6 ways to get your fitness motivation back on track

Whether you’re a beginner or you workout regularly, it can sometimes be hard to find your fitness motivation. It could be lots of things keeping you away from donning your trainers – the lure of that unmissable Netflix series, a catch-up with friends or just some time out from a hectic lifestyle. So to help get you back in the zone, I’ve written down all the things that have helped me bounce back over the years…

Start small 

The reason most people fail when starting any new resolution or fitness goal is that they try and do too much at once. Instead, set yourself one goal each month and plan steps to achieve it, for example; if your day job is  office based (home based currently with lockdown) set yourself a goal to ‘move more’ throughout the day. Start small with lunchtime walks or get up from your desk every hour and make a herbal tea etc. 

Small changes daily, weekly or monthly will make a big difference overall. The feeling of achieving those smaller goals will be the motivation you need to become routine.

Have a backup plan

Life often gets in the way of working out or plans to workout, for me anyway. I’ve found that having a backup plan works well. If you can’t make it to the gym for whatever reason, have a YouTube video saved to do a home workout. If you can, plan your workouts weekly with two options. 

So for me, each week I will aim to fit in 3 weight training workouts, 2 cardio days. For cardio I will plan to run, hike or climb outdoors, however on bad weather days I will switch this to indoor climbing, treadmill and rowing in the gym. Don’t let anything get in the way of your training.

Finding the time

“I don’t have time to workout” is probably the most used excuse I’ve heard. As the saying goes ‘there are 24 hours in a day and it only takes one hour to fit in a workout.’ Okay this is easier said than done in real life sometimes, especially if you have kids or work long  hours, but if you really want to get fitter and be the best version of ‘you’ then you need to commit to finding the time. No excuses!

You aren’t restricted to the gym, there are so many other ways to get fit! Get up an hour earlier, do some exercises while watching tv, have walking phone calls, take the kids to the park and run around with them or do a 20 minute home HIIT workout during nap time. Before making excuses for why you can’t workout, remind yourself of why you want to get fit.

Meal Prep or order ready-made

Healthy eating is half the battle when it comes to keeping on track with your fitness goals. I’ve hear people say all the time that it’s ‘80% diet and 20% exercise’, and while this is true in the sense that you can put hours of graft in at the gym but if you go home and eat takeaways you wont see results, but I would still disagree with the statement. When it comes to losing/gaining weight, it all comes down to calories in vs calories out – so if you consume more calories than you need/burn in a day then you will gain wight, it’s as simple as that.

For any type of fitness goal, meal prepping is key! Plan your meals in advance to keep your diet in check and if you’re struggling to find the time to meal prep (or just need something to give you a kick start) find a meal prep delivery service. There are so many good options out there now, but having tried quite a few myself, I would highly recommend Nourish Fit Food as it’s the freshest by far. They offer a variety of fresh, delicious and healthy meals, with locally sourced and nutritious produce.

Sidestep Soreness

Post workout soreness is inevitable when starting any new training plan, but don’t let this put you off working out again the next day, just ensure you warm up and cool down after every workout (I do 5 mins treadmill for this) and plan enough rest days in the week. 

I swear by Yoga and foam rolling for muscle tension, I suffer with back pain from sitting at a desk all day and I tend to carry most of my soreness in this area. Once per week I do a gentle Yoga flow and the morning after most workouts I will spend 5 to 10 minutes using a foam roller or ball on sore and tense muscles. They are relatively cheap to buy, I got mine from My Meglio as they are experts in sports physio products. You can also find them cheap on amazon or ebay, however I would recommend buying from a reputable company as the quality is so much better.

Upgrade your gear

The thing that never fails to motivate me to workout is buying new gym gear, and it really does make a difference to your performance and recovery if you have the right tools for the job. I’d say the most important item you need to choose carefully is footwear. For example, if you are running outdoors then get a proper pair of running shoes, as without proper support you can be prone to injury. 

For running outdoors or on the treadmill I wear the 361 Strata 4 trainers, they’re cushioned and durable for running and feature an ortholite sockliner for optimum comfort. I was looking for a shoe designed for outdoor running as I suffer with stiff calves and sore heels, I’ve worn these for around 2 months now and they’ve been great – no post run soreness.

For trail running, I wear Salomon Sense Ride 3 and Supercross GTX as these have pronounced lugs to the sole to help you get to grips with tricky, wet, muddy conditions – so ideal for trail, fell and mountain running! I tend to wear these for normal runs outside when it’s raining too as they are so comfortable and perform really well on wet ground.

When choosing kit for training, don’t just buy the next big trendy product being promoted all over Instagram, think about what you actually need, always research and read reviews before making a purchase.

Use a fitness tracker

My fitness watch is the one thing that always keeps me on track, or helps me get back on track with my goals when I’m feeling demotivated. I’ve written previously about how to get the most out of your fitness tracker, but the two main ways I use it for motivation are;  

1. Setting Goals: I review my workouts weekly and set goals for the week ahead, you should only ever be in competition with yourself. If I run for 5K one week in 40 minutes, then I will aim to get this down by 5 minutes the next. 

2. Getting in the zone: most watches have a heart rate monitor or some way of showing you the intensity of your performance, this is a great way to keep a check on the pace of your workout. If your goal is to lose fat like mine is, then this is great for keeping your heart rate in the fat burning zone or giving you a push to work harder during your workout.

However, please remember that all fitness trackers are different, and just because someone else posted their stats on Instagram saying they burned 500 calories during one workout and you only burned  200, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re working harder. 

I’ve tested fitness trackers from most brands now including Fitbit, Withings, Apple and HONOR, and each one gave me different results. Once I even wore two different trackers at once during a workout just to test it and they each said I’d burned different calories. So, do not let the tracker determine how you feel about your workout.

By following even one of these steps, you will feel a lot more motivated to get back training! Follow my fitness page on Instagram for more tips or if you have anything to add DM me 🙂