Motivation

[cycleking23]

Any tips on how to motivate yourself for exercise when (due to being overweight) I always feel tired?

There’s quite a lot that’s been studied in this area. Here are some tips.

• External motivations (reasons) don’t usually work long-term e.g. losing weight, run a marathon, better health.
• Internal motivations do show better results long-term: you’re doing an activity you enjoy, I want to have more fun, I want a better mood today or I want more energy.
• Use reward substitution e.g a walk is when I get to listen to my favourite podcast.
• Don’t think of exercise as a plan or training: it can be any opportunity to move.
• Manage intensity: most people find hard exercise uncomfortable and painful. Keeping the early stages at an intensity where you can speak full sentences helps keep whatever you’re doing in an enjoyable zone. Helps you to learn to associate exercise with positive feelings.
• Think in terms of learning goals and not performance goals. A performance goal is something like exercise 5 times per week. A learning goal would be to discover how to stay consistently physically active. You want this to become an enjoyable part of your life.

A practical example: you’ve decided your internal motivation is to feel you have more energy in everyday life.

Due to being overweight and maybe having not exercised for a long time you need to prepare your body to exercise. This is called building a base. With no aerobic foundation, everything feels hard…quickly. It means focusing on frequency, then duration and then intensity. For frequency, a brisk walk where you can just speak full sentences is all you need to get started. Don’t focus on time, just go out for as long as feels doable and comfortable. Try to increase how often you do this. Then do it for longer. Then add some intensity e.h. walk 5 mins/jog 30s. Once at this stage, people often start exploring new ways to exercise.

It sounds overly simple, but you can change a lot over time by getting these first steps right.

For me finding something I love doing which made exercise feel like something I want to do rather than a chore made the difference. For me it's lifting, I love it so am very motivated. I've never felt that way about any other exercise. So I'd suggest experimenting and seeing if you can find something like that for you, as not all exercise hits the same.

I read on MN actually in relation to dieting but could be applied to exercise and it really stuck for me:

1/ doing exercise is hard.
2/ not doing exercise and then feeling a bit shit because you haven't done exercise / haven't got nice whizzy endorphins/don't have that sense of pride for doing a thing is hard

Pick the hard thing you're going to do.

However I can guarantee you that 1/ (exercise) becomes much much much less hard over time - literally almost instantly once you have done one session/one exercise / one whatever.

Also take the time pressure away you don't need to sweat it out for ages. Start by doing short 15-20 min bursts of something once or twice a week. You'll be amazed at how quickly you get better and feel more confident.

I know I sound like a dickhead exercise nut. I spent 30+ years HATING any form of exercise and feeling actively angry and bitter at those who did do it. I now run 4-5 times a week, walk bloody everywhere and do spinning. A fraction of this would have been literally impossible for me a few years ago.

^1/ doing exercise is hard.
2/ not doing exercise and then feeling a bit shit because you haven't done exercise / haven't got nice whizzy endorphins/don't have that sense of pride for doing a thing is hard.^

100% agree.

Plenty of times this is the push I need to get myself there. I know I'll never regret it afterwards, unlike when I manage to convince myself to 'go tomorrow instead' and then find myself in the same situation the next day.

Motivation isn't real. You won't find it. It can't be made or manufactured.

Just get it done.

You'll feel less tired when you exercise, promise.

I think you have to be disciplined and just do it until it becomes routine and you feel weird if you don't do it.

Humans are built to want to conserve energy and stay comfortable. Cavemen would have died out if they loved running around and exclusively eating salad.

So either:

• accept that it's hard, commit and get on with it and eventually learn to love it & you will reap hard earned rewards.
• accept that things won't change & get comfy with where you are.

Things that make it easier for me:
Finding an activity I enjoy (weights currently)
Routine. I plan exercise into my week and prioritise it.
Accountability: I have a PT who I report to each week. Its easier to just do the workouts than tell her I haven't exercised 🫣 a cheaper alternative is to tell a partner/friend etc that you will be exercising after work and it kind of sets it as a priority.
Knowing I'll feel great once it's over. Love that feeling.

Hi @cycleking23
Try Oliver Sjostrom 1000 calorie burner videos on You Tube. As soon as i put it on i'm motivated, the workout and music is brilliant! x

I started to write and then deleted as I found it hard to think of a suggestion for motivation so I'll share a little of what I do and maybe there's something useful.
Dress in workout gear once I'm up (I work from home) so once I have a gap between meetings I can choose what u feel like doing - a walk, yoga, step, dance, HiiT, weights etc.

Will depend on my energy level and time available but I'll generally do something.

Find some fun and manageable workouts to follow online (YouTube and other health apps I use) but also more intense workouts for when I want to go hard!

I try and fit my workouts in Monday to Friday so I can look forward to rest on the weekend and if I do more on the weekend then I feel positively virtuous!

When I feel crap, tired or stressed I don't feel bad if I miss a workout but I try and remember that I'll feel better once I've worked out.

And I agree with the previous posts above.

Good luck.

I think there is something in being self aware. I tend to throw myself into things and give up easily for example. Promising myself I'll go 4 times a week plus an hour long yoga class. Will I bollocks.

But I will go twice maybe 3 times. And that's fine. Sometimes I do go 4 times but I have a senior and busy job and I'm perimenopausal and don't sleep well. Sometimes I need to rest not push.

Also on the point about pacing yourself, I started out a few months ago and quickly improved (weights) but avoided much cardio. Got to a point that my basic fitness is just not good enough to help me sustain my achievements and felt low and burned out. So now I'm focusing on a more even and gentle plan to build general fitness and maintain the weights for now.

Don't think about it. Put your shoes on and start with a manageable 15 minute walk that you can do even when you are tired. Just do it every day, like the washing-up or taking kids to school or any other daily necessity.

'Fake it till you feel it' worked for me. Well, that was kind of the sentiment. I just forced myself to go until I could see the difference and it then became easier because I had something to lose and didn't want to slide backwards.

Pulled 140kg on the trap bar today which I was very happy with. Guy next to me was 😯. I enjoy weights much more than cardio tbh.