It’s Monday morning. The same dreaded feeling creeps up again. You know your week is packed with challenges and various endeavors and you don’t know how they’re all going to pan out. Only one thing is for certain: you can’t start off your week like this – you have to get it right.
Getting a good workout on Monday can change your flow and help you start off your week with less stress, more energy and more confidence to tackle whatever upcoming tasks you have in store. The modern lifestyle can be hectic sometimes – and that’s why it’s vital to take care of ourselves to make sure we’re fit both physically and mentally, before we head off to perform and get work done.
Here are several true and tested Monday motivation tips, which I’ve found to be highly effective in getting me to work on my fitness while making sure my week starts off on the right note. I can wholeheartedly say that ever since implementing these in my life, I’ve never missed my Monday workout:
8 Monday Fitness Motivation Tips
Maximize your Alarm Clock
Set multiple alarms and move your alarm clock to the other side of the room where you’ll have to get out of bed to turn it off. On lazy days, you’ll probably hit snooze, but then it will go off again and you’ll have to get up again. When you’re up on your feet, it’s a lot easier to stretch, put on your workout clothes, and head to the gym for a Monday morning workout routine.
Make it a Date
A great motivator is having a workout buddy. Plan a rendezvous at the gym at 6 in the morning, the earlier the better. You’re less likely to cancel out on a gym day if you know that someone is counting on you to show up. There is a sense of responsibility when you have a fixed plan with someone who depends on you. When someone rests their trust in you, it is a lot easier to get out of bed, collect yourself and get your act together.
Make Friends at the Gym and Join Group Classes
“Working out on your own all the time is not a recipe for success,” says sports psychologist Costas Karageorghis. Group fitness classes allow for consistent, organized and supervised workout opportunities and provide an encouraging alternative for frequent exercise among adults who are not motivated by traditional sport or individual physical activities. Joining group fitness classes and making friends with the class regulars can help keep you motivated.
Getting support from others by exercising or training together can actually help you stay motivated, stick with your health and fitness goals, ensure safety and accountability and stay sociable. Friendly competition between your peers by the way, could also be a great motivator and a performance booster (just hit up a CrossFit class – you’ll know what I’m talking about in an instant). When you’re in a group, you wouldn’t want to be the participant to not show up. Having friends and joining a group inspires you to get up and move because you know they will wonder what happened to you if you miss a day at the gym, this kind of social responsibility is enough to get you out of bed and hit the gym.
I’d also add that there’s a special sense of camaraderie between gym mates who work out before the day has started. Find that group or partner, and see how your motivation skyrockets (along with your fitness gains!).
Set Clear Attainable Goals
Setting clear and attainable goals will help you to never skip a Monday workout. Goals are what give an activity meaning or purpose and that’s everything. If you don’t have a goal for exercising, chances are you’ll stumble through the week just getting a single routine done. That is why setting goals is the number one motivational factor to keep you training for sports or working out in fitness classes.
The book Advances in Motivation in Sport and Exercise suggests that we are intentional, rational, goal-directed organisms that attach value to our achievements through the goals we adopt. Each Sunday night before you go to bed, make your exercise schedule for the following week. Schedule your morning workout like you are setting an appointment. For example, a doable goal might be to alternate Yoga and gym classes five days a week including Monday morning.
Another good idea would be to make it personal – change up your personal target calorie burn for each class or make an attempt to hit a personal record you were always aiming for. You’ll find that you’ll be much more motivated to pursue your Monday morning workout routine if it is written down. If you don’t make it, don’t beat yourself up but do write down the reasons and make the necessary adjustment so it doesn’t happen again.
If you do not have a solid goal yet, it’s time to set one or two and be sure to achieve them.
Make it fun and change it up
Who wants to do something that they do not enjoy? You are more likely to be excited to get out of bed on a Monday morning if you are looking forward to the day’s activities. Get into sports or activities that you genuinely enjoy. To keep you from workout slump, change the routine which will give you new targets to hit. If conventional workouts do not appeal to you, visit fitness studios or enroll in group fitness classes like LesMills , Crossfit and TRX. A study revealed that those who repeat the same workout regimen whenever they exercise were more likely to stop than those who rotated 3 different regimens each week. Discover your hidden athletic talent with fitness classes or programs that you find fun, challenging and exciting.
Turn the music on
If you have an alarm clock that plays music, assign your favorite workout tunes as your alarm tone. This way, you’ll get worked up just by hearing your alarm and you are less likely to go back to bed. And even if you do go back to bed, your blood’s already pumping so you might as well hit the gym. Music and movement are particularly entangled in the brain so your choice of music can have great effects on your attitude towards workout and even amplify the effects of exercise. In a recent study, athletes reported purposefully listening to music to facilitate their performance and training. They stated that it improved their motivation, performance levels, flow and their positive affective states like happiness, alertness, confidence and relaxation. So if you are the type who gets pumped up by music, make a playlist that goes with the pace of your preferred exercise routine.
Here is a video that can get you going
Give yourself a reward
Having something to look forward to after a Monday workout bout can give you the jolt you need. It may be that really creamy and luscious latte at the end of the month if you complete all Monday workout classes. Learn to pat yourself on the back after a job well done. After a workout session, pause and savor the positive energy that it gave you. This can help you stay committed to consistent exercise because of the general sense of well-being you gain from it. Material rewards like a new pair of shoes (maybe new workout shoes?) or a full body spa are great token rewards, too. When you achieve a longer-term goal in your workouts or if you exceeded your set targets, go treat yourself to something you love. Allowing yourself to feel satisfaction at your bodily pursuits, is key to keeping you consistent in your fitness regime.
Sign a pledge and pay up
Study shows we are more inclined to follow through with commitments when we make them in front of friends or when we have a signed binding contract with penalty. In fact, some health decision science studies of people who made online contracts revealed that people who signed lengthy contracts ended up exercising more than their peers who signed shorter pledges. It could be as simple as a contract saying you’ll do a full exercise class every Monday morning for one month and if you don’t make it, you’ll have to pay your friends $10 for each Monday you missed. Actually, even the humiliation of not being able to live up to your word amongst friends is enough to keep you from missing a Monday morning workout. Don’t ever be “that guy”.
Find what personally works for you, and stick to it. Leave what doesn’t serve your Monday morning fitness motivation. Always remember that exercise is something you do for life and it is a lifestyle. Feel free to go through these practical hacks whenever you feel your motivation dropping and keep track of what works best for your goals.
See you at the gym!
