What do u tell urself during a workout??

Untilproud11

Hello all ! Today was my second day working out after stpping for years due to knee injury and lack of motivation...I felt horrible so out of breath and it was just a 20 min routine! To be honest I don't like to work out at all...but i got to a point where my body really needs it , how do you keep urself motivated to finish ur daily workouts ? What do u tell urself during a workout? I need a push really bad -tips welcome-

Stats
5'1
Sw185lbs
Cw144lbs
Gw135lbs
30y/o
Female

Stuck at 140's forever now
Take metformin 850mg 2xday for pcos and insulin resistance

Kst76

At the gym I listen to music while I run, and watching Greys Anatomy while on the stair climber.

Courtscan2

There are so many different ways to workout and be active....if you hate what you are doing, try something different until you find something you enjoy doing. Try walking, swimming, bike riding, cross fitting - anything that strikes your fancy. I hate cardio machines at the gym. Loathe them, so I don't do them. I hate aerobics and group fitness classes. I love weight training and running outside. I love hiking. I do what I love and avoid what I hate.

gymprincess1234

My personal pep talks:
You will thank yourself later
5 more minutes ( I split my cardio in 5min intervals of different resistances and inclines )

But otherwise I have a very motivating playlist and I enjoy my workouts, especially spinning and body weight exercises.

Nathanmmx

Find something you enjoy and it will almost be like fun. Then set yourself little challenges along the way.

I use the elliptical trainer most and give myself little challenges each time I use it, eg calorie goal, time goal or even to beat my best workout.

Sure, it can be boring at times, especially when you do a long session but I promise you will always be glad you did it when you finish

bbell1985

I tell myself a couple things...

"You're not small. You're fat and strong. You put this weight on your back and stand back up with it, because it's nothing"

"Your body is a machine. Keep breathing. Keep going"


"You WILL not fail. You ate waffle fries yesterday. Use the waffle fries.".

genchiyu

I'm mostly on the treadmill. I tell myself:

"You're fat and you're ugly. Lose the weight!"
"...run for a minute, then take a 30 second break."
"If you want to see her again, then you better keep running!"
"Why do you suck?"

*calories burned shows at 536cal.* "Go to 550!"

*calories burned shows at 551cal.* "You missed the mark. Go to 600!"

kelly_e_montana

Honestly I don't have to tell myself anything because I've learned to choose things that I actually enjoy. I hike. I compete in powerlifting. I like ice skating. I enjoy swimming and Pole Fitness. I love yoga. Basically just do things like get you moving that don't make you dread doing them. If you do something that you find fun, it will never seem like a chore.

bendyourkneekatie

As a distance runner, there are all sorts of distractions and tricks, podcasts and music and breaking runs into smaller components (2 km into a 32km run, telling myself I just have to do that 15 more times, at 4 km I'm already 1/8 of the way there etc) but honestly:
I accept the pain. I accept the boredom. I continue because I choose to. I have decided I am going to do "x" and so I will.

And the more you do it the more you remember how quickly it passes and then you've finished and felt awesome with your achievement. patience and tolerance of pain/discomfort and boredom are muscles that need to be trained just like any others. Each time you'll get better and each time will be easier.

1houndgal

mita271 wrote: »

Hello all ! Today was my second day working out after stpping for years due to knee injury and lack of motivation...I felt horrible so out of breath and it was just a 20 min routine! To be honest I don't like to work out at all...but i got to a point where my body really needs it , how do you keep urself motivated to finish ur daily workouts ? What do u tell urself during a workout? I need a push really bad -tips welcome-

Stats
5'1
Sw185lbs
Cw144lbs
Gw135lbs
30y/o
Female

Stuck at 140's forever now
Take metformin 850mg 2xday for pcos and insulin resistance

I swim for my workouts. What I tell myself is what Dory said. "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming".

bbell1985

kelly_e_montana wrote: »

Honestly I don't have to tell myself anything because I've learned to choose things that I actually enjoy. I hike. I compete in powerlifting. I like ice skating. I enjoy swimming and Pole Fitness. I love yoga. Basically just do things like get you moving that don't make you dread doing them. If you do something that you find fun, it will never seem like a chore.

I enjoy the things I do too. You never have an internal monologue though?

middlehaitch

I've never found a routine or exercise I love, so I try lots of things, including classes.
(ETA: I do love the visual results, and what I can do, now I have a good fitness level)

I tell my self 'an hour a day, that is all. 1 hour out of 24.'

When I'm lifting, I go in with my list on a scrap of paper and don't look at the clock until I'm finished. It's usually 60-90 min.

It's worked since Jan 2009 so I'm sticking with it.

Cheers, h.

crackpotbaby

I do a bit of, ‘sure ... you can quit anytime you want. No one’s stopping you. No one will even know (or care) if you don’t finish your run/workout/whatever. You want to stop then go for it ...’

