Sachin Paradhan, trainer at Platinum Gym, says that people these days just need a list of benefits that they can reap from working out and that in itself works to motivate people to achieve their goals. When doing cardio, he says that he encourages people to not look at their watch and instead focus on either all the positive things they have going on in their life or all the negative things that they dwell upon which is basically things that will give you the burst of energy you need to get though the session. He has created a list of very upbeat songs that help people get into the zone and which push them to move faster. With him, The Week set out to find tested ways which help us get out of bed and get moving. 

Getting out of bed
Most of the time, especially during winter, the only reason you don’t work out is because you cannot get out of bed in the morning. To overcome this situation, don’t put alarms on your phone when you go to bed. Instead get those old school alarm clocks and put it across the room. This makes sure that you have to get out of bed to switch of the alarm and once you are out of bed and already cold, why not work out. You won’t be able to go back to sleep anyways.   

Compete with your friends
The best way to motivate yourself to work out is by competing with your friend. When you keep track of not only your own gains but the gains of your friend too, you will find yourself working out more than you usually would. If both you and your friends have fitness trackers, you can both keep the same challenges that will help you keep track of how much workout each of you is doing. This also makes it possible to compete with your friend even if the two of you don’t work out together. 

Group fitness
Working out with a group really motivates you to get going and helps you push yourself to go that extra mile because you don’t want to be that person in the group who gives up and walks out. You feel like you will be judged and stick around for a lot longer than you would have if you were working out alone.  

Hair wash
Wash your hair only on the days that you work out. This will make you aware of how many days you go without working out and will act as an external stimulus to help you stay in shape. If you skip a few days of working out, you are the one who will have to walk around with greasy tangled hair.

Clothes
Even if you aren’t in the mood to work out, put on your workout clothes, complete with your socks and shoes. Once you have put them on, you will feel guilty to just change out of them and will end up working out anyways. 

Keep a journal
Start a health journal where you jot down the goals you want to reach, how long you worked out for, what workout routines you followed and also write down how you felt before and after having worked out. On the days you skip your workout, write down how you feel about having skipped workout. On the days you find yourself with no motivation to work out; read your journal entries to re-inspire yourself.

Reminders
Surround yourself with motivational quotes and pictures of people who inspire you. Maybe it is a picture of a model that is close to the body weight you desire or your own goals that you have written and have them on the screen of your mobile phone and laptop. This will serve as a constant reminder of everything you want to achieve and will help push you in the right direction.

Reward system
You can set rewards for yourself for when you work out the desired number of days a week. You can finally go to that restaurant you have been meaning to try out for a while or buy that bag or shoe you have been eyeing but haven’t yet found a reason to splurge. You will end up thinking about the reward whenever you are working out and will find yourself not skipping a day. 

Play pretend
Sometimes it helps if you imagine a large crowd of people cheering on for you when you are working out; especially during the cardio sessions. When you pretend to have people looking at you and cheering you on, you tend to exaggerate your movements and push yourself harder while working out. You can also learn to love the post endorphin rush that you get after having ‘performed for so many people’. When you learn to love the rush, you will find yourself working out without having to push yourself too hard.

Think fit
“If you think of yourself as a lazy person, you will become that lazy person. If you think you are a fitness person who loves to work out, you will become that person,” says Sachin. The human psyche goes a long way to make you who you are and who you want to be. Don’t create a self-fulfilling prophecy for who you don’t want to become and try to change your mindset if you think of yourself as somebody who just can’t stick to working out.  

 
• help yourself
 
• the week
 
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