4 Psychological Tricks to Increase Fitness Motivation

How to be Motivated to Work Out

The first thing that people should do when trying to be motivated to exercise is setting long-term goals. The goal should be exciting and rewarding but also doable and achievable.

Psychologists like Avi Kaplan and Martin Maehr have studied goal settings in various research studies that proved that setting goals effectively maintain motivation.

2. The next thing is setting short-term goals. These are the week-to-week goals to help you master your journey towards success. These goals should be specific and help to improve skills.

Writing goals in a visible location will help with unconscious motivation; as you near the long-term goals, people may revisit and adjust the short-term goals as necessary. Whenever there is hesitancy or unsureness about training, it is essential to remind yourself of your “why.”

Using Sports Psychology to Motivate Yourself to Work Out

Some standard methods that Sports Psychologist practice with their clients is several sensory psychology tools to help athletes convince their brains and minds to push themselves towards their goals.

3. One way to do that is through visualization. Imagine what success looks like to you, imagine how hard work helps dreams become a reality, imagine the emotions, pride, and happiness that comes after achieving the goal, and explore or write down these positive feelings and emotions to push through the grind.

That is the good part, but it is also important to imagine the challenging parts of training with positive outcomes. Thus, you should know why you are performing each task and that each drop of sweat makes you faster, stronger, and healthier.

4. Another motivational stimulus is to find a training buddy that can keep you accountable who may share similar goals. If you cannot find a buddy, you can tell several people about your goals so that in a casual discussion, they can keep you accountable by checking on your training progress. You are even setting a short-term goal to be a healthier version of yourself when you see everyone for Thanksgiving dinner. That external form of motivation may give internal motivation cues to be existent.

Extra Tips

Ask yourself how you have improved and what you can focus on after each training session.
Developing motivation comes from inside; you may share your journey with others via social media, blogging, or a personal journey that may inspire you and possibly inspire someone else in the future.
Ask your trainer or coach for additional tips and advice; they may be able to point you to some great resources (i.e., apps, online resources, and books).