5 Gym Motivation Tips for Winter

5 Gym Motivation Tips for Winter

We have been really struggling to stay motivated at the moment, now that the weather has started to really turn cold, and it is dark pretty much all the time! Keeping consistent with exercise is hard for everyone this time of year, as you just want to cuddle up on the sofa and eat chocolate! (well we do anyway!!). The first thing we realised is…… there's nothing wrong with that!!! It’s natural to crave heartier foods this time of year, but it's still great to keep the body active! We have found a few ways to keep motivated through the winter, we’re not perfect, but have found these tips work well for us!!

So here we go!

1. Get a gym buddy
We’ve found a gym buddy really helps us to stay motivated! It means you have to plan your sessions and..... you also have to stick to them! If you plan ahead, get your sessions booked in for that week with your buddy you can then start the mental preparation!!

It also means you’ve got your week worked out, you know what you are doing, which makes it that bit harder to back out of!! Another huge plus to having a buddy is that on days you feel a bit rubbish and uninspired, they will hopefully spur you on with encouragement to go together!

If you don’t have a gym buddy, booking in classes is another way of committing to your active week, as again it's not as easy to cancel a gym class! And, who ever regretted going to the gym??



2. What works for You!
This is one of our best tips! Work out what works for you!!! Some people can’t think of anything worse than an early morning gym session - that's ok!!! We’ve tried loads of different training times to find what works best for us, and unfortunately it's not generally mornings!!! But thats fine! You’ve got to enjoy the gym and feel like your on it, rather than just ‘getting through it’ otherwise whats the point!!!! So be mindful of when during the day you feel most energised and inspired to exercise, and try and work around that, as chances are you’ll get a lot more out of you work out!




3.Dress the Part.
The truth is there's no such thing as bad weather, only bad clothing choices. We know this all too well! There’s nothing worse than being in the gym and being really uncomfortable in your clothing! Whether it be unsightly sweat patches (we’ve 100% been there!), legging malfunctions whilst mid squat (also been there!!) or freezing your butt off when going for an outdoor run!

This is a great excuse to buy yourself some good gym wear! And another plus side, new gym clothes are a great excuse to go and do some exercise!!! It always works for us!!


4.Change it Up.
You’ve finally made it to the gym, that's the hardest part done! You’ve got there and now you don’t know what to do……or your super un-inspired by your normal routine! Change it up! If you cant face your normal hiit session this week, try something new, if you’ve been struggling with energy levels and stress, maybe try a yoga or pilates class?

Boxing is another great stress reliever!! (a defo fave of ours!!) Exercise comes in many forms, even a long walk in the evening still counts and it also helps to digest your dinner!



5.Set a Goal.
If you are finding that you are a bit de-motivated at the gym try setting a goal to work towards - like being able to do a full press up, or pull up!

Make sure it's something realistic that you can work up to in stages. For example a pull-up - You can work up to this by using tension bands to support your weight, as you gain strength and technique you can gradually reduce them till eventually, you've hit your goal and you can do a full pull up!! Another goal setting tip.... don’t make huge crazy goals!!! Its easier to work towards smaller goals that you can build on over time.

If you want to improve on your running you could start by wanting to be able to run 5k - hit this, then work on getting your time down, when you get this goal, maybe then try for 10k??


Thanks for reading, and hope you find this useful!! We would love to know if you have any great tips for staying motivated over winter, or if any of these work for you!
xx