When you are STUCK at home, staying motivated to do ANYTHING starts to become an intense game of MENTAL WAREFARE. It is SO EASY to slack off and fall into REALLY BAD HABITS and I am talking from experience. I’ve been working from home for years and growing up I always thought it would be the MOST AMAZING thing ever. And don’t get me wrong, it certainly has its perks, but after a while the lines start to blur between “work time” and “relax time”. It’s almost like when you leave the house you compartmentalize different parts of your life and certain surroundings stimulate different outcomes.
For example, when you get to your job, your brain KNOWS it’s time to WORK. When you get to the gym your brain KNOWS it’s time to LIFT. Then when you get home, your brain knows it’s time to RELAX. But now, all that’s out the window and I know A LOT of you are already starting to experience a bit of depression, cabin fever and demotivation. Whatever the case may be, if you don’t put an end to it NOW, it will continue to go downhill FAST! So here are my 5 tips to stay motivated to keep training while you are stuck at home.
Tip #1: Step On The Scale Every Morning
Get out your notebook, write down the date, step on the scale, and write down that number. If your goal is to gain muscle, then the last thing you want is for that number to start going down and if it starts going up FAST then you know you are packing on body fat. The same goes for if your goal is to lose weight, if that number starts going up, then you are starting to pack on body fat and if it goes down TOO FAST, you are most likely losing muscle from not eating enough food.
If you are stuck at home you don’t have anyone to tell you that you’re slacking, but the scale will never lie! Give it a name. Call it Broly, because Broly doesn’t care about your feelings! He just wants a good fight! Now, I’ve given my wife permission to be hardcore with me. I told her, if I start looking a bit fatty and flat, tell me to my face. That’s what motivates me. But if you don’t have someone at home to give you the honest to God truth, then just go visit Broly every morning and write down your weight!
Tip #2: As Soon As You Wake-Up, Move!
Get the blood flowing! When you have to go to work you are forced to get up and go. But when you’ve got nowhere to be its SOOOO EASY to go back to sleep or just move from the bed to the couch and then STAY THERE FOR HOURS! Not good! So as soon as you wake-up, do some stretches or push-ups or air squats or even jumping jacks! Get fresh blood flowing throughout your body. It’s like a pump for your brain. Let’s call it a “brain pump”. Let your brain know it’s time to WORK! Think about this, do a lot of you get your BEST IDEAS when training or doing cardio? Because I do and I know it’s because my body is moving and waking up and becoming more alert.
Tip #3: Go Outside!
Leave the phone in the house, find a spot to lay down and focus on nice and controlled breathing for about 20 - 30 minutes. You have ZERO commute now that you are stuck at home so you have time for this (if you've been off for the pandemic). To be honest, part of the reason I moved to Florida was because of seasonal depression back home in New Hampshire. It was always raining and snowing and when I DID have a chance to go outside, most of the time I just didn’t because I already had a bad habit of staying at my work desk all day. You NEED fresh air and sunlight, it makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE in your mood, so no excuses.
Tip #4: Set A Time To Eat & Hydrate Several Times Throughout The Day
When you work from home and spend A LOT of time in one spot you WILL NOT feel hungry and your body will adapt to this by not wanting as much food. Say right now you’re eating 3,500 calories a day. Well, after a few weeks of being stuck at home and not paying attention to your eating schedule that number will drop down to 2,000 calories and you won’t even realize it until you FINALLY take a good look in the mirror and realize you look flat. This is why tip #1 is so important. So set a timer for meals, you will thank me later. Accountability is KEY!
Tip #5: Don’t Wait Until ‘Later’!
This is probably THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP. As soon as you start having the thought of “I’ll do it later”, ESPECIALLY when it comes to your workout or cardio, I want you to write down the date and time of when you had that thought and then look in the mirror and remind yourself that “you are a bad ass that don’t take nothin' from nobody!!!!” Acting on the thoughts of “I’ll do it later” is SO DANGEROUS. Because the more you give in, the harder this habit will be to break and THAT’S WHY I want you to write down the date and time, EVEN IF you don’t act on it because if you visually see the amount of times you start doubting yourself, that will have a tremendous impact on your motivation to NOT GIVE IN. Staying home all day is MENTAL WARFARE and some of these tips might sound silly, but for those of you who’ve been working from home since before the lockdown, you know exactly what I’m talking about.
Stay connected with Scott Herman on
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