How to Stay Motivated to Work Out at Home

Overall, fitness is a challenge for many people. Exercise is often uncomfortable, takes up valuable time, and can be frustrated when you feel like you’re not making progress. In your own home—you’ve eaten, slept, rested, and maybe worked—it’s more challenging to do these things.Staying motivated is key to keep work out at home.

Follow these tips and tricks to stay motivated to work out at home.

Challenges When Working Out at Home

You may find yourself not motivated to work out at home for a number of reasons, such as:

• You used to go to the gym a lot, but now you don’t have any equipment
• You prefer to work out in a group or with friends
• You are always distracted by chores, children, or work
• You can feel the call of the sofa and the refrigerator

These are effective challenges. However, with the right tools and techniques, you can overcome all of them and successfully work out at home.

How to motivate yourself to work out at home

In the challenge of work out at home, there are plenty of ways to keep you going and spark the motivation you’ve been looking for.

Create a Dedicated Workout Space

If you feel like you can’t exercise at home because you don’t go to different places, create a dedicated exercise space to minimize this incongruity. This will make you feel more like you’re going to the gym or your favorite studio.

The space doesn’t need to be large, you just need enough space to move your body. Put all your equipment in this place and don’t do anything in this place except for fitness.

Eliminate Distractions

If you don’t need to use your phone while exercising, don’t use your phone during your workout. Looking at your phone between workouts will lengthen your workout time and prevent you from putting your mind into it.

If you’re using your phone to record workouts, try writing them down in a notebook. If you’re using streaming, see if it can be played on TV or other screens without text messages, phone calls, and emails.

Commit to a Set Time Frame (and Write It Down) 

Plan your workout into meetings you must attend. In many ways, exercise is the most important arrangement of your week. Create an event in your virtual calendar or write it down in your actual plan.

Seeing that there is a fixed amount of time for fitness will allow you to devote those hours to exercise.

Choose Your Workouts in Advance

There’s nothing better than getting excited to work out and spending 30 minutes looking for something to do. Avoid this by choosing your workout in advance. Write the training content on paper or save a link to the streaming training for easy access.

Do your best to stick to your scheduled workout, but if something happens, be sure to give yourself leeway (for example, if your legs are sore and you walk with a limp, swap your full-body workout for an upper body workout). Using a fitness app can help you do just that.

Join a Virtual Workout Community

If you don’t attend face-to-face group classes, you may miss out on group fitness. From Fitbit to MyFitnessPal to Peloton, there are dozens of online communities for fitness enthusiasts.

Work Out With a Friend Over Video

If you don’t like a completely virtual community (we serve you, introverts!), maybe exercising with a trusted friend through FaceTime or Zoom can give you the energy you need.

Having a friend not only makes exercising at home more fun, it also makes you more responsible.

Invest in Equipment You Love

The best exercise program is something you can stick to, and if your favorite sport requires equipment, it’s definitely worth the investment. For example, if you enjoy kettlebell exercise, if you have kettlebells at home, you’ll be more motivated to work out at home than to force yourself to do weight exercises.

Track Your Progress

If you’re exercising to lose weight, gain muscle, or to reach any other goal related to health or body shape, tracking your progress may be the key to staying stable. Progress pictures, food journals, and diaries are all great ways to track your progress. A health or fitness app can help solve this problem.

Hire a Virtual Personal Trainer

If your schedule and financial conditions permit, a professional personal trainer will be a valuable asset for your fitness at home. A good personal trainer customizes a fitness program for their clients, regularly checks progress and feedback, and provides responsibility and motivation.

Quick Ways to Psych Yourself Up

Sometimes clever arrangements and plans don’t serve the goal. When you want to use your workout time to watch TV, try these quick motivational methods.

Play Your Favorite Hype Song

A good song will make you feel good while you’re working out, even if you’re depressed. It’s not just a placebo: Science supports music as a way to enhance fitness training and even make high-intensity exercise feel easier, so go ahead and increase the volume.

Ask Your Housemate for Words of Encouragement

If you live with someone, say out loud that you need someone to help you get up from the couch and work out. A short “You can do it!” Encouragement from your spouse or girlfriend may be all you need.

Put on Your Favorite Workout Outfit

You must have heard of being successful in your career, and the same philosophy applies to fitness. Put on your favorite tracksuit and instantly elevate your mindset.

Voice Three Things You Want From Your Workout

Imagine yourself after a workout. Why do you work out? Is it to gain energy and feel more efficient, or is it to gain muscle? Say out loud what you want from your workout. This technique may make the effect of the workout more pronounced, thus motivating you to exercise.

A Word From GetHealthyPoint

There are several challenges to exercising at home — lack of motivation is a huge obstacle — but with a little planning, smart arrangement, and some mindset, you’ll start to enjoy exercising at home.