Your home is your castle. It could also be your workspace, your kids’ school, your cafeteria, and your gym. Here is how to motivate yourself to work out at home, even if you hate home fitness.
You know exercise is good for you. You also know that you don’t feel comfortable sweating it out at your local gym or fitness studio during a pandemic. That is assuming that your local gym or fitness studio is back to in-person workouts or hasn’t closed.
An estimated 20% of Americans have have some sort of fitness membership, according to Fortune. Nine in 10 Americans who exercise regularly say they will continue with at-home workouts even after they feel comfortable returning to a gym in the future, according to a new survey from Beachbody, a Santa Monica–based health and fitness company.
Does your local gym offer an at-home workout option? If so, do you find yourself attending more frequently than before?
Benefits of Working Out at Home
There are so many benefits to creating a home fitness routine. These include ability to exercise on your own time (without commuting or other complications of meeting a class schedule), privacy, and it is less expensive.
Instead of having to fit fitness around your work, or your family life, you now have the ability to roll out of bed, and log on to your class in less than 5 minutes. Or, if your child naps, you could sneak in a 20 minute workout without having to wake the little one up. Even better, after you log off of work for the end of the day, you don’t have to fight traffic or lines at the gym to get your sweat on.
Exercising on your own time is one of the biggest benefits to home fitness routines.
Privacy is extremely important when it comes to fitness, especially if you have weight to lose, or have been fat shamed at a gym before. In this article from Shape, women have been exposed to looks of disdain, unsolicited diet advice, rude comments about their choice of fitness clothing, and even outright hostile comments such as “whale”, “fat” and “I’m afraid to end up looking like you”.
In the privacy of your own home, it doesn’t matter if you can shell out $200 for a pair of too tight leggings from Athleta or Lululemon, or whether someone else feels your size is undesirable or inappropriate.
What about cost? While gym fees vary by location, the industry-wide average falls around $58/month, or $696 per year. That does not include the registration fee or annual fee that could be charged upon sign-up.
Having been a home fitness proponent for many years, I love exercising at home. I have my basic home gym equipment, I have a TV and preferred YouTube channels, and some DVDs to get me active.
Yet, many of my coaching clients tell me they struggle with creating a home fitness routine. Or, they share that they “need” a trainer to stay accountable to.
Or, they love outdoor fitness activities such as walking, running, and biking, and winter tends to destroy their motivation to keep moving.
Let’s talk about how to get motivated to work out when your preferred method is not available.
Pst! Not sure what your personal Workout Style is? Take this free quiz to find out (and get suggestions on how to move based on your style).
Motivation to Work Out
For someone who prefers to have a trainer encouraging or calling or when they have bad form in a fitness setting, home fitness may be significantly less interesting.
And, let’s be real- do you really need to spend one more hour staring at your screen? Between working from home, helping kids with online schoolwork, and the typical 5-6 hours of TV time the average American watches every night, we are ready for some digital detox.
When it comes to motivation to work out in general, there are a few techniques that could help. Choose just one tip below that is MOST impactful for you.
Reward yourself
The reward must be non-food related to be most effective. A reward need not be a gift or prize, but something tangible that adds to the feel-good post-endorphin chemicals you already enjoy after a workout. It could be a nice bath with Epsom salt and essential oils, a snuggle with a good book, or even a soothing stretch session. Anything that makes you feel amazing is helpful.
Sign a contract
In studies of people who created online contracts via the site stickk.com, Goldhaber-Fiebert and his colleagues found that those who signed longer contracts ended up exercising more than those who agreed to shorter durations.
A contract must have some meaning for you to be effective. That could include actually signing a piece of paper, delivering it to someone who acknowledges it, or even agreeing to pay money if you fail at your contract.
You can use one of these exercise contract templates, too!
Find your buddies
People who crave the social setting of a gym benefit immensely from connecting to a community of other fitness enthusiasts, or even finding a date. A study commissioned by Kettler sampled 2,000 participants and 50% said they only go the gym to check out the opposite sex or meet friends.
