I’ve been lacking hardcore in the workout department lately. I’ve been thinking of what it is that really motivates me to actually workout. I’ve come up with a few reasons – here they are:
Tracking my progress. I write down every workout in a notebook. It’s pretty cool to be able to look back at how far I’ve come. In the moment it might not feel like I’ve made much progress, but when I see the numbers from a workout six months ago I know I’ve become faster and stronger. There’s also a couple sites that I really like too for tracking workouts.
Fitocracy. It’s basically gamifying (is that even a word?) Β fitness. Log your workout and you earn points. Get enough points and you level up. I’ve been known to do extra crunches and push-ups to earn the last 50 or 100 points to get to the next level. You can follow people, give them “props” when you think they’ve done a particularly impressive workout, and even join groups. Check out Fitocracy here.
Daily Mile. You track your workouts and it gives you all kinds of pretty graphs and stats. My favorite stat? How many donuts you’ve burned off. Plus add friends and see what they’re doing. Weekly emails with your progress for the last week always make me want to beat it by at least a little bit. Check out Daily Mile here.
Other people. If I know other people are depending on me to workout, I’m more likely to go. That goes for walks with friends and soccer games. It’s amazing how the accountability of other people keeps me on track. If you don’t have one already, I’d definitely recommend getting a workout buddy. Even if you only get together once a week it’ll help.
Now that you know what gets me working out, what’s your motivation?