What I say to get myself to the gym everyday...

jbrautigam24

I'm fortunate to have a wonderful gym that offers a wide variety of amenities. I go to my local Gold's Gym and I really love it. No matter how much I love my gym and what it offers, it is still a daily struggle to find the will to go, so lately I've been working on changing my attitude and perception of the gym. I used to think of going to the gym as something that any responsible, health-conscious adult would do. Not because they enjoyed it, but because they had to in order to maintain their health. This train of thought was not doing me any favors when it came to getting off the couch and going. I decided to change that. I've been making it my personal mission to get to the gym at least five days a week, and here is how I do it:

1.) I put my workout clothes on. Even if I don't feel like it, I put it them on anyway. I do this because I know eventually I will realize that, hey, I got all dressed up so I might as well go.

2.) I listen to motivating music. I'm not ashamed to admit that I tune into my local hip-hop/pop station. This is the kind of music that makes me want to go out and dance. When I listen to this, it makes me want to get up and expend some major energy, like I would if I was going out to a club or something.

3.) I read a fitness magazine. Reading these magazines always gives me some good pointers and they often contain success stories that I find truly inspiring and motivating.

4.) Last, definitely not least, and most important of all (this is what I'm talking about when I say I'm changing my attitude of going to the gym)...remember when I said I love all the amenities that my local gym offers? Well, one of those glorious amenities happens to be a full-fledged "Cardio Cinema". (It really is what it sounds like- a theater where you can do cardio. Think of going to the movies-dark, big screen, etc. and imagine that being filled with cardio machines (treadmills, ellipticals, stationary bikes, etc. instead of buttery popcorn, annoying teeny-boppers, and seats). I've been using this facility for my cardio sessions and get to enjoy a good movie while I do it. I refer to this as my "me time". Life is so crazy with kids, school, full-time job, and maintaining some sort of social life, that sometimes you just need to take a time out, or "me time", and devote an hour a day to taking care of you. Whenever I don't feel like going, I get up and say to myself "You know what? You deserve some "me time", so GO GET IT!"