if you’ve been following me for a while, you know how much i love working out, and what a huge priority fitness is to me. prior to having Shiloh and all throughout my pregnancies, i pretty much consistently worked out 5-6 days a week. i honestly love working out, running, being active, getting outside, etc. it’s a stress reliever for me and just makes me happy. people often ask “how do you keep yourself motivated?!” and up until 7 months ago…it was hard to answer people because i honestly just LOVED to workout, and didn’t really struggle with motivation! until about 5-6 months ago (once I could workout again after having a baby).
i was really blessed to have such an amazing and pretty easy pregnancy. working out felt really good to me, so i continued to workout up until the day before Shiloh was born! i thought “I’ll take 6 weeks off after having a baby and then get right back into it.” so…that has not necessarily been the case to be honest. working out has never been so challenging in my life as it has been since having Shiloh! i do still love it. it’s still a stress reliever for me and makes me feel good. but…taking care of Shiloh, traveling 24/7, working, keeping up with friends and family, etc…makes working out so much harder than it used to be. prior to having Shiloh, i would make time to workout no matter what. and that’s just a lot harder now with a baby and new priorities! i’ve had weeks now where i’ll have like 4 or 5 days in a row where i haven’t worked out. And once you get out of your regular routine, it’s hard to get back in it.
SO. today i want to share some tips with you guys on how to get back into working out when you’re in a slump or when you’ve taken off for a while. i’ve had to motivate myself to make time for physical fitness recently and wanted to share a few things with y’all that have helped me get out of a fitness slump.
tip #1: plan your workouts for the week
on Sunday night, i want you to take a look at your calendar for the coming week. when do you have meetings scheduled? when will your husband or someone be home to help you with the baby? when do you have appointments or social engagements? on your calendar, i want you to write in when you will workout throughout the week. for example, if you know Monday is a really busy day for you with work or other things, plan to workout at 6am before your day gets busy.
beyond that – i’d encourage you to plan WHAT your workout will be! If you know you have to workout at 6am on Monday – what will you do? maybe a BBG workout at home, or sign up for a spin class or go for a run around your neighborhood. take the guess work out of working out throughout the week by planning ahead, and you will be WAY more likely to actual get in your workouts!
tip #2: phone a friend
okay, you might not technically need to pick up the phone and call. but, I’d encourage you to tell your sister or a girlfriend “hey, I’m trying to be better about working out this week! wanna do a spin class with me on Monday?” or, even if you don’t ask them to join the class with you…ask them to hold you accountable! let them know “I’m gonna try and work out 3 days this week! hold me accountable!” If you actually say your goals out loud to someone, you’re way more likely to stick with it…as opposed to just keeping your goal to yourself in your head. ao, ask a friend to join you on a walk around the lake after work one day, or sign up for a kickboxing class with you. ff you’re struggling to find motivation, talk to a friend about it!
tip #3: less activation energy
when I was in high school, we had a motivational speaker / life coach come talk to us about accomplishing your goals, and he talked about activation energy. his speech has stuck with me after all these years. activation energy is the energy required to get something done. if you can lower the activation energy it takes to do a workout, you are more likely to do it. i’ll share an example!
when we were in NYC last week, i hadn’t worked out for 4 days in a row and knew i needed to workout the next morning (i was feeling so bleh). in order to workout in the morning though, there was a lot of “activation energy” required. i would need to pump beforehand, rummage through a messy suitcase in a dark room (bc Shiloh was sleeping in there) to find my clothes, get my water bottle, eat something beforehand etc. if I had to wake up at 6am and do all of those steps before hand…the chances of me deciding to stay in bed would be very high.
SO. the night before, i laid out the clothes I would wear for my workout. got my water bottle and airpods ready. laid out all of the pump stuff in the bathroom ready to go. so, when I woke up, working out seemed way more feasible.
for you – if you have to workout in the mornings before work…maybe lay out your workout clothes the night before, get your gym bag ready to go, etc., so that in the morning, you will have as few steps as possible between you and the gym!
tip #4: make it fun + attainable
if you’re in a workout slump and the idea of going into a gym sounds like death to you (i personally strongly dislike gyms haha)…go back to workouts that you actually enjoy doing. Maybe it’s going for a hike (if you live somewhere like CO!), maybe it’s riding your bike, maybe it’s a zumba class or kickboxing. Don’t force yourself to do a workout you hate while you’re trying to get out of your slump. Just think of something active that you actually enjoy doing and go do that! once you get back into a workout routine, you then can focus on branching out and trying new workouts that really challenge you. But initially, when trying to just get back into a routine, do activities that you think are fun.
in addition to making your workout fun…when you are REALLY not feeling the gym, make your workout seem as attainable / doable as possible. Once you’re in the gym parking lot (or still sitting on the couch), tell yourself “it’s 45 minutes of my day. that’s it. after i go sweat / get my heart rate up for 45 minutes i can be done and it will be so worth it.”
tip #5: remember your “why”
this has been the tip that has helped me the most on days I’m really not “feeling” it. i’ll have made the time to workout, schedule it, etc…get into our home gym and still think “Iiwould rather gouge my eyeballs out than workout right now.” in those moments, i force myself to remember WHY I should workout and why i actually enjoy it. i remind myself “your body deserves for you to take care of it. these next 45 minutes of exercise will take your mind off of work [or other things that might be stressing me out] and let you just unplug. you will feel so accomplished after you get this done. exercise makes you happy and your baby and your husband deserve to have a happy momma (etc etc).” I have my own “why’s” with working out…and I’d encourage you to think of what YOUR why is! why do you want to workout? Why is it a good thing for you? and in those moments where you are REALLY not feeling the gym…remember your why. mind over matter. you can do this and it’ll be so worth it!
tip #6: new workout clothes
i know this sounds silly but honestly…buying new workout clothes is such a great motivator to help you get out of a workout slump! hit up beige hour, Lululemon, or vuori and buy a new outfit that makes you excited about going to the gym, or a new pair of workout leggings you can wear to spin class, and it’ll make you really excited to get back in the gym!
like I said, these are all tips that really help me when I’m lacking motivation, and I hope they help you too! do you have any tips that have helped you get out of a workout slump? i’d love to hear any of your tips in the comments below! thanks for reading!
xo Lauren
