If the thought of joining your company's softball team sounds like less fun than an all-day root canal, that's OK. Marie-Josee Shaar, a personal trainer and author of "Smarts and Stamina," says your workout should play to your strengths.
"Research shows that we are much more motivated, resourceful, and resilient in an area of strength than in an area of weakness," Shaar says. Like taking charge? Lead a morning group run in your neighborhood. Does kindness drive you? Train for a cause, or buddy up with someone else who also needs motivation, Shaar says.
How do you know when you've found the right workout? "The right exercise should be relaxing, get you in a hyper-aware state from endorphins, get your mind wandering, make you feel good, vital, and youthful, and leave you sore, but a good sore," says Vokshoor.
Photo 6/14
The Excuse: "I never see results from exercise"
Personal trainer Steve Cabral says the best way to combat this frustrating feeling is to set yourself up for a "quick win." By starting off strong -- with a super-healthy diet and perhaps some boot camp-like fitness classes -- you could lose three to five pounds in your first week, which should certainly get you excited to continue.
And when you hit those inevitable plateaus, there are a few ways to keep yourself going. Suzie Cooney, CPT, a certified personal trainer and owner of Suzie Trains Maui, says to try visualization while you're working out. "I want [my clients] to 'see' a healthy and strong body," she says. "I want them to 'see' themselves crossing the finish line as we're spinning on the bike. Visualization training is incredibly helpful." Focusing on your goal is a much better way to push yourself during a workout than focusing on how fatigued you feel or the fact that the scale hasn't moved in a week.
Photo 7/14
The Excuse: "I want to have fun -- not be a super health-nut freak"
Get excited, because it turns out cheating on your diet can actually help your workout. Cabral says he recommends his clients have a weekly cheat meal (where you can eat whatever you want). Not only does this give you something to look forward to each week, but he says a cheat meal releases the hormone leptin, which tells the body you're not starving. The result? It can actually boost your metabolism and make you lose more weight over the next week. Just don't hop on the scale after that pizza: "You may initially go up in pounds from water weight and salt retention, but by the end of the week you'll be lower," says Cabral.
Photo 8/14
The Excuse: "I'm too sore"
If you're feeling too sore to move the day after a workout and can't even begin to attempt another minute of exercise, it's time to rethink your strategy. Shaar says sometimes it's beneficial to end a workout a little prematurely. "It enables me to end on a high note while I still feel very energetic, it enhances my post-workout glow, and it truly makes me look forward to my next session," she says.
Spangler says this method is an especially great idea when you're just starting out. "People start giving 100 percent and then they burn out quickly," Spangler says. "You're better off starting slowly with something like strength training or a yoga class [if you're not used to exercising]. Then build up your stamina and try more challenging workouts."
Photo 9/14
The Excuse: "I have an old back/foot/leg injury that I don't want to aggravate"
While this excuse will get you out of some workouts, our experts say there are plenty of exercise methods that can actually help heal old injuries and ease body pain, which in turn can motivate you to work out even more.
If you have back, hip, or leg pain, Pilates can help strengthen your core and improve your range of motion, says Michael Leonardi, administrator at the Neurac Institute for Physical Therapy. "If you fix little nagging injuries, you can get better workouts and enhance your performance," he says.
Cabral recommends starting with stretching, interval training, and resistance training if you're overweight. Extra weight can often mess up your alignment and cause injuries if you start running or doing hard-core aerobics.
You know her. That annoying friend or co-worker with boundless energy, who's got three kids and a demanding job and still has time for early morning yoga classes and evening runs (and of course she's got the body to show for it, too). What's her workout secret?
It's actually not that complicated. She just knows how to motivate herself to exercise -- and uses a few of these expert tips to make working out less of a chore and more of an activity to actually look forward to.
If the idea of "looking forward to exercise" sounds alien to you, check out what our expert personal trainers and sports psychologists share here. Getting in shape doesn't have to be boring, a time suck, or even painful -- it's all a matter of being in the right frame of mind and keeping yourself motivated.
To help you get off the couch and onto the treadmill, here are 13 excuses that just aren't going to fly anymore. We'll tell you how the super-fit overcome these obstacles, and how you can too. With the right motivation, exercise really can be -- wait for it -- fun. Don't believe us? Read on. We guarantee you'll be packing your gym bag before you know it.
