Science-Based Psychological Tips to Boost Fitness Motivation

Motivation is such a fickle thing. One day you’re overflowing with it, the next it’s nowhere to be found. Now that the cold is settling in, the warmth of the bed seems more inviting than it’s ever been. Fitness motivation—or motivation to do anything at all honestly—has become even more elusive. 

The road to fitness seems so straightforward when you’re mapping it out. You identify your goals, think about a workout program and plot your schedule around your designated gym time. You prepare your gear and maybe even do a bit of meal prep so you don’t have to worry about food later. Now that you’re all set up all that’s left to do is the workout.

Photo grabbed from Tirachard Kumtanom

Then the time comes. It turns out it’s not that easy after all. It’s after-work hours and you want nothing more than to zombie-walk your way home and crash for the night. Or your alarm rings at 5 AM, and you open your eyes, but the bed’s gravitational pull is so intense that you never really manage to crawl out of it. 

Making plans to exercise is easy. It’s in the follow-through where people get stuck.

Motivation is a tricky business, and it’s the X-factor to any self-improvement plan—fitness or otherwise. It’s the difference between a fun workout session and a miserable one. For people who have a good grasp of how it works, finding fitness motivation is only a matter of harnessing that knowledge to their advantage. 

In this article, we’ll help you equip yourself with the knowledge you need to keep yourself motivated. This article explores a few workout motivation tips and the psychology behind them so that you can adapt them to other facets of your life.