The Hardest Part of Exercising is the 15 Minutes Before You Start

The other day after not exercising for about a week I reluctantly dragged myself to my car and headed to the gym. I stopped at the mailbox on the way and sat for a while looking at the mail. Finally, I started driving again. Once I got to the parking lot I made a couple of phone calls…no one answered; so, I grabbed a notepad and made a few notes of some things I had been thinking of. Needless to say I was stalling. Eventually I ran out of excuses and slowly walked into the gym. I ended up having a great workout and felt great after it was all said and done. Sometimes the hardest part of exercising is the 15 minutes before you start. This is especially true after missing your workouts for a while. Here are three tips to help you get past the 15 minutes and start your exercise.

1. Right now commit to yourself when you will exercise tomorrow. This doesn’t mean “I’ll set my alarm clock for 5:00am and see how I feel”, or “I’ll see how I feel after work tomorrow”. I can tell you exactly how you will feel, tired and unmotivated. Decide on a very specific time and commit to yourself to exercise at that time. Write it in your calendar, tell your spouse, put your alarm clock on the other side of the room, do whatever it takes; keep this commitment with yourself. You owe it to you.

2. The next tip is to commit to someone else to exercise. Sadly, we often find it easier to keep our commitments to others rather than to ourselves. If you find that this is the case use it to your advantage. This can be done by planning to meet a friend at the gym or to go jogging. Set up a kid swap with your neighbor to allow each of you kid free time to exercise. Hire a trainer or sign up for a class at the local gym. If you know someone else is planning on you exercising, you will find it easier to keep your commitment to do so.

3. When all else fails tell yourself “15 minutes”. If you are really having a tough time getting moving then decide you will exercise for 15 minutes. Like I mentioned before, taking that first step on the treadmill or doing that first rep is usually the hardest part (at least mentally). Chances are, that 15 minutes into your exercise your blood will be pumping, your muscles will be warm, and you will feel like completing your workout. At the very least you will have exercised for 15 minutes which is better than nothing.

There you have it. Get past the 15 minutes before your workout and start experiencing success. Football coach Lou Holtz said, “If you don't make a total commitment to whatever you're doing, then you start looking to bail out the first time the boat starts leaking. It's tough enough getting that boat to shore with everybody rowing, let alone when a guy stands up and starts putting his life jacket on.”