Are you in dire need of some motivation to work out?
Have you been putting off your workouts because you’re just too busy, you’re just not ready yet, or you’re just not feeling up to it?
Well, we’re going to fix that problem right now.
So if you want some motivation, stick around. If not, click away from this post IMMEDIATELY and go read something safe and unmotivating.
Ok.
So you said you want some motivation?
Are you sick of not being able to fit into the clothes you want to wear? Avoiding the beach because you don’t want anyone else to see how jiggly your abs have gotten? Feeling embarrassed… disgusted… and hopeless about how you look?
(I’ve been there.)
Then let’s DO THIS. Let’s get you some motivation.
Now follow these steps below carefully:
Quit saying you don’t have the time to exercise.
We’re all busy. We all have too many things to do in a 24-hour time period.
But go ahead and ask yourself right now: What are your main priorities?
If they’re your family, your friends, your career, your hobbies, that’s all great.
But what about your health?
Shouldn’t that be a priority?
Because if you’re not making your health a priority now, whether you’re 25, 35, 45, 55 or older… well, I’ll guarantee you this: your health is going to be your main concern someday.
But when you get to that stage, it won’t be a choice. You won’t be deciding what new sport to try or how many times a week you should do your HIIT.
Nope.
If you get to the point where you’re forced to care about your health (while previously ignoring it), that means you’ve reached a point in your life where your health is falling apart.
Maybe you’ll discover you have diabetes because you ate like crap your entire life. Or be told you can no longer be independent because you now need a full-time nurse to help you move around the room since you didn’t bother to keep active when you were younger. Or you’ll be dealing with whatever other disease or ailment that you got because you just didn’t give a damn about your health any earlier in life.
And that sucks.
No one wants to deal with that.
So how about this… instead of saying you just don’t have time to exercise, make time.
Make your health a priority once and for all.
See, the cool thing is, you don’t actually have to spend hours working out in order to keep fit and healthy and avoid those terrible illnesses I just mentioned.
You can do it in just 12 minutes a day.
That’s all it takes.
High intensity interval training basically removes any excuse you have for not working out because you don’t have time.
Just think of all the 12 minutes you waste a day doing things like watching TV, taking an extra long shower or cutting your toenails.
YOU HAVE 12 MINUTES.
So here’s what I want you to do…
Drop everything you’re doing right now and go find your calendar, or notepad, or phone, or whatever you use to keep your schedule.
Now, decide how many times a week you want to make sure and exercise. I’d recommend at least three. Go for five or six if you’re more ambitious (I do six).
Next, put your workout in your schedule. If you’re aiming for three times a week, find three fifteen minute time slots and stick them in there. If you’re aiming for six, find six openings.
If you honestly, seriously, not lying and you don’t actually have any open time slots, here’s what you’re going to do…
You’re going to make time.
You’re going to shorten a meeting, cross off watching The Voice or just reduce the time you spend in the goddamn shower.
Now you have your workouts in your schedule. End of excuses.
Next up…
Stop saying you can’t work out.
I’m fully aware that every single person reading this is at a different fitness level.
Some of you can do 5, 10, even 20 pull ups. Some don’t even know how to start doing one.
(Once again, I’ve been there.)
But here’s a secret…
No one cares about how “good” you are at working out.
If you have to rest after three burpees, great. If you have to modify your push ups because you’ll fall on your face if you try a standard one, more power to you.
Because it’s not about what you can do… it’s about how hard you try.
These workouts are HARD.
Even after doing them consistently for a few years, after each and every workout I do, I’m covered in sweat, starving, and want nothing more than to lie on the floor and not move for at least the next 10 minutes.
Sometimes I’m so tired I have to take a quick break in the middle of an interval. Sometimes I have to do jumping pull ups instead of real pull ups or modify an exercise because I just physically can’t push any harder.
But that’s OK. Because all that matters is that I’m pushing myself as hard as I can possibly go.
And that’s all that you need to aim for. Whether that means you rest during half of the 12 minutes, I don’t give a damn.
It’s not about “perfecting” these workouts. It’s about challenging yourself and pushing your own limits.
That’s it.
As long as you keep pushing, as long as you don’t give up, that’s all that matters.
And I’ll tell you this…
I KNOW you can do it.
No matter what your fitness background, you can do an interval workout like the ones here on the 12 Minute Athlete, and you can kick its ass.
Who cares what everyone else does. This is about YOU. About YOUR body. About YOUR future health. No one else matters here.
I didn’t use to be able to do a single push up.
Maybe you can’t either. But you have to try.
And it’s all mental. But you can’t give up.
I believe in you.
“It’s never a question of can you, but will you?”
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Thanks for reading. Now go work out.
Please share this with someone who needs motivation to get fit and healthy.
