3 Steps to Workout Motivation, According to Experts

Scroll through any social media platform, and within seconds you’ll be face-to-face with a “fitfluencer” claiming to have the thing you need to find your workout motivation. From “habit stacking” to “sweating with your besties,” advice can leave you scratching your head, and no closer to working out.

Here’s the thing—finding and keeping motivation to work out can be achieved with the help of just three simple steps. Ahead, exercise psychologists and psychotherapists whittle it down to just three easy steps. 

3 Steps to Workout Motivation, According to Experts

Your workout motivation might currently feel as hard to find as a partner on a dating app. But after you read this article you’ll know exactly how to motivate yourself to work out in just three easy-to-follow steps. 

1. Find Your Big Why

Quick: Think about the lifestyle you want to lead 10, 20, 30, or more years from now. Now ask yourself: “How can a health and wellness practice leading up to those years help me achieve that life?” 

Whether you picture yourself climbing Mount Kilimanjaro with your soulmate, envision yourself building a sustainable house by hand with your polycule, or see yourself playing Legos on the floor with your grandkids, the hard facts are that a regular movement practice can help you build up the strength, mobility, and cardiovascular capacity you need to do the things you imagine.

A habitual movement practice can help you work towards sound health, says Sharon Gam, PhD, CSCS, an exercise physiologist and certified strength and conditioning coach. “It’s all about finding your ‘Big Why’ for getting fitter and healthier in the long-term.”

It also can be helpful to remember all the health benefits of regular exercise, says Katherine Williams, CPT, a certified trainer and integrative health practitioner with ThriveWell. “Regular exercise has a number of health benefits, including weight maintenance, lower blood pressure, stress management, improved cardiovascular health, and improved mood.”

2. Set a SMART Goal

Now that you have your long-term goal in place, it’s time to come up with a short-term goal, says Gam. “This is the overall result or thing you want to achieve in a timely manner.”

Depending on your particular fitness interest, this goal could involve anything from strength gains and weight loss, to the number of competitions you’ll complete in, the type of race you’ll run, or your gym frequency. Once you have a blueprint of your goal, it’s time to fill in the details.

“Rather than just writing a goal, you want to write something called a SMART goal,” says Rebecca Capps, LMFT, licensed psychotherapist, mindset coach, and founder of Mind Body Thrive.

For those unfamiliar with the acronym, SMART stands for goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. The idea is that SMART goals provide a framework for achieving your goals. Here’s how to set a SMART goal.

Specific

• Take a peek at your goal, and make sure that it is narrowed-in as much as possible, says Capps. “Your goal should be well-defined and clear, leaving no room for ambiguity.”
• Rather than giving yourself the goal of signing up for a CrossFit competition, for example, take some time to research and find the specific CrossFit competition you are going to sign up for. Or, at the very least, pick a month in which you will achieve this goal.
• Similarly, rather than setting a goal to do more yoga, you might specify how many minutes of yoga you want to do per week. You also could pick a specific cluster of poses you’d like to master. 

Measurable

• Quantifiable measurements such as pounds, days, or times per week will make it easier to determine when your goal has been reached—as well as how far away from it you are at any given point, Capps says. “A goal should include criteria that allows you to track your progress or adherence to that goal.”
• As a general rule, Gam suggests picking a particular weight, timeframe, or frequency that you have a very high likelihood of adhering to or hitting. Especially at the start of your fitness journey, you want to choose goals that you have an 80 percent likelihood of hitting, she says.

Achievable

• No doubt, there is a time and place for aiming high. But if you are trying to increase fitness motivation, Capps warns against aiming too high. “Setting an unattainable goal can lead to frustration.”
• Worse, if someone implements all of the important steps toward achieving their goal, but still misses it, it can create a sense of failure that ultimately leads them to quit, rather than persevere, she says. 
• That doesn’t mean you should low-ball yourself, though. Instead, you’d be wise to think critically about how realistic your goal is. What qualifies as an attainable goal is going to vary based on factors such as your health status, current fitness level, your age, training plan, and more.
• If you have access to a health or fitness professional, you should ask them for help. Otherwise, keep in mind that healthy weight loss is considered one pound (or less) per week and most people take up to three months to notice real muscle mass or strength gains. Likewise, you shouldn’t increase your running distance by more than 10 percent at a time. 

Relevant

• Take a moment to circle back to your “Big Why.” Hopefully, your short-term goal and long-term goal are aligned, says Capps. “You want to make sure that your current goal is relevant to your overall purpose or mission.”
• If you are currently at a body fat percentage that may put you at an increased risk for cardiovascular issues, setting a goal to lose 20 pounds this year contributes to your overall goal of improving your health.
• Meanwhile, if you want to be able to live independently as you age, setting a goal to increase your overall strength and hit a heavy deadlift amount also contribute to that goal. After all, strength is correlated with prolonged independence.

Time-Bound

• Every goal needs a timeframe for completion, says Capps. “Adding a deadline to the goal makes it more tangible and provides a sense of accountability.”
• It also helps create a sense of urgency that can propel you to go to the gym or lace up your shoes—even on the days you’re not otherwise motivated to do so, she says. To add a time period into your goal, thoughtfully consider tacking on any of the following to what you currently have written: 
• By X month
• Before X event
• Through the end of X month or season
• Until the start of X time 

3. Find a Kind of Movement You Enjoy

People who work out consistently have found a type of exercise that they love, says Gam. In fact, many of the people who exercise frequently aren’t the most motivated.

“It takes a tremendous amount of sheer will and mental energy to force yourself to do something you hate,” she says. In all likelihood, you’ll eventually run out of this type of energy and give up.

“[But] it doesn’t take sheer will, motivation, or discipline to do something that you actually enjoy,” she says.

If a particular fitness class or exercise modality does not immediately come to mind, experiment until you find one.  If you’re not quite sure where or how to test different exercise routines, consider the following: 

• If you have a Peloton or the Peloton app, try all the different class types.
• Do a different YouTube workout every day until you find an instructor you like.
• Sign up for the trial week (or month) membership at a variety of boutique gyms.
• Play plus-one to each of your friends’ exercise routines.
• Make a list of every activity you’ve always wanted to try, then do at least one each week.
• Try every group-fitness class your gym offers.

Once you have found a particular type of exercise or exercise environment that you enjoy, you’ve found the movement practice that should make up the heart of your exercise routine. Later, after you have an exercise routine established that you’re able to stick to—even on your low motivation days—Gam suggests rounding out your routine with whatever strength, mobility, or cardiovascular training it might be missing.

For instance, if you discover you love yoga and have a three-day-a-week yoga routine, you might decide to add in one day of heart rate training. Meanwhile, if your routine involves hitting the treadmill, you could add in a weekly pit-stop in the strength room or use some hand weights at home. 

Just make sure pleasure is the leading emotion, says Gam. “You may not enjoy every part of the exercise you add in, but if you can identify one or two things you do enjoy, you’re more likely to keep going back for more.”