Boost Your Winter Workout Motivation

The motivation to train in winter can be fleeting, even for the most dedicated gym girl.

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There’s nothing wrong with a duvet day or two, but the problem is that motivation is like a muscle.

If you don’t flex it often enough, it weakens. That’s right. Motivation can be strengthened and developed, but you need to have a plan in place to get that initial impetus for action when your willpower rebels against you.

Change your mindset

The source of our motivation and actions are, first and foremost, our thoughts. So, when we change our thoughts by making the conscious decision to clean up our mind and our thought processes, we will transform our actions. Studies in psychology have found a direct link between a person’s emotions and their levels of motivation. People who try to accomplish tasks with a negative mindset are far more likely to quit before accomplishing their goal than those who started out with positive thoughts. For this reason it is best to think about the positive aspects of your impending workout rather than any negatives. As an example, if you’re heading out for a long run or ride consider how good it will feel to get outdoors, with the wind and the warmth of the sun on your face, rather than how difficult it will be.

Inspire action

Visualisation is a powerful tool that can help get you into the right frame of mind and align your thoughts. A mood board, for example, will help you visualise what you’ll look and feel like once you have reached your goal, which will motivate you to get to work. A motivational mood board can include images of athletes or models who inspire you to reach your goals. Watching motivational or inspirational videos online can also help to get you going when motivation levels are low.