific way to make yourself love working out. As time passes, the more results you see, you will become addicted to it. For me, working out can sometimes do wonders, elevate all my mood, change my day, and make me feel so much better. I don’t do it for people to complement on how I look, I just do it for myself, my body and my mind. Believe in yourself, believe in your power, and you will find something that works best for you.
I hope I have given some inspiration to you guys. As the semester will be over in a couple of days, I wish all of you a great summer!
See you next fall!
Until then, love,
Lale
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