6 Ways to Stay Motivated to Workout During Winter

I’ve had several people tell me recently that they have trouble staying motivated to workout during winter. I can certainly understand that. Just getting out of your warm bed in the morning is hard – much less dragging yourself out of your warm car into the cold February air in your gym clothes!
There are a few things that help me keep moving when I seem to get into a motivational slump. Hopefully, some of them can help keep you moving until the weather starts becoming a motivation all on it’s own.

1. Always, always, ALWAYS work out on Monday.

To me, this one is the hardest one, but it’s the most important. I know they say how you start your day is an important primer for how the day will go for you. And similarly, the omnipresent “they” also have a saying about what you do on New Year’s Day will set the tone for the rest of the year. I do think there is something useful about how you start your week regarding exercise. For some reason, when I work out on Monday, I always get more workouts in that week. It just seems to get my exercise snowball rolling and I find myself excited to work out the rest of the week. As it happens, usually on Monday I end up having to DRAG myself to the gym- and I’m not sure why. I don’t know what it is about a Monday that makes me feel so sloth-like. But I do know that it will pay off and be worth it. The rest of the week is a breeze by comparison.

2. Be accountable to someone.

This can be accomplished in multiple ways. Seeing as how I happen to be a coach, I really like the idea of having a coach who will notice ( and then probably give you some crap) if you DON’T show up to the gym. You could also schedule a sweat-sesh with a workout buddy or a swolemate. If you know Bro Montana is waiting for you to show, chances are you won’t want to disappoint. Sometimes it can be as effective to announce on social media that you are going to workout. It’s a verbal committment that most of us will uphold, “Hey Facebook nation, I’m headed to the gym to get my quad pump!” Then, you can do a check-in later to let them know you did 5 bazillion squats and lunges and your booty is looking mighty swole. LOL

3. List the reasons going to the gym is important to YOU.

Instead of letting your head get in the way by imagining how tough the workout is going to be, start listing off the reasons going to the gym is important. Everyone has their own motivation for joining a gym or starting an exercise regimen. Think back to why you decided to exercise in the first place. Remind yourself what your goals are and how great you will feel when you’ve accomplished those goals. This will get your energy moving in the right direction and get you pumped and ready to go!

4. Buy some new gym clothes.

A fresh new pair of Nikes will almost walk themselves to the gym door without any help from me. Seriously, though, this is powerful stuff, y’all.

5. Find some fitspo-ration.

This might sound a little cheesy, but there are tons of fitspo (web-speak for fitness inspiration) photos floating around out there in cyber-land. As if looking at photos of amazing physical specimens wasn’t enough, these photos are frequently further adorned with motivational quotes and phrases. “First they’ll ask why you’re doing it, then they’ll ask how you did it.”  Surfing google images or Instagram hashtags never fails to get me all fired up and chomping at the bit to hit the gym.

6. List off your accomplishments.

This last one is more about keeping the ball rolling once you’ve started it, but it still works. Before you leave the gym, list off two or three things that you are proud of having accomplished. Find little moments to celebrate and congratulate yourself on. Recognizing your own acheivments helps us to own our power, helps us to embrace the empowerment we get from exercise. Empowerment is such a blissful feeling. Fostering your feelings of empowerment will create a positive association with the gym and working out, making it much more likely you’ll want to come back the next day.

I hope this list has been helpful to those of you with some winter workout blues. If I missed something that gets you fired up to workout, let me know in the comments!