5 Tips to Get Your Workout Done
Is it ever a question?
Do you ever find yourself having a hard time getting out the door for a swim, bike, or run? You’ve had a long day at work and you just want to curl up on the couch in front of the TV with a bag of potato chips and relax. Or, it’s particularly cold outside and you decide to sit on your bike in the basement on the trainer for twenty minutes instead of getting out the door for your long run.
I know I’ve often found myself in each of these situations, but over the years I’ve come up with several strategies that help keep me on track. I can’t take credit for creating these techniques, but here’s a collection of 5 tricks that help keep me on track in my training.
1) Have a training schedule
Since leaving college over a decade ago, I really haven’t ever had a fully planned-out training schedule for any of my training. Yeah, I’ve had a general idea in my head of what I needed to be doing, and I’ve read my share of books on training and I’ve talked to all my friends about it, but I never had a plan written out. I just started training for Ironman Coeur d’Alene, which takes place on June 29, and decided that I wanted to stay focused this training cycle, in hopes of a personal best at the 140.6 distance. I’ve been a long-time fan of Joe Friel and his book, The Triathletes Training Bible and Going Long (co-authored with Gordon Byrn) and I decided to invest in on of his Ironman training plans through Training Peaks. Fortunately, I’m the kind of person that just needs to have a plan laid out and I’ll do it. Tell me what I have to do and when, and I’ll get it done. Well…most of the time. I’m already several weeks into the training plan and I’ve already seen a huge difference in my ability to stick to the schedule and get my workouts done. Training Peaks also offers a free smartphone app for you to track your progress and keep tabs on your workout schedule and they also offer the option to sync your workouts to your calendar (Google, iPhone, etc.) which helps in scheduling your daily routine.
I understand that not everyone is as easily motivated by a training plan on a computer screen, which brings us to the second tip: train with others.
2) Train with others
It’s way too easy to hit the snooze button on Saturday morning and say, “I’ll just run this afternoon instead,” but knowing that you’ve got a couple of friends expecting you to show up to run adds a little more weight to the decision to grab an extra few minutes (or hours) of sleep. When you don’t show up for a scheduled run with your friends, chances are that you won’t hear the end of it any time soon. Even if you can’t physically meet up with someone to run, you can still do a “virtual” run. Make a plan with a friend that you’ll both go for a 30-minute run at 9:00 a.m. When you get done with the run, give your pal a call and ask them how their run went, or post a GPS file of your run online and share it with them. There’s even an app for it.
3) Workout at the same time every day
Just like you make appointments on your schedule for meetings, haircuts, and lunch, you should add your workouts to the calendar as well. Just like having a written, defined training plan helps keep you on track over the long haul, carving out a set time for your workouts will ensure you get the job done. Don’t just make mental note of when you plan to workout during the day, rather, take the time to actually add it to your calendar, weather it’s on your iPhone, Google Calendar, or a good old-fashioned wall calendar.
Part of my training calendar for the week.
4) Go public with your goals/plans
Local news anchor, Marc Schollett set out last year to qualify for the 2014 Boston Marathon after more than 15 failed attempts. Marc made the good choice of getting a training plan (and coach) to keep his workouts headed in the right direction, but he also went public to all his thousands of Facebook friends, Twitter followers, and anyone that watched the six o’clock news stating his goal of running 3:15 or better at the Bayshore Marathon in May, 2013. He also wrote a weekly blog post of how his training was coming along. Several times me mentions notes that there’s a little more incentive to do well knowing that people knew his goal and were following his progress. Guess what…he did it. (Hear more about his story in our podcast episode)
A couple other great tools for a little extra encouragement *while* you’re working out are smartphone apps such as Runmeter and Strava. These apps allow you to notify your Facebook and Twitter followers when you’ve set out on a bike ride, run, etc. Whenever someone “likes” your status, writes a reply, or sends an @reply, the app will read those notifications out loud to you (in your headphones) as they are posted in real time. Kinda creepy, yes, but also a very cool way to get a little virtual boost from your friends.
5) Hire a coach
If a laid out training plan or knowing that your friends are waiting for you to run aren’t enough motivation for you, you may want to consider hiring a coach to personally guide you through your training. While it usually isn’t the least expensive option, having a coach to personally guide you through your training can priceless. A good coach will help you plan out an appropriate plan according to your goals, and they’ll also guide you along the way, with regular feedback and tips. If you get injured, have a crazy week at the office, or having any other kind of trouble during your training, a coach will help you alter your training plan if needed, give advice, and encouragement.
You’ll feel better when you get the workout done. As hard as it may be to get out of bed, resist the couch, or brave the cold, once you finish your workout you will feel better, weather you know it or not. It’s not always about what you want to do, but rather about what you’re willing to do.
Now, go. Get moving.
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