Everyone knows that working out has major benefits for your physical and mental health. Doing sports can relieve stress, make you look and feel better, prevent diseases, improve your health, give you some fun alone time and much more.

So if everyone is aware of all the advantages of working out, why do many people feel like they are not doing it enough?

The answer can be lack of time, injuries, fear of failing and so on. However, one of the main reasons is motivation issues.

Before we get into the factors that influence motivation, we need to understand the types of motivation: intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.

Intrinsic motivation is your internal desire to get something done, accomplish something or simply win. It does not matter what anyone else thinks or what the prize is because you are doing it for yourself. Athletes who are intrinsically motivated believe they can control the outcome by the effort they put in, luck is not a factor and they want to be the best in what they do.

Extrinsic motivation refers more to the rewards an individual gets when they reach a certain goal. This can be prize money, a trophy or simply a confirmation of one’s accomplishment or a tap on the shoulder. Extrinsic motivation can also apply when a person tries to prevent punishment. Too much extrinsic motivation can lead to a decline in intrinsic motivation since the subject learns that a reward is always waiting. Also, a person may not even really enjoy the activity but will do it anyway since a reward is waiting.

Motivation theories have been widely studied and many more factors apply in this field of study. However, let’s move on to why and how you motivate yourself.

Someone who trains for a race may be motivated either way. A person training for the beach season as well. For example, if you want to accomplish looking better for yourself it would be intrinsic. If you want people to notice you being in better shape and maybe get a compliment, it is extrinsic.

Now does this really matter? Yes it does... Depending on your goal and reasons, you need to be motivated differently - whether it’s by your trainer or yourself.

A few ways to motivate yourself to go work out:

• Share the experience with friends
• Do group classes
• Get a trainer to motivate and/or push you
• Take a before and after picture
• Take out those old jeans that don’t fit anymore
• Wear a heart rate monitor and keep a training log to track your improvements
• Set small realistic goals for yourself and take small steps to accomplish them
• Think about your long term health and what you want to do later in your life
• For experienced athletes: the ‘Runners High’ by endorphin production
• Think about how good you will feel after your workout/class
• Give yourself rewards if you accomplish a good training session
• Visualize yourself reaching your goal over and over again
• ...

Not everyone enjoys certain activities as much as others but remember Henry Ford’s quote: “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right!”

We hope this helps you find your own motivation!

Tags: motivation, will, strength, Training