Motivation, 6 simple things I do.

They’re Simple, I promise.

1. Have a set time of day you will workout, pre-decided the day before. Have it already worked in your schedule, as if it were a meeting. Do everything you can to aim for that time. Start the day already decided and dedicated to that specific workout. If you don’t go to sleep the night before with it already in your schedule, and the decision already made.. the likelihood of you “finding” time to do it is way low. Life is crazy busy for all of us! But we all have the same 24 hours in a day. Make taking care of your body one of YOUR priorities. 

2. Have a workout routine already planned from beginning to end BEFORE you start. Before you go into game mode, have a routine figured out! My favorite workout structure looks something like this:

Warm up: 10 minutes

Weight Lifting: 30 minutes 

High Intensity Interval Training: 10-20 minutes

**Feel free to apply this layout to your daily workouts. It’s what has worked magic for me and leaves me feeling MOST satisfied every workout session! During a workout it is VITAL to Keep Moving! When you feel destroyed, don’t let yourself rest for more than 15-20 seconds. Keep your momentum going!

3. During workout, (specifically HIIT) have a timer going ALWAYS. Either to track how long it takes you OR a set amount of time you give yourself to do that workout, where you do as many reps as you can in that time. I love this method for many reasons: 1. I feel my intensity BOOM when I am being timed. I am way competitive with myself.. so I constantly chase myself throughout the workout to push harder and faster. 2. It helps me gage my performance throughout the workout. I can recognize how long it takes me to do that Burpee and how much quicker I need to move to hit my goal time. 3. It literally becomes like a game in my head! I decide a goal time I want to finish by (if its a routine set for time) and I RACE to hit that goal. Then when you do hit that goal you feel such powerful accomplishment energy for the rest of the day and you literally feel like you can do anything! It is so empowering. *Note* You have to be realistic with yourself when setting these goals. 4. I can track my progress as I grow and become stronger and perform that same or similar workout later on! And seeing yourself REALLY grow and become better is more motivating than any fancy picture with a wise quote on it. For real. YOU become your most powerful motivation. 

4. Have something to boost your energy before like a good healthy pre-workout or natural energy booster. Stay away from the artificial stuff.. Choose this one wisely. I personally perform so much better with much more intense focused energy when I have a pre-workout drink. If that’s not for you, no biggie- don’t do it! 🙂 However, if you do decide to use a pre-workout.. be picky. Do your homework and find a solid safe one. There’s some crazy pre-workouts out there, but that doesn’t mean they are ALL bad. I have had awesome results from Transparent Labs Lean Pre-workout. As long as I take it a half hour before my workout I feel really focused and energized! And it didn’t make my energy drop really low after either, which is super important to me! It hasn’t hurt my stomach or anything at all either! I’ve used it for a few months now! If you use the code “FlatAbs10” you’ll get 10% off! Click Here to check it out!  

5. This may sound silly but… Be in workout clothes, shoes and everything. Even if you’re just at home. It’s a psych thing. This really helps me focus. I understand if you are on the go and have to do an exercise quick in your jeans, by all means DO IT! But on a regular basis, getting into exercise attire really helps your mind focus in and shut out all the other distractions. They are there. Those distractions will bombard you, so doing all you can to focus your energy and mind is important. 

6. If you can- have a buddy! You’ve probably heard this before.. so Legitimately, DO IT. Having someone who is expecting you makes a HUGE difference. Or even just having a general group of people helps! This expectation puts a little flag in your brain and moves the activity into the “Priorities” category. This REALLY helps to get you OUT the door! Even if you start out going alone, MAKE friends! Develop relationships that you look forward to interacting with everyday! Plus, having a community, support system really does beautiful things to your energy levels during your actual workout! 

These are all the things that I ACTUALLY do. Not research. These little simple things are what have transformed the quality of my exercise. It doesn’t matter how much time you spend in the gym, it is the WHAT you are doing in the gym Never spend more than an hour in the gym a day. If you are, you are taking way to many rests and breaks between exercises and sacrificing your intensity.. and Intensity and Consistency are KEY when exercising.

I truly and genuinely hope this helped you guys. I love you! 

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