You Won’t Be Able To Resist Working Out After Reading These Inspirational Quotes About Fitness

The most successful professional basketball player the world has ever known didn’t make his high school varsity team as a freshman. Unfortunately for every opponent he would face from that day forward, failing to make the cut at Emsley A. Laney High School only stoked Michael Jordan’s fire.“Whenever I was working out and got tired and ?gured I ought to stop, I’d close my eyes and see that list in the locker room without my name on it,” he later explained. “That usually got me going again.”

For the rest of his career, that same competitive blaze became Jordan’s hallmark, a reason to fear just exactly how driven he would be if anyone ever got the best of him.

“Everyone has a plan ‘till they get punched in the mouth.” – Mike Tyson

As inspirational quotes about fitness go, this one doesn’t mince words: what do you do when someone or something defeats your best strategy? Whatever you do, things can and will go awry. In the ring, Mike Tyson always had the same choice as any fighter after catching one on the chin: give up or adapt.

Remember, when Plan A fails, you still have 25 letters left in the alphabet. Try the next best thing. Take what circumstance gives you, and you may find it pans out surprisingly better than what you originally had in mind.

“Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali

Always trust a fighter accustomed to scraping for every hard-fought win to one day produce at least a few insightful, inspirational quotes. Few were ever quite as introspective as the late, great Muhammad Ali.

Here’s a doozy of a reality check: anxiety stems from focusing too far ahead of the present. Meanwhile, depression often takes root because we spend too much time looking backwards. Stop keeping score of how many days you supposedly have left to meet a fitness goal or how many you spent without living up to your own expectations. Instead, acknowledge today as all the guaranteed time you have and make the most of every moment.

“Create healthy habits, not restrictions.” – Unknown

You could file this under “inspirational quotes about about fitness” or simple common sense. Above all else, you may need to change the way you look at yourself. What receives more of your valuable energy, thinking about everything you cannot do or exploring positive actions you know will benefit your well-being? Celebrate the good things your choices bring into your life, and savor them as your rewards for constantly working toward your goals. As another old saying goes, “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

”No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.” – Tony Robbins

To his millions of followers, Tony Robbins could practically pen a personal religious text using only his own advice. This one places relative success into a particularly stark light for anyone who has ever spent a month or more working out and still hated what stared back from the mirror.

OK, so your thighs may not crush walnuts yet. Your biceps wouldn’t lock up this year’s Mr. Universe title. Compare that to how far you are ahead of someone who refuses to take a single step toward a goal such as yours. Getting off the couch for just one set of push-ups still lands you ahead of anyone remains seated.

”If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.” – Steve Jobs

Surprise! Inspirational quotes about fitness don’t always come from athletes or celebrated personal trainers.

In this case, Apple founder Steve Jobs would remind you to never forget why you started chasing something. Yes, you want to run a marathon, but why? What is it about running such an insane race that compelled you to start training? Zero in on that triumphant dream and everything associated with it that moves you. Focus on everything you cannot stop wanting. Do that, and you will never lose sight of what pulled you to your feet in the first place. Just get to the very heart of your desire.

“The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” – Vince Lombardi

The NFL has never known a more hard-nosed, bluntly spoken coach than the legendary Vince Lombardi. Truly, inspirational quotes such as this one encapsulated the one thing he asked of every player he ever led onto the gridiron: everything.

Lombardi was realistic. He knew that every man had his limit. That’s why he demanded only that every player who suited up under his watch left nothing in the tank at the end of the day. If his team ended up on the short side of the score, so be it, as long as they left no doubt they had not an iota of energy or effort left. On those days, someone else’s “best” was simply better. That was out of anyone else’s hands.

Final Thoughts

Ask yourself, “Could I have done anything else today?” No? Then cut yourself some slack.

For all the inspirational quotes about fitness listed here, there are another hundred or so worthy pearls of wisdom out there capable of lighting a profound fire beneath anyone. From Wayne Gretzky to Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the world’s most decorated names in fitness have often overcome untold adversities before passing along their lessons. Now, go out there and become someone else’s role model. You never know who might be watching.