10 Ways to Find Your Motivation to Work Out After Work
We’ve all been there. You’ve just left work, have your gym bag packed and sitting in the passenger’s seat next to you. The exit you take to get to your gym is fast approaching, but after the long, hard day you’ve just had, you can’t bring yourself to crank the wheel and take it. Your internal “Should I or shouldn’t I?” struggle continues until finally you have passed your gym’s exit and now the decision has been made for you. No workout after work…
Sometimes, after a long, stressful day, you just want to go home, lie on the couch and not move until it’s time for bed. The last thing you want to do is work out after work.
What can you do when you feel the “blahs” coming on and you just don’t feel like working out after work? Give a few of these ideas a try!
10 Tips to Work Out After Work
1. Open up your schedule. If you find yourself wanting to skip the gym because you are stressing about everything you have to do when you get home, ask for a little help. Have your significant other agree to prepare a healthy dinner, help the kids with homework or with anything else you may want to rush home to do. If you’re on your own, spend a little extra time in the morning or the night before to eliminate as many of your right-after-work responsibilities as possible.
2. Go to the gym immediately after work. Don’t stop at home to change or grab your stuff first. The more chances you give yourself to not go, the more likely you are to opt out, so pack a bag and go right after work. In fact…
Comments
I like to workout in the morning before work but these ideas definitely apply there as well!
I find the more that you do to make the process of getting to the gym as quick and painless as possible the better. That means that my lunch and breakfast are already made the night before and that I have my workout clothes and work clothes already picked out and ready to go.
That way it’s just get out of bed, in the car and into the gym!
Thanks for this article. I definitely need the motivation and a few of those are tips I hadn’t thought of before. Getting into my workout clothes is my biggest motivator.
Great tips Kelly! I really struggle with this, especially after an extra long day. Waking up an hour earlier to work out really isn’t an option for me, and the only time I do have during the week is after work. I’m going to start bringing my gym bag with me and changing into workout clothes at the office.
Sign up for an after-work class with friends! Surefire way to not only have fun, but also keep yourself accountable. My three friends and I are all going to boot camp after work tomorrow!
I’m a Master’s Student in Nutrition, and most of my clients respond better to working out BEFORE work- it wakes them up, and they usually have more motivation first thing in the morning when they haven’t had to be asserting their willpower all day at work- also, working out before work motivates them to continue making healthy choices throughout their days and they can go home and relax afterward! I think that, if working out after work is your only option, packing your gym bag and taking it to work with you and hitting the gym before going home is the best plan- it saves time and seeing your gym bag parked under your desk all day may motivate you more.
Also, if it isn’t possible to get an entire workout in before work, you can do half in the AM and half in the PM- for busy clients, this is often more manageable than one longer workout session.
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I agree with Morgan. I always always always workout in the morning. Not only do you feel better all day, but you also eat better all day and that is something that I, as a full-time office employee, need. It’s so easy to make bad choices and then the food just sits in your stomach, and for me working out in the morning helps to waive that feeling. Plus. I NEVER workout at night if I say I will – it plagues me all day and then I don’t end up doing it. If you have it in your to do it before work, I highly recommend it!
One of my biggest issues with working out after work is that I’m too hungry. So my main piece of advice, and the only thing that will get me to the gym after work is to have a healthy snack about 30 minutes before I leave work. If I forgot to bring food from home that morning to tide me over for my workout, I am definitely not making it to the gym that evening.
I have done three things to get active and I am going strong. I am thinner and in better shape than I was in college! 1) Ditched my car,the train, the bus–all other forms of transport–and BIKE everywhere all year round. Biking can be fun and fashionable and it makes you feel so good and happy every day. Here’s my inspiration for biking (even in in a skirt and heels- believe it!) http://www.letsgorideabike.com. 2) Joined classes that I pay for. I take yoga and martial arts. The fact that I pay for the classes and that they are at a set time each week when I am expected to be there is a major motivation. 3) Work out with friends. Friends make everything better. Great article!
I workout right after work. It helps that I found a gym that is on my route to home
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