With the gym almost a mile away from many dorms at Colby, it can be incredibly hard to leave our comfy dorm rooms to walk through the snow and ice to exercise. And even if we’ve conquered that part, making the gym a routine is infinitely more difficult. Here are my go-to tips for how to motivate yourself to go to the gym, maintain a routine, and enjoy yourself while you’re there.
Motivate
Starting a gym-going habit is way harder than it seems. Why go to the gym if you can stay cuddled in your bed with some hot coco and a movie? If you’re having trouble, set a short-term goal. When there is 6 feet of snow outside and it’s -5°F, it is so easy to skip the gym to watch your favorite guilty pleasure and pig out on your favorite chips and chocolate. Short-term goals like stress relief or that feeling of accomplishment we all crave will get you motivated to the gym on a daily basis.
CAUTION: make sure this goal is concrete. As much as we all hated the goal sheets our middle school gym teachers made us fill out, concrete goals create incentive. Something like “I want to look better” will only last so long. Trust me—that was my goal freshman year, and by the end, I wasn’t going to the gym at all. Once I felt like I looked the way I wanted, I stopped going. After a few weeks, I was right back where I started.
Maintain
To keep yourself going to the gym, set a long-term goal. While short-term goals usually get my lazy butt to the gym, I often lose sight of why I keep going everyday instead of doing what I really want, like eating Cape Cod Salt and Vinegar chips while watching reruns of The Office. Long-term goals like losing X number of pounds or setting a PR will keep you motivated—they’ll maintain your desire to exercise even when you don’t feel like you need or want to go to the gym that particular day.
Enjoy
As much as we don’t want to admit it, working out can be boring. Sometimes I don’t know which exercise I want to do, so I don’t really do much of anything. We all know that a good pump up playlist will certainly help you enjoy the gym, but here are some other surefire ways to have more fun at the gym:
Go with a friend
Go to the gym with a friend. It is encouraging to have a friend at the gym with you—when you feel like you’re ready to quit, you can look over at them and they’ll give you a big thumbs up and keep you going.
Go with a friend who is already motivated
Going to the gym with a friend who is a regular gym-goer is one of the best ways to get out of bed and to the gym. My roommate is on the varsity crew team, so when she goes to the gym, I try to go as well.
Go when it is less crowded
Exercising at a crowded gym can be stressful for many reasons, including having to wait for equipment and feeling judged. Even if you are like me and you have a “don’t care what anybody else thinks” attitude, feeling judged at the gym is often inevitable. There is often going to be someone there that you feel is better than you at whatever you are doing. So, go to the gym when it is less crowded! If you don’t know when that time is, here is the Colby key: don’t go between 4 and 5:30 pm—that is when varsity athletes take over the gym.
Have a plan
Before you go to the gym, or when you get there, figure out what you’re going to do. If you’re already on a program, go you! But if not, come up with a plan for the day. This will help you avoid the machine musical chairs, and more importantly, so that you feel accomplished at the end of your workout. You can say “today I ran four miles and did 10 sets of X exercise” instead of “I was on the treadmill for maybe 10 minutes but I got bored so then I did some other stuff.” Trust me, you’ll feel much better with the former.
Reward yourself!
If you went to the gym today, go have an extra cookie or that giant cup of hot coco you wanted earlier! Even if your goal is losing weight, it is important to reward yourself for your hard work. I know, I know, you’re thinking, “I don’t need an extra cookie, I have more self-control than that.” Well I’ll tell you what my dad told me when I complained that I had been to the gym and I was trying to lose 10 pounds but I really wanted some Cape Cod Salt and Vinegar chips. He said, “Natalie, sometimes you just gotta live your life.” So, I suppose the takeaway from all of this is set a goal, have a plan, and have fun. And don’t forget to live your life.
Write your goal here!!: