5 Secrets to Staying Motivated | Workout Tips that Work

Jenn Wong

January 28, 2015

Now that it’s almost the end of January, it’s getting tougher to stick to those health and fitness goals that you set for yourself when the clock struck midnight on December 31st. It’s easy to be motivated when you hit the ground running; the real trick is to stay in the race for the long haul. So we asked fitness guru and active living expert, Lorna Jane Clarkson, for some of her tips for staying active and motivated.

5 Tips for Active Living from Lorna Jane Clarkson

1. Lay out your activewear before you go to bed

lorna-jane Before going to bed at night, lay out your activewear for the next day’s workout. Treat it like a special occasion in that sense, think about what your going to be doing in your workout. If your going to go for a run, lay out a really cute singlet and a pair of running shorts and even go to the point of putting your headphones out. It looks almost like an Instagram shot! If you don’t workout the next morning, you still have to walk past this activewear and you feel bad about it. If you’ve gone to that effort to lay everything out, you’re more likely to get up in the morning and just do it.

2. Exercise in the morning

You’re less likely to make excuses if you exercise first thing in the morning because later on, your day gets in the way, something might happen with the kids or you’ll be busy at work. If you get exercise over and done with first thing in the morning you’re going to feel great for the rest of the day. And you’ve got less hours in the day to talk yourself out of it.

3. Do something, even if it’s not the workout you planned

Exercise no matter what. You might go to bed planning to do a weight session or a run, but when the alarm goes off and I think, “I’m so sore, I’m tired,” just make sure to do something anyway. We’ve all been there! If you’re feeling sore, instead go for a hike or do some yoga. With a lot of people, it’s all or nothing, whereas everything counts.

4. Commit to a friend or personal trainer

If you’re going to do it for you, do it for someone else too. If you go on a fitness journey with someone else, you’re less likely to let them down. When it’s friend, you feel like a bad person for letting them down. And your friend will hold you accountable! If it’s a trainer, often if you cancel you still have to pay. And it’s a trainer’s job to keep you motivated. If you’re perpetually cancelling, there will be repercussions. When you actually do turn up, you’re in for it.

5. Wear activewear

If you wear activewear, you are more active. It’s that simple. Many people who wear activewear in their day-to-day life don’t work out in it. But they are more active. They’re actually moving their bodies more. They might not be going to the gym or going for a run, but they might be walking to the shops or taking the stairs instead of the escalator. Because when you put sneakers on and activewear on, you will move your body. It’s a state of mind.