If there were a way you could effortlessly feel more motivated to workout, that’s something you’d want to know more about, right?
If you said “ummm yes Clara that would be really great, thank you”, then you’ll want to stick around because I am spilling the beans in today’s post!
We’ll chat about why you are not feeling motivated to workout AND what to do about it.
By the end of this post, you’ll have a better understanding (and more grace for yourself) of your perceived lack of motivation, as well as some wisdom on what you can do to kick that lack of motivation to the curb, baby!
Because here’s what I can likely guess about you: you care deeply about your health. You desire living a healthier life, you desire caring for your body, setting a good example for your kids, and having more energy to make it through your days.
Yet perhaps you’ve run up against a bit of an obstacle: the dreaded lack of motivation to workout.
Yes…even though you WANT to work out because you know it will help you feel better!!!!
If that’s you, I have a question for you:
How is your sleep?
Yes, you read that correctly…how is your sleep?
Are you sleeping?
Are you sleeping enough?
Are you sleeping well?
In case you haven’t picked up on it by now, that lack of motivation to workout could very well be rooted in lack of SLEEP.
It’s not that you’re lazy or unmotivated, it’s that your body is simply trying to conserve energy.
Why Poor Sleep Impacts Motivation
My guess is that you probably don’t really need to hear any “science” behind the link between poor sleep and motivation because you’ve felt it firsthand for yourself.
You wake up to your alarm after a crummy night of sleep and the first thought that goes through your head is “ughhhh I can’t wait to go to sleep tonight”.
Working out? Pshhh, I barely have enough energy to make myself look presentable for work!
And it really is as simple as that: when we don’t get enough sleep, our body isn’t adequately rested and recovered from whatever stressors it’s up against (ranging from annoying bosses, to a kid that won’t stop crying, to a restrictive diet, to a hard workout, to figuring out how you’re going to make it across town from one appointment to another in 5 minutes…). As a result, you feel less alert and energized. Your body wants to CONSERVE energy, not seek out ways to expend it voluntarily by repping out some deadlifts and bicep curls. Ya know?
Your body is working just as it should – it’s working FOR you, not against you (even though it may not feel like it).
Think of this like your iPhone battery. You know how once you hit like 10%, your phone literally starts working slower? Messages take longer to pull up, webpages take forever to load, there’s just this lag time that ensues until you plug the phone in and let it get all juiced up again.
…perhaps that sounds a bit like how you feel after a terrible night of sleep?
Your body is functioning just as it ought to. This is a basic survival mechanism.
I hope this helps you realize it’s okay to extend some grace to yourself. To stop shaming or belittling yourself, and instead take a step back to reflect on all the different factors and stressors present in your life. Not to just accept them as they are and submit to them, but to show yourself some compassion and not automatically chalk it up to a character flaw. Because the good news is that it’s NOT a character flaw.
How Much Sleep Do You Need?
You’ve likely heard the recommendation to get at least 7-9 hours of high quality sleep per night. I stand by that statement. You need 7-9 hours of high quality sleep each night. This will give your body and brain enough time to literally reboot.
What happens when you drop below the recommended amount of sleep?
When you drop below this, you are dipping into something called sleep debt. Sleep debt is the cumulative effect of not getting enough sleep over a period of time. So if you consistently get 5 hours of sleep a night when you really need closer to 8, over the span of 7 days you have accumulated 21 hours of sleep debt (3 hours difference between 5 hours of sleep and 8, for 7 days).
Over time, this accumulated debt can make it challenging to feel energized (obviously!!), contributes to weight gain and metabolic dysregulation, and can also increase your risk of depression, anxiety, and make it more challenging to regulate emotions, all of which can further demotivate you from working out.
Feeling motivated to turn down the bed and crawl in right now?! Same same – so let’s chat about 4 ways you can improve your sleep, shall we?
Improving Sleep to Increase Motivation
I’ll admit, this may not be new information, but hopefully it serves as a helpful reminder and nudge to reflect on if you are truly living in alignment with your core values, and if not, what may need to change.
I like to think of it as the ABCDs of improving sleep.
ABCDs to Improving Sleep:
Activate an Alarm
Simple as that: set an alarm to remind you to start winding down for bed, I recommend at least 30 minutes before you want to actually get in bed. So, if you’re aiming for a new bedtime of 9:30, set it for 9 or even 8:45.
If getting into bed earlier is a new habit for you, then you’ll likely need new cues to remind you of your new rhythm. You probably won’t just remember to go to bed at 9 PM after you’ve been going to bed at 11 for years.
Pro tip: make the name of the alarm something that reminds you of your WHY.
Block the blue light
Blue light exposure suppresses melatonin production, which makes it harder to stay asleep, which means you’re more likely to experience a less than ideal night of sleep and feel groggy all through the following day. Not only that, but blue light exposure at night can lead to dysregulation of other hormones that impact things like blood sugar regulation, cravings, blood pressure, mood, weight, ovulation, and more.
This goes for TV, phones, laptops…whether working or watching a show or scrolling.
Ideally you want to put screens up around sundown. Spend that time connecting with your kiddos, your spouse, chatting over the dinner table, reading a good book, or taking a nice relaxing shower to wash off the day.
Cut the caffeine
We all process caffeine differently, but most people will benefit from limiting caffeine intake after noon to really support a solid night of sleep.
Feel like you neeeed caffeine to get over that afternoon hump? You may not once you get your sleep back in rhythm 😉 to help tide you over, try getting outside for a quick walk, or even just some sun exposure to help regulate your circadian rhythm which can help you feel more awake even without the caffeine.
Ditch the dopamine
Scrolling social media….clicking “next episode”….these are tapping into dopamine. But can I tell you a better, more fulfilling source of dopamine? Shutting off the TV and getting to bed at a reasonable hour so you wake up refreshed and energized and with a greater desire to do what is most important to you, like working out, getting dressed and ready for your day, and being able to actually focus on having meaningful conversations with your husband over the dinner table. All because you went to bed earlier.
Which resonates the most with you? Which feels like it’s the most attainable for you to start with? How can you start to implement it today?
How Long Will It Take To Feel Motivated To Workout?
We live in a society that loves a quick fix and instant gratification. Unfortunately, I can’t tell you how long it will take before you get your motivation to move back after you start prioritizing your sleep more. What I can tell you is that it will add value to every facet of your life, and just like you can accumulate the negative effects from sleep debt, you can also accumulate the benefits from getting more sleep the longer you focus on it.
What To Do In The In-Between
Let’s just be up front: you may not ever feel fully 100% motivated to workout…most people don’t, even those that seem to be the most disciplined. It’s smart to have a reasonable expectation here. We don’t live in a perfect bubble and circumstances will never be totally ideal.
This means that you don’t need to wait for the perfect moment or a “better time”. The best time is NOW.
As you chip away at improving your sleep, you can also go ahead and start to take small action towards being more active…yes, even if your motivation isn’t quite there yet.
How so?
My suggestion is to scale the movement back in intensity and/or duration.
This means that instead of trying to commit to a 45 minute weight training workout 5 days a week, you start with a 5-10 minute walk outside 4 days a week, or completing one round of two exercises of that weight training workout. The premise is to make the task more attainable, something you feel confident you can actually do right now – that will be different person to person (and day to day!).
In Summary
Hopefully you now have a better understanding of why you don’t feel motivated to workout, AND hopefully you’re able to extend more grace towards yourself out of that understanding.
Additionally, you have 4 solid, foundational skills to start putting into practice today that have the ability to supercharge your energy and motivation to workout.
The question now is…what’s stopping you?
