Improve Your Sweatitude: 9 Motivation Rut Busters

"No matter how hard I try, something always foils my workout schedule."

Rut Buster: Get a plan and then grab a pen. People who have a process goal, such as a target number of weekly workouts, stick to their routines with significantly more success than those who focus on a big-picture outcome -- such as losing 20 pounds -- or go along without any specific goal, a study in the International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology found; they also feel less stressed about squeezing in exercise. Next, schedule your gym time just as you would a business meeting. "That way, when someone asks if you can meet at 5, you can honestly say, 'Sorry, I have an appointment; how about 4 instead?'" says Sherri McMillan, owner of Northwest Personal Training in Vancouver, Washington.