We all go through phases where motivation is high and we are super eager to workout and eat clean so we can look and feel amazing. That phase lasts for a few weeks to a few months, then motivation tends to decrease and decrease as time goes on.

Why does this decrease in motivation happen?

Is it because we just reach our goals and then quit?

Is it because we don’t reach our goals and then think it’s just to hard and give up?

Is it because we get bored?

There are many reasons as to why someone might wake up one morning motivated to be the best they can possibly be and then wake up the next day feeling the complete opposite.

I can make a pretty safe bet that if you are reading this blog – you have felt both of those feelings above right?

It’s ok! Trust me even trainers go through these feelings!

What we need to do is figure out how to not only IMPROVE workout motivation, but keep it going LONG TERM!

All I can do is speak from experience and share with you some of my tips and tricks to keep workout motivation levels high.

Here are My 5 Tips for Improving Workout Motivation

1. Set both long term and short term goals

I am a firm believer that is important to have a “big picture” goal in order to map out and focus on where you want to be months and even years from now; however, many of us forget to set short term goals also. Short term goals can be little things you want to achieve in a small amount of time. For example: get to the gym 4 days this week, in two weeks I want to be able to do 5 real push ups off my toes, I will not skip out early on any of my workouts this week, in one month I want to be able to run 3 km’s without stopping etc. etc.  Short term goals will keep motivation levels high and then once you reach those goals you can set new short term goals.  This will distract you on your way to your large “big picture” goal and allow you to have small accomplishments to celebrate as you go!

Click Here to learn more about how to set realistic attainable goals!

** Notice I didn’t mention “weight loss” in any of these goals?  Read #2 below 😉 **

2. Stay off the scale and go off of how your clothes feel

I know you want to do it, but don’t! What am I talking about? I am talking about weighing yourself everyday.  If you are beginning a new weight loss journey or overall health journey, the scale can throw you off and play with your head.  For example, initially if you start exercising and eating healthier you will probably see a significant change on the scale within the first few weeks; however, once your body adapts to this new lifestyle the “scale progress” might slow down (it will continue, but will just be slower than it was initially).  If you are lifting weights as a form of your training, you will be building some muscle (hopefully you are!) which means you might see that number on the scale go up briefly or not change for a few weeks.  Why? because muscle weighs more that fat and in order to burn more fat we need to build muscle.  More muscle = faster metabolism (burn more calories at a resting state and during workouts – who wouldn’t want that?), so once you build some muscle you will see the number on the scale start to drop again.  Moral of the story? Set a date to weigh yourself once every 2 weeks (or once a week for those who can’t spend that much time away from the scale) and just go off of how your clothes feel.  Clothes getting loose = it’s working and keep going!  There are so many factors that can affect  the number on the scale from day to day that this could be quite discouraging and affect motivation if you see the number go up on any given day. Click Here to read Michelle’s 10 Tips for Successful Weight Loss

3. Reward yourself with a new workout tank, pants, headphones, or shoes

Well I don’t know about you, but new clothes (especially shoes) motivates me to do anything!  Try rewarding yourself with something once you reach one of your short term goals, it will feel good trust me!  Plus, rocking that new outfit at the gym will make you not only look amazing, but feel great because you will remember why you got that outfit each time you think you can’t finish that last rep!

4. Keep switching up your workouts

It’s important to switch up your workouts every 4 to 6 weeks in order to keep motivation levels high and prevent plateau.  What do I mean by plateau?  If you do the sameroutine over and over again never increasing intensity your body will begin to adapt and steady progress will begin to slow and possibly diminish.  If you attend group fitness classes make sure the instructors are constantly changing up the exercises you are performing and always challenging you by increasing the weights your are lifting or making exercises more difficult.  If you workout on your own be sure to switch it your workouts or at least continue to increase the weights you are lifting as you get stronger 😉

Click Here to read how you can switch up your lower body workout and challenge yourself!

5. Try sharing your progress on social media as a form of accountability

Many of you will make a look like “are you crazy?” as you read that last heading, but there might be a few of you that go “hmmmm this could work!”.  Think about it for a second.  The best way to hold yourself accountable to a goal is to tell someone about your goal right? Once people know about your goal they will be checking in on you to see how you are doing and if you are making progress.  Now it’s 2016 so the equivalent to telling someone anything is posting it on social media.  Choose a social media channel you would be most comfortable using (Instagram, snapchat, twitter, Facebook etc.) to share your progress and create your first post stating your goal.  If you post your progress on a regular basis you will be amazed at what will happen.  First of all you will begin to feel obligated to post progress pictures and posts, you will find a new “cheering squad” of friends you rarely talk to in -person or if your account is not set to private (Instagram, snapchat, Twitter) you might find a whole bunch of new people cheering you on that you don’t even know!  Perhaps people will start following you for their personal motivation? Perhaps you will find others on a similar journey to you (using hashtags is a great way to do this) and you will be able as part of a whole new supportive community you never knew existed!

I hope this helps you either start a journey to a healthier lifestyle or will help keep motivation levels high to reach short and long term goals and be the best you can be!  Remember ONLY YOU have the power to make changes you want to see in yourself.  We are all motivated in different ways, so finding what works best for you might be a process of trial and error.  Just keep trying and never give up!

What motivates you?  Leave a comment below to let me know what keeps you motivated? Perhaps your tip could help other reading this blog post too!