Rallied the squad – check!
Picked a cool team name – check!
Completed registration – check!
Researched the obstacles online and planned an attack strategy – check!
Now comes the hard part – waiting.
Tough Mudder is still a few months away and it can be a challenge to ride that wave of excitement through the months from event entry to course end.
Fortunately, the Tough Mudder community is a deep well of genius tips and tricks for staying motivated and keeping that training plan on track in the lead up to the main event.
- Put on your workout gear. Half the battle is finding the motivation to get up off the couch. Once your sneakers are on, it’s only a few short steps until you’re out the front door and on your way.
- Make a rewards chart. Channel your inner child and celebrate each workout. Pepper a poster-sized chart with sparkly stickers or colour-code your calendar. Either way, mark those motivational milestones.
- Pay per class. It’s easy to ignore a gym membership when you pay up-front or set and forget a regular direct debit. Paying for individual classes has a physical and visible dollar amount attached to it so you’re less likely to blow them off.
- Follow the crowd. Just like the Tough Mudder course, nothing motivates you more than having other people around. If you’re a solo runner, join a running group too. If you use a personal trainer or workout at home, mix it up with group fitness classes.
- End on a cliffhanger. Swap your workout beats for an Audiobook or podcast. You’ll have to keep coming back for another session if you want to discover how the story ends/whether your true crime theory was correct.
- Rope in your friends. Friday drinks are so outdated, lace up and take a twilight run instead. Round up your posse and hit the barre, instead of the bar or work up an appetite and tackle the stairs before you tackle weekend brunch.
- Find your jam. Why keep running if your body wants to dance? Why shut yourself in a gym when the pool beckons? There’s no point training if you don’t enjoy it. Find a workout that floats your boat and the motivation will come naturally.
- Baby steps. Break it down and set yourself micro-challenges to get through a workout. A 5km run becomes a jog to the corner, then to the next letterbox, then to the traffic lights, then to the next street. Smash your workout, step-by-step.
- Make it fun. Get silly. Swap a cardio session for a No Lights, No Lycra rave; bypass the studio for the pub’s Beer Yoga session; or get your Walking Dead geek on with the Zombies, Run! app. Because nothing will get your blood pumping and your body moving like the sound of the undead breathing down your neck.
- Order ahead. Start at your favourite café and pre-order a coffee or smoothie for when your workout finishes. If you have to stick around until it’s ready, you may as well train.
- #nofilter. No motivation to run? Pick a scenic running route and treat yourself to a photo break every 1km. Your Instagram will love you for it.
- Sleep in it. Wear your activewear to bed. Not only will it make early morning training sessions easier to deal with – especially in winter – you’ll feel pretty silly if you have to peel your workout clothes off without actually working out.
- Winning at life. Bored at the gym? Secretly compete with whoever is exercising beside you. Lift 1kg more, add one more set, row 100m further. Life isn’t a competition… or is it?
