12
votes
Overcome laziness
I went back to the gym after procrastinating a lot, but still, I'm not able to maintain the routine I had before.
What do you do to overcome laziness and go to the gym every day?
I went back to the gym after procrastinating a lot, but still, I'm not able to maintain the routine I had before.
What do you do to overcome laziness and go to the gym every day?
I have no idea how to overcome laziness, I just show up and do the bare minimum and usually end up doing the thing regardless.
Every day (or 3-5 days a week depending on what routine you follow), show up to the gym with a plan. But only force yourself to do the first set of each exercise, or just the first set of one exercise. Then, you can go home feeling accomplished even though you didn't do anything else, especially if it's your first day (also, apparently studies show you only need to do the bare minimum in order to get the benefits of exercise).
It sounds stupid, but what ends up happening is you'll often end up doing the full workout, even though you only pushed yourself through the first 10 minutes. It's some sort of quirk of the human brain (at least for me and literally everyone I've heard from online and in-person) that once you start doing something, it becomes 1000% easier and more approachable, and you're suddenly motivated to finish even if you're a naturally lazy, unmotivated person.
What also ends up happening is, assuming you don't skip too many days, you get into a routine and it's easier to continue not skipping days. This is why I personally like to workout every day, even if I do light cardio (i.e. walking) some days, because it helps with routine.
Also, as others' mentioned, make it easier. Do whatever preparation you need before and make it as easy as possible (e.g. if you go in the morning, pack your gym bag the night before). Don't worry about showing up at 5AM, don't worry about how you'll look, bring your phone and music to distract you. Your goal is to show up and do the first set, not show up super awake and do a 2-hour super intense workout. You're not going to feel ready every day, nobody does; but even when you feel exhausted, you have enough energy to just show up and do 1 crappy set.
If you do cardio, ideally walk or run or bike outside instead of on the machine. The treadmill makes running 10x worse.
Lastly, nutrition. Food affects your appearance and health more than exercise. But like exercise you can make this easy too. You don't need trendy diets, difficult "healthy food" recipes, or severe calorie restriction; if you eat whole (AKA low-processed) foods and protein, you allegedly feel more satiated and have more energy, and some whole foods are cheap and easy like frozen vegetables, canned beans, and eggs.
In all, with those 3 tricks (plan in advance; only force yourself to do the first 10 minutes; work smarter not harder), you can get a lot done and appear disciplined even if you're naturally very lazy.
Thanks for the tips, really, when I go to the gym, I try to do the least and I end up doing more, because the brain feels motivated, this is real, but it had never touched me.
I'm going to follow your tips and I'm not going to stop, after all, bad training is training not done.
Going from 0% to 100% is rough on the routine building mentality. Of course your body is going to physically and mentally rebel against you within a few days. I would start small and work large. Try twice a week instead while you learn how to get into the rhythm. Pick two days that you can mentally say something like: "Yes, Tuesday and Thursday I will go to the gym" and hold yourself to that smaller, more attainable goal.
Additionally, don't go every day. Your body needs rest. Some of your best gains are made when your body is given time to be able to repair itself. You're literally tearing your muscles and straining your ligaments. They need time to heal and strengthen themselves. Even professional athletes take rest days where they do no workouts for this very reason. Take care of yourself in this regard, you'll be thankful later.
There's a study right now that the media are calling "the three second workout", where they found that people doing a single bicep curl for three days a week produced results. So don't worry about doing exhausting workouts to start with. Throw away the idea that working out is an obligation and make it into a habit instead; start light and ramp up as you build your strength. You don't even need a gym or equipment to get started.
For OP specifically, don't stress that you can't do the same routine you used to. The same basic advice applies to you too. Do what you realistically can and over time you'll be back into your old routine, and then after a while you will be able to do more.
I can attest to the building your workout into your routine angle. I cook a lot with cast iron, and doing some light tossing with food in a medium cast iron skillet has produced some.... admitedly lopsided results, but results nonetheless.
Thanks for the tips, I'm going to follow this tip and gradually increase the routine, so I won't get too frustrated trying to follow a 100% committed routine.
Are you lazy? Or are you depressed, sick (getting back to fitness can be incredibly hard after covid), or fatigued? There are all sorts of reasons why you might not be able to get back into the saddle, so to speak. Tbh I don't think anyone is lazy. I think everyone has their reasons and you have to find yours.
I'm really lazy and I take medication for depression (four medications in total) and I'm trying to change my lifestyle, but I'm not succeeding... It's going to be little by little.
As @starlinguk said, that's depression, not laziness.
Sometimes you require different techniques to push you to do things. It's the old adage of changing many habits to stop a bad habit (if you have a cig with a coffee every morning when you get up, switch to tea to help stop the cig, etc.).
Do you have anything that motivates you? Getting a routine to the gym because you want to get fit but can't push yourself, how about starting that journey in the kitchen with the right foods instead? Stay on your feet there and cook healthy meals. Make sure you need to walk to the shop for an ingredient to get the legs moving some more.
Little changes have a long lasting impact. My biggest was putting the phone down more and starting to knock items off of the chore list.
It sounds like fatigue on top of your depression. Depressed=can't be bothered. Fatigued= l want to but I can't.
I make sure I have something to distract me to make the time go faster - a podcast or music if I'm doing strength training, or streaming some kind of TV show if I'm doing cardio. I'm actually on Season 4 of The Expanse, and I've watched the entire thing while working out since I don't really sit down and watch TV otherwise unless it's something I want to watch live (eg sports).
So two books that I highly recommend for people contemplating any kind of behavior change are Atomic Habits and Procrastination by Jane Burka.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40121378-atomic-habits?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=pUdvNTUtMr&rank=1
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1141601.Procrastination?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=iHEHw4HStV&rank=1
Thanaks!
Personally, I have ADHD and it makes me a very all-or-nothing person with respect to consistency and habits. There is no middle ground for me. The only way I've ever been able to build a habit out of exercising is to unflinchingly follow one mantra:
I will do at least 5 minutes of exercise every day.
99% of the time, you'll feel fine after the first 5 and keep going. The few days that you do quit, it's not a big deal.
I've never liked going to the gym and I'm terrible at building habits. I'm also sceptical how valuable it is to force habits without fully understanding why you're doing it. If I'm not enjoying the exercise, I don't stick with it very long. That said, I've been active my whole life because I've found other activities that I love, whether that's swimming, badminton, figure skating, rollerblading or bouldering.
So the only fitness advice that works for me is to find something you enjoy that just happens to be active. Make enjoyment the reason for doing it, not the fitness, and you'll want to make time for it. If going to the gym is that thing for you, don't worry about making it a habit, it'll be automatic.
If this is something you really want to do, treat it like anything else you do regularly. Put it on your calendar/schedule and treat it as an obligation. If you lose track of time, set an alarm.
I did see the discussion about depression elsewhere in the thread. Know that while exercise isn't a cure, it can help enormously.