After a stressful day at the office, there’s nothing more daunting than the idea of grabbing your gym clothes and going to work out – the idea of getting into your pajamas, crawling into bed and eating pizza sounds so much better (we have all been there). But as the warmer months draw closer, the dreaded swimsuit season is nearly upon us. When you fight through the fatigue and spend a little bit of time working out, you soon begin to feel a lot better. The achievement and the rush of endorphins are enough to keep you going, and before you know it you will be clock watching at work, raring to go to the gym!
Surround Yourself With Your Goals
A really effective way of motivating yourself and getting something drilled into your head is to surround yourself with visual aids. So make sure to plaster your desk and workstation with motivational quotes, body goal posters, post-it notes and anything else that will get you in the mood for a workout. It’s the same principle as cramming for an exam – think back to your days as a student, days before the exam, was your dorm room filled with sheets, pictures, diagrams and visual aids to study with? Did it work? Even if you don’t actively pay attention to the visual aids, subconsciously everything will be pushing you towards your Summer goal.
Never Skip Breakfast
This may seem like a really obvious thing to do, but it’s so easy to forget to have breakfast if you’re running late for work. Eating the right breakfast is the key to a better day – try to avoid pastries, fatty foods, and white bread. Instead, go for oatmeal, eggs, berries and peanut butter for slow burning energy and their fat-busing qualities. If you start your day off right, you will be sure to have more energy throughout the day.
Snack (…Yes, You Heard Right!)
Snacking is a favorite past time that we are all guilty of. Snacking right can actually be really good for you… yes you heard that right! But this doesn’t mean that you can sit at your desk munching on crisps and chocolate, instead replace these fatty and sugary foods with nuts, fruit, peanut butter and protein shakes so keep your energy levels up. If you eat too much saturated fat and refined sugars, then you will crash in the afternoon and end up feeling sluggish and drained. This feeling is a huge buzz kill and can make you less productive with your workload and less inclined to go to the gym afterward!
If you start to feel low on energy, get up from your desk and have a walk around, get a glass of water and snack on something nutritious and beneficial to your health. Keeping your energy levels up is the main goal here, so choose your snack wisely! There are great negative calorie snacks that keep you energized as well.
Dress To Impress
There’s nothing more exciting than buying new clothes and trying them on. Try to channel this new clothes excitement into your gym outfit. Swap out your grungy gym gear for something a little bit more exciting. Brands like BOY London, Nike and Fabletics are really stepping up their gym wear games and bringing out brightly colored, pretty patterned clothing that should really get you motivated to sweat.
If you can get excited about putting on your gym clothes, then that excitement will slowly start to be associated with going to the gym!
Set Goals And Reminders
If you’re quite competitive, then this could be a really good motivator for you! If you set specific goals, however simple they may be, for example finding the motivation to walk up to the gym doors, to a specific weight goal, to making it to your favorite yoga class. Goals should be personal and achieving these goals should be celebrated!
Remind yourself of why you are going to the gym in the first place, never compare yourself to somebody else and think about where you want to be in the future! For awesome beginner routines check out these ‘casual commitment’ workouts.
Use The Buddy System
Having a gym buddy really does make working out seem like less of a chore! Find somebody who will motivate you and get you excited for the gym and stick to them like glue! Together you can set your own goals, motivate each other, and force each other to go after a bad day at the office!
Don’t Overwhelm Yourself
Finally, it’s important to allow yourself recovery time. If you overexert yourself at the gym, then it will seem like more of a chore than it has to be. Try to avoid making the gym seem like a punishment, as this will massively demotivate you and all of your efforts will be wasted! Have a schedule and stick to it, this way you can have a guilt-free break, whilst achieving all the goals you set.
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