If I relied on motivation, I’d maybe never exercise. I’m a weak character.

Most of the time, I rely on enjoyment. On water rowing is so fun I’d do it even if it weren’t good for me. Bike rides in nice weather are pretty fun, especially with a friend. I liked my twice a week spin classes at the Y, but I’m not going back to a gym anytime soon.

When actual enjoyment is off the table, four general things seem to work for me:

1. Non-negotiability, for lack of a better term. When gyms closed, and the rowing club was closed, too, I got into a rut of doing too little for my best mood, let alone health. I told myself that I was going to get on the rowing machine 3 days a week for 8k, and on alternate days I was going to strength train and row 6k (one weekly rest day). It was going to be like tooth-brushing: Not a thing I question or even think about, just something I would *do*. There was no admitting the slightest “should I”. That worked surprisingly well.

2. Appealing to the future on-water rowing that I love so much. If I sit around like a lump, I’ll majorly lose strength and cardiovascular capability (because I’m really skilled at being a lump). That will reduce my ability to row, come Spring. So, in Winter, I need to do something, sometimes, however reluctantly, or I won’t be able to row as much or as well as I want to, next season. That will motivate me, to a certain extent. (I usually do the same thing with swimming, in normal years. I hate to swim, with a fiery passion. But I usually talk myself into going to the pool at least a few times a Winter, to practice swimming, so if my boat flips, I won’t either drown, or be a rescue burden on my boat-mates.)

3. Challenges. The Concept 2 rowing machine people run some challenges. The big one every year is the Holiday Challenge (row 200k between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve). I commit myself to that (in any year I’m not injured or something), and that helps me transition from on-water season to Winter. I usually do a few of their other challenges, too . . . the easy ones. 😆 (I said I was a slacker!).

4. Appointment workouts. I'm not using this much in the pandemic, but this is a strategy that works for me. If I have a scheduled thing, I'm more likely to do it, especially if I do it with a friend. If I'm signed up for a class twice a week at 9AM, then I'm going. If I'm meeting a friend to walk on Tuesday afternoons, I'll be reliable. That sort of thing. I could exploit this more within the pandemic frame, but I haven't done so very much yet.

Obviously, we all differ. IMO, a key success factor in all of weight management, nutrition, and fitness is figuring out how to game our own quirky strengths and limitations, to advance our goals in personalized ways. Those are a few things that work for me, but may not work for you.

Other part of your question: What's my home workout? Probably mostly implied by the above. If there's rare nice Winter weather, I might take a walk. We don't have a lot of nice Winter days (Michigan). I have the rowing machine, and will do the Holiday Challenge. After that, I'm usually ready to throw the (bleep) machine out the window into a snowbank, but I expect to use the "non-negotiability" thing to continue rowing, at a lower frequency/volume. I'll make my usual Winter attempt to convince myself I need to do weight training, or core work, or both, in order to be in better rowing shape by Spring. I really, really need to force a stretching/yoga habit into my life again, because I know that if I start doing tiny amounts, it will be seductive and feel great, then I'll do more. Right now, the home workout is 6 days a week X 8K machine rowing (plus a few hundred meters extra for cool down & such), and that's enough.

Good luck figuring out a formula that's customized to work for you!