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Psyop Yourself Into Working Out

By Tasneem|

I first started working out in 2016, when I started an internship at Nike. Our orientation was a full day of outdoor workouts. In hindsight, I should have realized that people who want to work at an athletic wear company are probably athletic (a connection that I truly did not make). But yes, it was my first day, and I was surrounded by actual college athletes who scoffed at anyone who ran a 8+ minute mile. In an effort to not completely embarrass myself over the 2 months of the internship, I started what has now turned into an 8 year journey of working out.

1. Find a workout you don’t despise.

In the beginning of your workout journey, your goal is to create consistency. Find something that you don’t hate showing up to. Whether that’s pole dancing, cardio kickboxing, pilates, lifting weights. I personally always recommend workout classes to get started.

I’ve tried all the classes above and more – I started out doing HIIT classes. But, there’s only so many burpees I can do before I start questioning my life choices, so I moved to weightlifting classes. I took a few pilates classes once, and they just weren’t intense enough for me. I’d get out of the class and feel like I needed to do another *real *workout.

2. Use peer pressure to manipulate yourself.

I will disappoint myself any day. I have no issues saying I’m going to go on a run and then not doing it. But, I will never disappoint a friend. So, make a commitment with your friend to do a workout together.

Note: It’s important to choose a friend who’s not going to let you out of this easily. Otherwise you’ll find yourselves texting each other 5 mins before the planned workout and saying I’m not feeling it, let’s cancel today.

3. Judgment from others == peak accountability.

We all believe everyone’s judging us in our workout classes. Supportive people will tell you that no one’s looking at you and that you should only focus on yourself. WRONG. The hardest I ever workout is when I don’t want people to think I’m weak/slow/un-athletic; use your fear of making a fool out of yourself to work your ass off.

I’m currently doing running classes at Equinox because I have 0 sense of accountability for cardio. When your class is filled with insanely attractive and fit people, it turns out that you run faster.

4. Lie to yourself constantly.

During every second of your workout, repeat “I love [XYZ]. I’m great at [XYZ].” Doesn’t matter if you believe it, you say that until it’s an automatic mantra in your head.

If you ever find yourself speaking negatively about working out, catch yourself and immediately say the positive version of that statement. I used to say “I suck at running” (which was objectively true), but now I catch myself and reframe it to “I’m great at running” (which is still objectively false).

5. Re-engineer your life to reduce friction.

You’ve probably read Atomic Habits by James Clear; he advocates for designing your environment around the habits you want to form. Figure out the excuses you’re making to avoid working out and solve them practically. Don’t believe that you’re one day going to willpower your way through the excuses.

Some examples:

  1. I work weird hours and am usually in random locations. I always carry workout clothes and a lock with me.
  2. My husband plays a lot of basketball. He always has a pair of basketball shorts in his bag.
  3. My gym is within a 10 min walk (Yes, you could say I’m privileged, or you could say that I chose my apartment based on proximity to a gym)
  4. There was a stretch of time where I would schedule morning workout classes. I would wake up to my alarm and snooze until I had leave my bed to get ready for work. I loved the idea of being a morning workout person, but I didn’t end up working out at all on days I scheduled my morning classes. So, I now workout after 3pm. Maybe one day I’ll be a morning workout person, but it’s still not today.

I’m now at a place where I don’t need motivation to workout, but it took a long time to get here. And, even today, as I try to enjoy running more, I find myself still using these tactics to change myself.

You should want to start enjoying and loving your workouts, but it doesn’t need to start from a place of positivity, and you definitely don’t have to love it on day 1.