How To Stick To Your Home Workout For People Who Hate Exercise

Working out from home can feel like such a challenge and sometimes the absence of that ‘late cancellation fee’ makes putting your workout off easy. It happens.

You’ve set your alarm for 5 pm to begin your home workout. The alarm goes off but you’re only halfway through this episode of Masterchef. You promise yourself just this episode, and you’ll be on your mat.

Two episodes later, you realize that it’s getting late, and you might as well just move your session to the morning. This is the promise you’ve made yourself for the past week - and breaking. You need some motivation to stay consistent, and you’re about to get it. Here are five tips to help you stick with your home workout.

1. Start

It’s often said that the most challenging part about your workout is arriving. If you are already inside the gym, what’s the likelihood that you’ll turn back right in front of the treadmill? So just roll out your mat and step right on it.

Often, the hardest part about figuring out how to stick to a workout routine is getting to a facility or space to exercise—and not the exercise itself, Kellen Scantlebury, D.P.T., C.S.C.S., founder of Fit Club NY, tells SELF

2. Be Flexible

Many people have a set idea of how their workout should look; thirty minutes of high intensity exercise from 5 pm. Though structure and routine are good to have, sometimes your day just doesn’t allow for that, then what?

Allow yourself to adapt to your routine, according to you. While some days, you’ll crush your thirty minutes like it was an empty soft drink can; some days, you may only do ten or five minutes at 6:30 pm. Build consistency as opposed to perfection because five is still better than zero.

3. What Does Success Look Like

Oftentimes people have an idea of what they want to get out of working out. For example, something like, waking up every morning and executing the perfect, on-form squat. And this is an ideal place to start.

Follow by visualizing the moment that you reach this goal. With your eyes closed, use your senses—sight, sound, touch—to imagine what that precise moment will be like. Then, open your eyes and write down everything that came to mind, says Stephanie Mansour, Chicago-based certified personal trainer. Reference these notes on the regular to help you maintain your motivation.

4. Start Easy

Lessen the intimidation factor by telling yourself that you’ll start easy. Do longer warm-up, suggests Mark DiSalvo, NYC-based certified strength and conditioning specialist, and then slowly build from there. Maybe you tell yourself you want to hit the treadmill. Get on with the intention to do five minutes. After that, you can reassess how you’re feeling.

Maybe you stop and congratulations on your five. Or you realize that you have another five or ten or even fifteen minutes in you. Sometimes, the hardest part is just the start.

5. Embrace Small Victories

Perhaps your goal is to do a headstand, and after a few weeks, you’re able to hold your balance with one foot off the ground. Pat yourself on the back or even reward yourself.

These are the milestones you pass on the road to achieving your goals. Take pride in reaching these mini victories along the way.