Lacking the motivation to exercise?  Need to make your routine new and exciting? Try these tips…I recommend (and use) them all the time to keep my perspective fresh.

Change It Up - Just yesterday I got an email from a friend who used a very popular fitness book.  A few months into it, she was bored with the exercises and stopped exercising.  The solution?  Change things up!  It will keep you interested, challenged and focused.  It can be as simple as jogging instead of biking.  You could just reverse the order of your regular workout routine.

You might also want to look for entirely new exercises or techniques.  Try Yoga or spinning.  If you have access to a gym, grab their calendar and try a new class.  Whatever you do, switch it up and try something new.

Determine What Motivates You – Is it a movie, an actress or actor, an athlete or supermodel?  What gets you revved up?  Put up some photos of them, study their diet or workouts, read their autobiography, etc.

Perhaps it’s a song or movie.  Do Rocky movies make you want to exercise?  If so, watch them!  Does that 80s music get you cranked?  Get an iPod and fill it up with 80s tunes!

Or maybe you need to get going right now!  Take a quick jog and see how you feel.  Do just 1 push up and see if you’re able to do one more!

Perhaps you’re stressed about work.  Hit the weights and burn that stress off.  If traffic drives you nuts, try exercise and skip the road rage.

Join A Club – Put yourself in a fitness environment!  Join a local health club or YMCA.  Visit meetup.com for local groups that share a fitness related interest.  There are plenty of groups like running, canoeing, walking, etc. in almost any town.

Hire A Trainer – Get that accountability!  Find a Certified Personal Trainer to help you get and stay on track.  I recommend finding one with an excellent certification, such as the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) or the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM). If you hire one to come to your house, get references and lots of information before allowing them into your home.

Get a Partner – Find someone to walk with. Get a buddy at work and perhaps a neighbor.  Find a friend who does yoga at home and join in.  Invite someone over for a game of hoops on the driveway or tennis down the street.  Network with others and build a small team of experts such as Nutritionists, Physical Therapists, Message Techs, etc.  Partner up with someone or more than one person and stay focused!

Challenge Someone – I’ll never forget it.  I was in college and I had to take a fitness test.  The student who was testing me was an absolutely gorgeous brunette.  I had no choice, I could not let myself look even the slightest bit weak in her eyes.  Does that make sense?  Not really, but I can assure you that my head was playing all sorts of games to make me pedal faster and push more weight.

On the other hand, some guys have challenged me to lift more or do more push ups.  That challenge really gets me going and I feel the need to prove to myself that I can do more than they can.

Keep in mind that some people don’t like a challenge.  That’s fine!  It works for me, but it may not work for you.  Whatever happens, try a few of these tactics and let me know if you have any more.  We’d love to know what gets you enthusiastic about exercise!  Let us know.