3 Procrastination Busters When You Don’t Want to Exercise

Consistency is really important when you’re building strength or cardiovascular fitness. In fact, as little as a two week break can significantly diminish your hard-won gym abilities.

But sometimes the last thing you want to do is lace up and hit the gym. What should you do? Here are a few ways to push yourself when you’re not feeling like sweating.

1. Turn Up the Music

Sometimes all you need is a little upbeat music to get the inspiration to workout out. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you can listen to hours of playlists or create your own on the Amazon Music app. If you’re into running, some apps like those produced by Jeff Galloway will even sync your music to your pace.

2. Commit to 10 Minutes

If you’re having a truly awful day, just tell yourself that you’ll commit to 10 minutes of exercise with the option to stop right after. More often than not, you’ll get to the end of your 10 minutes and want to do more. Action leads to motivation, not necessarily the other way around.

3. Practice Mindfulness

Use a breathing meditation like those found on the Mindfulness, 10% Happier, or Headspace apps. It’s easy to let piled up laundry or work commitments keep us from taking small steps toward our fitness goals. By practicing mindfulness, we become more in tune with the present moment and free to leave behind other distractions in favor of what matters now--getting to the gym.

Some days you may not feel like working out, but that doesn’t mean you can’t. It just means you might have to work a little harder to get out the door. Once you do, though, you’re almost guaranteed to be glad you did. No one goes to bed regretting the workout they did, just the workout they missed.