4 Mind Tricks That Can Help You Go To The Gym When Not Motivated

4 mind tricks that actually work for when you have no motivation to go to the gym

No motivation to exercise? It’s all in your head: Your brain is wired to keep your body at rest. Here are four ways to rewire it.

1. Speed up your workouts

When you sprint all out towards a goal – as when our prehistoric ancestors chased down food – your brain’s reward is a blast of dopamine that imprints the memory of your success and how good it felt.

“High-intensity interval training [HIIT] has a similar effect,” says Rodney Dishman, PhD, a professor of exercise science at the University of Georgia who’s been studying the role of motivation in physical activity for 30 years.

“Unlike resistance training or even long-distance cardio, it significantly increases blood flow in the frontal cortex.”

2. Lift to death

The human brain is one of nature’s most advanced systems, but it nevertheless has a hard time distinguishing the difference between real and imagined threats. You can use that programming to your advantage by creating “life or death” scenarios in the weight room that trick your brain into releasing reward chemicals, helping you push yourself harder and longer, says Stolz.

3. Showcase your skills

Socialising, playing and cooperating with others – behaviours long known to be essential for human survival – can have a significant impact on workout performance, according to a Michigan State University study. The researchers found that people who worked out together as part of a team exercised harder and more than twice as long as those who sweated solo. Their motivation? Fear of being the weakest link.

4. Taste something sweet

There’s a reason you have a sweet tooth: Your brain rewards you for ingesting sugar, which is a major source of cellular energy once it’s converted to glucose. Energy drinks are meant to replenish those glucose stores, but you don’t need to actually drink them to enjoy a boost.

In research from the UK, endurance cyclists who simply rinsed their mouths with glucose-infused water (a sports drink by any other name) pedalled faster, had more power and showed increased activation in their brains’ reward centres, resulting in increased overall performance.

 

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