It’s winter. It’s cold. The days are shorter. It rains a lot. It seems like every day during the winter months you wake up, snooze your alarm once, twice, then three times. You tell yourself you’d workout in the morning but all you want to do is stay in the comfort & warmth of your blankets. When you leave your house, it’s dark outside. You spend the majority of your day at work or school (or both!) and when you leave, it’s just as dark as it was when you left in the morning. You know your summer body is made in the winter, but you wonder how people find motivation to get in a workout this time of year. If this sounds familiar, read on for some tips to help keep you motivated this season.
Here are six easy tips to keep you going:
1. Keep a routine
It’s so easy to keep hitting the snooze button on the alarm and stay in bed the extra 5 or 10 minutes but before you know it you’ve missed your workout! The more you think and find reasons to justify putting off the workout the more likely you are to miss it completely. Stick to a routine by scheduling your workouts for the week and if needed reward yourself with something afterwards - a coffee from your favorite coffee shop or protein shake from our shake bar!
2. Change up your workout routines
Keep things interesting by mixing up your workouts. Try new ways of exercising, add extra weight to workouts or try a different machine. Try out a new Group X class like Grit! Or sign-up for one of our Edge Strong Classes. By signing up and enrolling for these classes in advance you will be able to plan your workouts for the week and ensure that you won’t skip! Consistency is key.
3. Find some workout buddies
Bring a friend along! You'll help keep each other motivated will make it less likely one of you will cancel your workout. Research shows the benefits of working out with a friend or partner include more efficient workouts, happier relationships with your workout partner, & a higher likelihood of achieving your fitness goals. The mere presence of someone else affects your ability to do an activity. Even if you already feel competent doing a particular exercise, bringing along a partner, friend, or family member is a sure way to boost your energy output! Read more about that here. As an Edge Total member you get unlimited guests - bring a buddy to keep you motivated!
4. Treat yourself to new workout clothes
Nothing motivates more than feeling good so treat yourself to some nice new winter workout gear. Head to our Edge Gear store and stock up on some new Edge t-shirts, sweatshirts, and pants!
5. Stay on track with your diet and nutrition
Eating a nutritious diet will not only play a big role physically on your fitness journey, it will help mentally too. When you eat healthy foods, you are much more energized and ready for the day, which will encourage you to get out and work out. If you are eating unhealthy foods, you will feel lethargic and you won't have the energy to complete your work outs.
6. Set a goal
Setting attainable, smart goals will keep your motivation alive because it gives you something to work towards. If you’re not sure where to start, head to the front desk of your nearest Edge and take an InBody scan. This will give you a starting point of your body's makeup which includes a detailed breakdown of your weight in terms of muscle, fat, and water. From there you can determine what you would like to achieve and set your goal. As an Edge Fit or Total Member you get one free InBody scan per month – take advantage of these to keep checking in on your progress. Maybe you are not looking to lose weight, or build muscle but your goal is to run a marathon by June or be able to squat more weight… speak with one of our Edge Personal Trainers and they can give you tips and tricks on how to be successful – no matter your goal!
