Fitness Training
5 ways to keep yourself motivated in training
Feeling uninspired by your training at the moment? Use these tips from sporting pros to help you get your mojo back.
Many find it easy to train hard when they first set their goal. But then motivation can quickly wane when encountering setbacks – such as bad weather, important work or family commitments, or just generally feeling lethargic and uninspired.
Lack of motivation isn't just something experienced by amateur athletes – the pros have to face it, too. It's even more important for them to stay pepped up for their sport when they have to dedicate so much time to training.
If you're feeling uninspired by your training at the moment, read below how pro athletes Lucy Charles, Shauna Coxsey and Maddie Hinch keep their motivation levels high throughout the season, plus sports psychologist Evie Serventi's advice on how to ignite your training mojo.
Have a reason why
One of the best ways to stay motivated is to have a goal you are working towards, such as a target time in a race or winning a key match as a team. Then your training has a focus and purpose.
But sports psychologist Evie Serventi says that it will boost your motivation further if you understand why you want to achieve this goal. She says: “Get to grips early on with what your deeper motivation to compete is. You might want to lose weight – what’s your motivation behind this? Is it to be a role model to your family or to raise money for charity? Or to live a healthier, longer life? Knowing why you are doing something and its purpose will help you stay on track."
Lucy, Shauna and Maddie are also featuring in Red Bull Project: Pro – a four-week series giving you exclusive tips and videos from elite athletes to inspire you to take your training to the next level. If you haven't already, sign up here.
Set goals within goals
Lucy Charles sets goals within goals to maximise her training
© Craig Kolesky / Red Bull Content Pool
Having a goal on the horizon is a good motivator, but if it is a long way off, you might struggle to stay dedicated to training until it's too late. Elite triathlete Lucy Charles says she combats this by having smaller goals to work towards along the way to her main target.
“I keep my motivation levels high by having a big goal to work towards, while also have smaller benchmark goals that I can tick off along the way,” she says. “Every small goal ticked off gives you a boost of motivation knowing you are heading in the right direction.”
Train with others
It can be hard to constantly motivate yourself to train, so get help from others, says professional climber Shauna Coxsey.
“I think that the best way to stay motivated is to share your journey with friends,” she adds. “If you have goals, tell your buddies and make plans to train with them. It’s harder to miss a session when there are other people relying on you to be there.”
Training with others means you can support one another along the way and it will make your sessions much more fun and sociable.
Mix it up
England hockey pro Maddie Hinch says it's important not to get stuck in a rut in training by constantly doing the same thing.
“To help keep my motivation levels high I like to keep training as varied as possible so that it doesn’t become stale,” she explains. “With that, I am able to adjust my goals for myself quite regularly which gives me the motivation to work hard to achieve those goals.”
So explore new routes if you're going for a run or bike ride, mix up the strokes you use when swim training, and do different drills when practising a team sport.
IRONMAN World Championship silver medallist Lucy says mixing things up also helps her stay motivated so she can keep pushing herself harder:
“I find adding an element of fun and variety as well as training with others keeps me more motivated and allows me to get more from every session."
Believe in yourself
Discussing your goals with someone who believes in you can boost confidence
© doradc.co.uk
Staying positive and confident will help you stay motivated. Try writing out mantras which you can put up around your house such as “you can do it!” so they become ingrained in your self-conscious.
You can also boost your confidence by discussing your training and goals with someone who believes in you, such as a teammate, coach or parent. But above all, you need to believe in yourself. “If you don't believe in yourself, you can't expect anyone else to,” says Evie. So be confident, banish self-doubt and go smash your goals!
Want to get four weeks of expert training tips from pro athletes? If you haven’t already signed up, join the Red Bull Project: Pro messenger bot here and get inspired to take your training to the next level.