Editor’s note: Before beginning any new exercise program, consult your doctor. