Wednesday, June 20, 2012

DIY Project: Motivational Gym Cards

This is definitely an odd one, and if you're one of those gym rats who just loves working out and nothing can tear you away from your daily cardio fix, this one is not for you. This one is for the people who find that making yourself spent 60 nominates in the gym every day is about as easy as dragging a dead donkey through an obstacle course; for the poor souls who feel time slow to a next-to-frozen-crawl as soon as your feet touch the exercise equipment; for the struggling gym-rats-in-progess who want to quit THE ENTIRE TIME, but continue anyways, usually fueled by an internal Smeagol-esque back and forth, which if spoken out loud, would surely qualify you for the psych-ward. This one, my dear fellow exercise-dreaders, this one's for you.

The inspiration for this DIY, besides the [obvious] CRAZY in my head, was twofold:
          1. A gift sent to me by a friend earlier this year, which contained a stack of lovely quotes
          2. A large collection of super motivational fitness quotes on Pinterest - which really isn't where you need them, huh?

A few of my gym cards...
Yes, you can laugh.

Motivational Gym Cards

There are a number of ways of making these, from writing on flashcards, to laminated cards, to photo prints. Choose the way that works for you.

What You'll Need:
A number of motivational fitness quotes - check Pinterest for ideas
Add any personal goals as well
cardstock, flashcards, or photo paper of desired size - my cards are 4"x6"
printer, photo printer, or marker
rubber band or small fabric pouch

Directions:
1. Collect your quotes, choosing those that speak to you. Add your personal goals, short-term & long.
2. Print quotes - either by hand, on your printer, or photo printer
3. Protect - initially I had planned to laminate mine, but as I printed mine on photo paper, they already have some protection, and I figured it would be a wasted effort as I'll probably change these out quite often, but to each their own. This is more important if you use paper, or want them to last a long time.
4. Make portable - I made a little drawstring pouch for mine using fabric scraps, which took about 5 minutes, but a simple rubber band to keep them together in your gym bag is fine.

Cards in action: from my latest workout:

This DIY is so odd and cheesy, I almost didn't share it. I made my cards on a whim, not knowing if I'd ever get any use out of them. However, I've actually found them pretty great, especially for those days when I'm sore and tired and just don't feel like working out, or during those last 15 minutes when I'm sprinting toward the finish with no energy stores left. I see these little messages, and I push a little bit harder, go a little bit further, and kick a little bit extra ass! So I decided to share them anyways, in all their crazy, cheesy glory, and they just might help motivate someone else as as well. 

2 comments:

  1. I love this idea! I'm exactly one of those you describe - it's such a challenge for me to keep going. I just may have to give this a try once my back heals!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, I had great inspiration ;)
      I'm so glad to hear someone else might get some use out of something like this. I've been using mine a lot so far.
      If you do make some, please share. I'd love to see what you come up with :D

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