Finding Motivation to Workout with Audiobooks

If you love working out, you probably listen to music as you exercise.

It’s a great way to keep your mind occupied during routines—and, as we noted, you can even unashamedly belt out your favorite tunes if you’re home alone (bonus lung-strengthening exercises, anyone?).

The best part is that music can actually fuel your discipline in the process. 

According to a published study, your senses engage with music in multiple ways. If you choose songs that you personally prefer, have a good beat, and maybe even match the tempo at which you do your reps, you can actually motivate yourself to work out even more, regardless of the intensity of your usual routines. 

But why stop there? Similar, listenable formats offer even more benefits—and few offer more perks for your physical and mental well-being than the audiobook.

Here’s more on how listening to these treasure troves of knowledge can motivate you to work out even further. 

The Motivational Power of Audiobooks 

If music engages the body, audiobooks engage the mind. Both can distract you from how tired you’re feeling, helping you push yourself harder with every routine.

By listening to audiobooks,however, you take all the benefits of setting aside time every day to read—enhancing your knowledge, improving your memory, and even relieving your stress—and fit it into the hours you spend exercising. You’ll basically be hitting two birds with one stone. 

Although you can listen to audiobooks of any genre—horror, romance, you name it—you can make the most out of this digital format if you pick titles specifically designed to boost your motivation during workouts. Plenty of them offer fitness tips, words of affirmation, and principles you can stick to.

By listening in, you’ll feel like you have a personal trainer in your ear, driving you to do even better with every set. Working out with audiobooks won’t be as pricey as actually hiring a personal trainer, either. 

Audiobooks don’t require printing, meaning they’re cheaper than physical copies. With a subscription plan, you can cut costs even further. Signing up means you can access thousands of audiobooks at Everand for the price of a single book.

With dozens of categories spanning New York Times bestsellers to buzzy listens, you can cycle through motivational fitness titles like Mind Over Matter, My Workout Wake UP Call, and Strength Training Over 40 every month and even download them for your offline runs.

You can also get audiobooks as part of existing subscriptions like Spotify Premium.

Here, you can access to popular and indie works that can further expand your to-listen list—and, if you’re wondering what to pick up next, receive personalized Spotify audiobook recommendations fueled by the same algorithms that power the platform’s Daily Mix, Discover Weekly, and yearly Wrap playlists.

However, you do need a place to start listening. In that case, why not start with these audiobooks?

Fuel Your Workouts with These Titles

50 Things to Know to Stick with a Workout 

Wondering why it’s so hard to start—and stick to—a new or harder routine? This piece from Time explains that it’s because your brain actually doesn’t want you to exercise.

Even though physical activity is extremely beneficial for maintaining your well-being, lowering your chances of developing chronic conditions, and even improving your longevity, human beings are hardwired to prefer sedentary lifestyles.

Evolution means our bodies seek rest and energy conservation, creating biological barriers that make it more challenging to motivate yourself to work out.

That’s where listening to this audiobook can help. It goes through some potential difficulties you may be facing on your journey to improved fitness, and then lists a number of solutions you can try.

You’ll ultimately learn to “trick” yourself into moving more.

50 Things to Know to Stick with a Workout even encourages you to keep going after you’ve hit your workout goals, making it the perfect audiobook for motivating you to do bigger and better routines.

The Little Black Book of Workout Motivation

Looking for a one-stop listen for all your fitness motivation needs? Consider the extremely handy Little Black Book of Workout Motivation.

This work was written—and narrated—by Michael Matthews, who’s an actual certified personal trainer. He has a deep understanding of just how hard it can be to motivate yourself to exercise, and you’ll find all the advice he usually gives to his clients right here.

Though working out doesn’t get easier, Matthews ensures every listener that they just have to get better—and that they do have the ability to do just that.

In just a few short hours, you’ll hear research-backed tips on how to instantly boost your willpower under any circumstances, learn a 10-minute technique for beating procrastination, and even pick up a Navy SEAL “40 percent rule” that can help you get the courage to tackle even the most daunting challenges face-on.

More crucially, Matthews reminds you that you shouldn’t wait to reach your fitness goals to be happy—and that you shouldn’t wait for things to be “just right” before you work out.

Ultimately, this audiobook is chock-full of useful insights for fueling your performance. 

Workout and Fitness Affirmations for Men and Women 

If you need something that can directly keep you going during workouts, the affirmations in these books are perfect to listen to.

With this audiobook, you’ll hear encouraging words for multiple kinds of exercise—whether you’re running outdoors or lifting weights at your local or home gym.

You’ll also get affirmations that take the specific fitness concerns of men and women into account, allowing you to further personalize your listening experience.

Yet, as its name implies, Workout and Fitness Affirmations goes even further.

This audiobook can also prove extremely helpful even as you’re going about your day-to-day routine, with affirmations for other healthy lifestyle habits like eating, sleeping, and generally just treating yourself more kindly as you navigate the murky waters of pushing yourself toward better physical health.

The best part is that the encouragement you’ll hear is scientifically proven to help you build a more positive mindset crucial for workout motivation.

WebMD confirms that positive affirmations can bolster your belief in yourself and what you’re capable of achieving, and that means they can help push you even further as you exercise.