Getting Motivated to Exercise: Discover the Secret

Most of us have a variety of reasons for why we want to exercise. There are a lot of goals associated with a good exercise routine such as burning fat, lean muscle mass, toning and defining, progressive weight gains, and more. No matter what your circumstances there is one factor that will always be the crux of your success. You need to get motivated.

Too often we start a new exercise routine with lots of motivation for the first week or two. You might be seeing small changes, such as slight muscle growth, or a number of pounds shed. This is great until all of the sudden we lose track of why we started the exercise program in the first place. Then you start putting off workouts until the next day, or not doing them at all.

When you think of motivation, you need to look at the root word, motive. Before you ever start an exercise program, ask yourself what are my motives for doing this. Write it down on a piece of paper and keep it with you everywhere you go. This could be anything. Perhaps you've got a reunion in a couple months, bikini season is coming up, or you simply want to improve your health and quality of life. Whatever it is, there are two main components to a success in becoming and staying motivated when working out.

1. Set Goals

You can't stay motivated if you don't know where you are going! Setting goals is key for almost anything important in life, not just an exercise routine. Perhaps you want to lose 15 pounds in two weeks. Maybe your goal is to be able to run a mile in under 7 minutes. Whatever it is, it's important to set measurable and achievable goals. Don't set unrealistic goals. This will only work against your motivation, by realizing you won't reach your goals, you tend to slack off or quit altogether.