The Secret Of Staying Motivated To Exercise

Have you ever noticed that certain music inspires you to workout more intensely?

Perhaps you hear your favorite song and feel like you could do anything. That muscle memory is helpful, but how can you keep your mind engaged when your focus or commitment to exercise begins to flag?

Sometimes you’ve got to hit the books when that muscle, which is giving out, is your brain. I’ve found that a few select quotations from the wise can be extremely helpful. They may just provide you with that jolt of motivation needed to push your workout to the next level.

Consider keeping some inspirational quotes close at hand during every stage of your workout, to inspire you further.

Finding Motivation To Exercise

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Get Out the Door

Pick a quote that reminds you why you work out in the first place. Whether it’s to improve health, to look good, to de-stress, feel better, or whatever is at the core of your mindset, when you DO feel committed to working out.

Post this stage-one quotation on the bathroom mirror, on your computer monitor at work, or wherever you will see it at that moment when you’re trying to decide whether you’re going to make it, or not, to your workout.

Try this one:

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit.

~ Aristotle

Make A Start

Pick one quote that will warm up your engine. Then, post it on a tag on your workout bag. You can glance at it as you get out your earphones and water bottle.

Try this one:

Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

~ St. Francis of Assisi

Stay Engaged

Pick a quote to keep you from drifting out early, something that reinvigorates you as that first wave of momentum starts to fade; one that encourages persistence and fortitude.

Post it on your water bottle in permanent marker, where you’ll see it when you’re drinking water, and maybe even intentionally stalling your workout.

Try this one:

The best way out is always through.

~ Robert Frost

Push Yourself

Pick one that strikes a real chord. One that can lift your weary head, when you think you’ve done as much as you can do. When your body and mind are saying no. Pick a quotation that puts the fear of failure inside you, that stirs up whatever passion you’ve got left, for the last great push.

Post it in your mind only. Dig deep and memorize it. Don’t slow down to read. This one needs to be written on your heart.

Try this one:

Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.

~ Muhammad Ali

Maintain The Inspiration

Pick one that keeps the good vibes flowing, as you float from your workout back home. Something that maximizes the positive emotional surge you feel after an awesome workout.

When the next day rolls around, and you have to make that will-I-or-won’t-I decision all over again, you will still be able to taste enough of that confidence from the day before, that you’ll want more of it.

Choose one that focuses on the confidence and strength, the long-term benefits of a committed workout routine.

Post it on the dashboard of your car, so that as you drive home you’re marinating in those good feelings, and putting them into words you’ll keep with you and remember. If you workout at home, post it wherever you go after a workout, maybe on the fridge door, or at the kitchen sink.

Try this one:

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.

~ Christopher Reeve

A Few More Strong Quotes

• Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. ~ Lance Armstrong
• There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. ~ Bruce Lee
• Just go out there and do what you have to do. ~ Martina Navratilova
• Other people can stop you temporarily. You’re the only one who can do it permanently. ~ Zig Ziglar

Please share your motivational quotes with us in the comments below…

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"Great motivational material to absorb!! Thanks!" — Cindy Etier