Who you choose to be your workout “buddy” will also have an impact on your motivation. People who exercised with someone they thought was better than them worked out up to 200 percent harder and longer than others, says a study performed at Kansas State University.
Tips to Workout At Home
Set up your Space
Sure, you could squat while doing the dishes, do calf raises every time you use the microwave, or lift milk jugs while watching your favorite Netflix marathons, but having a dedicated workout space is critical to a healthy home fitness routine.
The space need not be large- however; it should include your equipment, be quiet enough not to disturb your family, and be in a visible enough spot that everything is at your fingertips.
If weather permits, you can even take your workout outside at a local park or in your backyard. The fresh air will do you good!
Fix your Schedule
Time is trickier than you think. While you are no longer spending more time getting ready to go to the gym, you might think you can figure out your workout later. Instead of setting yourself up for the “I can workout anytime” mentality, decide which days and/or times you will consistently workout. For example, you could say Mon-Wed-Fri are workout days, or Tues-Thurs-Sat.
Then, tell yourself what time to start. Treat these days as if you would an exercise class, schedule it in your calendar, and stick to your schedule.
A special note: do not set a time that might conflict with mealtime. If you are heavy from eating, or hungry, you might not get the most out of your exercise session.
Wear the Right Clothes
Enclothed cognition is a psychological phenomenon that suggests certain clothes may trigger mental changes that can impact performance positively. Resist the temptation to work out in your pajamas, or those old baggy leggings that you have been wearing all week. Instead, wear a form-fitting outfit that you might wear to the gym. Even better, treat yourself to new duds and feel the change in your mood!
Bonus: I started wearing tank tops more during my home workouts. For various reasons, I dislike exposing my arms in a public setting. However, virtual workouts allow me to cool off and not worry about jiggle factor in front of others.
Pump up the Tunes
Music doesn’t must soothe the savage beast- it can also WAKE the #beastmode in you! Music distracts people from pain and fatigue, elevates mood, increases endurance, reduces perceived effort and may even promote metabolic efficiency. When listening to music, people run farther, bike longer and swim faster than usual—often without realizing it, according to Scientific American.
I can tell you- I would not even consider running a 5K without music, and have built numerous playlists depending on what my running needs were. Some of these needs included pacing (balancing fast tempo with slower tempo for run/walk intervals), endurance (encouraging songs during my running plateaus), and nostalgia (favorites from previous races or race moments).
I also enjoy playlists that have themes, such as “Run’ or “Halloween”. If I was into yoga, I might try building a playlist around “lo-fi” or “cool vibes”.
Some psychologists have suggested that people have an innate preference for rhythms at a frequency of two hertz, which is equivalent to 120 beats per minute (bpm), or two beats per second.
Vary your Workouts
If you get bored easily, then part of the attraction of gym or instructor-led workouts might be the uncertainty or variety. Or, the challenge of new moves or new equipment.
Check out this HIIT workout for people who get bored easily from Fitness Blender.
Let me tell you- I would NEVER build a workout that includes burpees! However, no one walks out of a fitness class if the instructor dares to unleash their “burpees-only” workout.
When creating your own home fitness routine, it is important to look at how bored you get, or what ruts you tend to fall into.
- If you’re cardio-heavy, then consider adding one Pilates session every week.
- If you’re all about them weights, then add a short HIIT workout after you lift.
- If you’re a legit yogi, try adding some resistance bands to your practice.
Repetitive movements are great for building strength and endurance and may set you up for injury or boredom. Find ways to shake up your typical routine with something a bit unusual.
Working out at home does not have to be challenging. First, leverage the incredible benefits of establishing a home fitness routine, then choose the motivation technique that best replaces the gym experience for you, and use the tips to make working out at home easy and effective.
One thought on “How to Motivate Yourself to Work Out at Home”
Comments are closed.