Usually enough to make me grit in and remember I am choosing to keep going.

Untilproud11

Thank you all ur very inspiring:)

Machka9

I usually think about what I've got to next ... what I've got to do on my university homework project, or a work project, or a personal home project.

In other words, I go for a walk or run or get on the bicycle, and one of the first things is a mental freeflow where I think about whatever happens to pop in my mind. And once that is complete, I settle into thinking through and planning whatever project I happen to be working on.

That's one of the reasons I love walking and cycling ... and don't mind running.

About the only exercise I can think of where I'm more "in the moment" is spinning class. It's hard to think about other things in a good spinning class.
.

h1udd

On days that I lift .. its against the clock so to speak, my kid gets up at 6:30am ... I have to be finished by that time, its motivation enough to bust out the reps and the sets, it stops me from picking up the phone, it pushes me onwards as I know I have to work to get the lifts in on time !

Cardio days ... they are a lot easier .. thanks to gamification of online cycling, its all the motivation you need, you are either in a race and pushing to not get dropped, OR you are in a group workout and stopping would let the other 40 people know you quit. .... or even individual workouts thanks to the ERG producing automatic resistance and countdowns to the next section the only thing I say to myself is the constant narration of how much time I have left, my heartrate, cadence .. etc

Machka9

bbell1985 wrote: »

kelly_e_montana wrote: »

Honestly I don't have to tell myself anything because I've learned to choose things that I actually enjoy. I hike. I compete in powerlifting. I like ice skating. I enjoy swimming and Pole Fitness. I love yoga. Basically just do things like get you moving that don't make you dread doing them. If you do something that you find fun, it will never seem like a chore.

I enjoy the things I do too. You never have an internal monologue though?

Sometimes I have to bribe my legs with gummy worms and post-ride ice creams.

I offer them a gummy worm if they'll get me up the next hills ... they'll negotiate for more ...

Once all I had to offer was a banana. My legs weren't pleased. They prefer gummy worms.

Golferdrone

Conditioning your body takes time. Be careful you are not comparing to before your injury. As others indicated, find something you enjoy. Look around at others, the majority f the population don’t enjoy being active. The time will move on regardless, be big and out of shape, or be fit. Only you can decide that you want this.

amusedmonkey

Not much, I'm usually too busy watching my favorite shows or listening to audio books. When I feel uncomfortable if I increase my intensity in interval training "remember when you could barely walk? Go you! You got this!"

I would rather not do workouts I don't like for more than a few minutes. I dislike strength training so I break it up into shorter workouts daily instead of longer workouts a couple of days a week and tell myself "You can muscle it through these 15 minutes, your runs - which you enjoy - will be better for it and you will lower your chances of injury so you can continue running".

TavistockToad

genaquino wrote: »

I'm mostly on the treadmill. I tell myself:

"You're fat and you're ugly. Lose the weight!"
"...run for a minute, then take a 30 second break."
"If you want to see her again, then you better keep running!"
"Why do you suck?"

*calories burned shows at 536cal.* "Go to 550!"

*calories burned shows at 551cal.* "You missed the mark. Go to 600!"

and do you find the negative self talk helpful?

would you speak to someone else like that to 'motivate' them? sounds pretty miserable to me.

anyWendy

mita271 wrote: »

Hello all ! Today was my second day working out after stpping for years due to knee injury and lack of motivation...I felt horrible so out of breath and it was just a 20 min routine!

In addition to the great advice to find exercise you enjoy, you might lower your intensity for a bit while you build your fitness level back up.

Growing up with asthma, I hate the feeling of being short of breath, but I've found I can get a great workout without ever feeling short of breath. Just slow down/ lower your intensity until you catch your breath, but keep moving. You've got this!

My self talk: I'm doing this! I didn't think I could, but I am. Look how much stronger I've gotten! I'm not doing this for anyone else. I'm doing this for me. I'm worth it.

LivingtheLeanDream

I keep telling myself its just another 5...10 mins...etc and just keep pushing through/keep going. Mostly I keep my workouts to around 30 mins so I don't get bored.

tirowow12385

I just stick to light weights so I'm able to finish my workouts and enjoy it, after 2 months, I'm toning nicely all over.

As far as cardio, I started with walking, I couldn't do more than 2000 per day, now I can regularly do 10k easily, I've moved on from that and am jogging, again, started at no jog and now I'm doing the couch to 5k.

I mostly avoid bodyweight exercises for now but I can see myself dabbling with it doing pull ups and all that a couple months from now when I'm out of the obesity weight range.

I don't talk or motivate myself during a workout.

Lean59man

I usually time my sets with a stopwatch.

I read a book or magazine between sets.

Lois_1989

genaquino wrote: »

I'm mostly on the treadmill. I tell myself:

"You're fat and you're ugly. Lose the weight!"
"...run for a minute, then take a 30 second break."
"If you want to see her again, then you better keep running!"
"Why do you suck?"

