Exercise Motivation: Dollars and Sense!

So you started working out a while back, but lately the exercise motivation is flagging. You know you need to work out using gym equiment, but somehow when it comes time you often make an excuse.

“I’ve got more important things to do right now.”

“I’m still getting over being sick. I should rest.”

“The Rip Torn film festival is on.”

Here’s a trick you can use to get yourself off the couch and working out when you just don’t feel like it.

That’s Gonna Cost Ya, Pilgrim

OK, hopefully you won’t hear John Wayne’s voice, but it’s a fact of human psychology that we hate to lose money. It’s a concept called ‘loss aversion’. It means that while we often won’t get ourselves moving to make more money, we become very motivated when we’re threatened with losing it.

So How Do We Make Missing that Workout Cost Us?

Go sign up for a class. Spin classes, aerobics, yoga, martial arts, Zumba, strength, and conditioning – there’s a host of options for every taste. But here’s the key…

Find a class where you’ll be charged whether you show up or not. Some gyms and types of classes allow you to sign in and only charge again once you’ve used up your quota. But others charge for a set time period. If you don’t show up, you still have to pay for that class.

Even Better – Sign Up For ClassPass

ClassPass allows you to go to a wide variety of different classes for a monthly fee. They operate worldwide and in Australia classes are available in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth & Sydney! Because you pre-pay you’re losing money if you don’t go.

As an added bonus, you’ll get to try a wide range of different exercise classes. You might even find a new passion.

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Will Dove

Author
Will is a lifelong fitness nut. He started exercising religiously at the age of 16. Now 52, he still works out 5 times per week and maintains a body fat percentage in the single digits. Will is passionate about helping others to achieve their fitness and body image goals, and believes that most people fail to achieve these goals, not through a lack of self-discipline, but through a simple lack of knowledge.