My Daily Fitness Routine & Ways I Stay Motivated

If you are like me, finding time to workout is always difficult. I am always crammed with assignments and studying. And not being a morning person doesn’t make anything easier.

At the beginning of this school year I created a workout routine to help keep me fit and level out stress. I was self-motivated and consistent with my routine for about two months until my workload with school and work got intense.

Luckily I have found my fitness rhythm again and got back on track with my routine! I wanted to share my daily routine in case you are looking for something new to help keep you healthier and less stressed. I know from first-hand experience that keeping up with a routine is the hardest part so I’ll also share the ways I stay motivated.

I decided to have my workout session in the morning. Once I’m up for the day I am busy with classes, work, homework and preparing for exams and am usually exhausted by the time I get home. Having a morning workout routine also helps me start the day a little easier. It surprisingly motivates me to wake up in the morning because it always helps me get energy and feel refreshed. But first, coffee…

Most mornings I begin my workout routine after I’ve had my coffee, turned on CNN, checked my emails, Twitter, Snapchat, Covet and Vogue.com. Some mornings I’m finishing up the previous night’s homework or waking up for my 8am class so I just make at least 10 minutes to get a quick workout. On a normal day my routine usually takes 15-20 minutes. All the exercises I do can be done in your home. All you need is a yoga mat and dumbbells.

My workouts always begin with a 5-10 minute yoga session. I have never done yoga before until I started using the SworkIt app that my friend told me about it. SworkIt is a fitness app that guides you through multiple workouts such as strength, cardio, yoga and stretching workouts. It also allows you to customize each workout. I love the yoga exercises! You can choose from sun salutations, full sequences, yoga for runners, or pilates. My favorite is the full sequence workout. Yoga makes me feel amazingly refreshed and relaxed. It has helped me eliminate a lot of stress which as a college kid is inevitable.

The next step of my workout is crunches. I’ll start with at least 25 crunches and increase the amount of every week (at least by 5) until I get to 40 crunches. You can choose to do more or less, whatever meets your preference.

Once I finish my crunches I begin my low-weight dumbbell arm exercises. I use 5 pound dumbbells for these exercises. Be sure to pick the size that best fits you. I start off with 2 sets of 10-15 reps per arm and 1 set of 10 reps overhead. During the second week, I increase the amount of reps to 20 (25 at the most) for my arms and 15 for overhead. I usually don’t exceed past that.

The final part of my routine is squats. It is honestly my least favorite to do when I’m out of shape but once you’ve been doing them for awhile they get easier and give great results! I use my dumbbells while I do my squats. I find it easiest to do them in front of the mirror. It helps perfect your formation. You want to be sure to have feet shoulder-width apart and have your arms out directly in front of you. I recommend to start with 20 squats and work your way up. My goal is to work up to 50. The highest I ever got to so far was to 40.

As I mentioned before, maintaining motivation can be extremely hard sometimes! So here are a few tips on how to stay motivated and keep your fitness rhythm:

 1. Knowing that afterwards you will feel 100x better

Exercising is always a great way to relieve stress and get energy, especially yoga. If you struggle with always being stressed out or having a hard time with being tired in the morning I definitely recommend you try yoga! It’s life-changing, I’m telling you.

2. Create a Pinterest Motivation/Goals Board

Pinterest has been very helpful with helping me find motivation. Create a Pinterest Motivation/Goals Board and pin things that relate to your fitness goals. This is a good way to help decide on how you want to set up your fitness plan. I found it easiest to follow fitness Pinterest Boards.

3. Instagram

I’m not sure about you but I mainly use Instagram to see what my favorite muses/celebrities/YouTube personalities are up to. If you have Instagram you are probably already following people with similar lifestyles to you or people that motivate you. If not, follow people you find motivating or that interest you.

4. YouTube

I love watching clothing hauls, stylebook videos, hair regimes, fitness routines and anything that relates to my lifestyle. Following and watching YouTube Beauty & Lifestyle gurus is another big thing that always helps keep me motivated!

What are you fitness goals?

How do you keep your fitness rhythm?