*calories burned shows at 536cal.* "Go to 550!"

*calories burned shows at 551cal.* "You missed the mark. Go to 600!"

I find this upsetting, you should encourage yourself, not beat yourself up. The more you tell yourself that, the more you will believe it and that will be a harder problem to fix than weightloss.

Lounmoun

Many times I have told myself to go at my pace and it is okay to do less to begin with. If something is too hard right now it does not mean it always will be. It is okay to do a 10 minute workout instead of 20-30 minutes today. It is okay to walk .5 miles or 5000 steps a day this week and a little more next week. I will get there gradually. "Rome wasn't built in a day."

Telling myself I am almost done. I'm doing great. I did a thing I couldn't do before.

Listening to music or a podcast helps distract me.
Having a workout partner can be motivating sometimes. Other times it is annoying.

mmapags

bbell1985 wrote: »

kelly_e_montana wrote: »

Honestly I don't have to tell myself anything because I've learned to choose things that I actually enjoy. I hike. I compete in powerlifting. I like ice skating. I enjoy swimming and Pole Fitness. I love yoga. Basically just do things like get you moving that don't make you dread doing them. If you do something that you find fun, it will never seem like a chore.

I enjoy the things I do too. You never have an internal monologue though?

Nah, I don't personally. For me, it's just a habit that supports my goals. I just do it. During a set I'm thinking about good form and getting the most out of the lift. But overall, I listen to music or a podcast and just kind of cruise. Nothing more going on for an internal monologue than that for me. YMMV (and does. It's all good)

bbell1985

mmapags wrote: »

bbell1985 wrote: »

kelly_e_montana wrote: »

Honestly I don't have to tell myself anything because I've learned to choose things that I actually enjoy. I hike. I compete in powerlifting. I like ice skating. I enjoy swimming and Pole Fitness. I love yoga. Basically just do things like get you moving that don't make you dread doing them. If you do something that you find fun, it will never seem like a chore.

I enjoy the things I do too. You never have an internal monologue though?

Nah, I don't personally. For me, it's just a habit that supports my goals. I just do it. During a set I'm thinking about good form and getting the most out of the lift. But overall, I listen to music or a podcast and just kind of cruise. Nothing more going on for an internal monologue than that for me. YMMV (and does. It's all good)

Interesting. I guess I just have some high volume days or heavy days when I get a little scared, and I have a monologue. But I think that's different from what the OP is asking. I obviously have the motivation to get there. In fact, sometimes I think training is all I really have in life.

mmapags

crossfit_dottir wrote: »

Cardio:

"Just one more *kitten* minute, that's nothing you've got this! Move!!! 1 more minute! One *kitten* minute, just keep going, don't you dare slow down! Keep moving, faster, faster. You've got this!! GO ON! COMMON YOU *kitten* YOU CAN *kitten* DO THIS... YOU'RE MADE FOR THIS *kitten*"

And I just survive 1 minute at a time... just 1 minute.. And my cardio is in total 60 min 3x per week... But I brake it up into 1 min at a time.. I don't usually need to do that cause these days my mind goes blank and I just feel the music and keep at it while loving it (I used to hate it)

And then there's lifting:

"Lift that *kitten*! You've got this! It's *kitten* easy! Just 1 more rep!!! You can do one more rep! JUST 1 MORE REP!"

And now you think I'm crazy but that's ok lol.

For machine cardio my internal monologue is "am I done yet, am I done yet, am I done yet, am I done yet. Lol! I hate the winter when I have to do it indoors. My outdoor cardio is usually a circuit of a specific distance so I just kind of listen to music or a podcast and cruise through it.

And I don't think your crazy. I do think it kind of funny though.

NoxeemaJackson

I go to classes that I enjoy.
It's harder to leave once it's started, so I just keep going.
I mean, once I'm there, to leave I would have to walk past everybody...it would just be weird.

So, here's how it works.
Alarm goes off at 5:15 am
"Damn, I don't want to go workout"
"Well I might as well, it's better than laying awake in bed. I'll go but I will leave early"
"Well it's midway through the class, I could go now, but I'm already here I might as well stay"

And before I know it, even though every moment I INTENDED to give a half a** workout, I end up doing a great workout, and the hour's over and I'm pretty happy.

I guess...rather than give myself a pep talk to keep going, I only have to do ONE thing right - and that's set the alarm the night before. Once that's done, everything else just kind of happens.

Livgetfit

Sometimes I break it down into songs.... like I want to do 30mins and 3mins is a very rough average of a song so I say to myself 'I'm going to just run/lift/powerwalk for 10 songs"

Other times I'll focus on how I'll spend 4 times this 30mins on the sofa watching tv tonight so hard can this little input of time be?

I also picture myself in an outfit I'd love to wear or remind myself mentally of what I've achieved before ("you ran this last week! you CAN do it today. You're even better equipped than you were last week!")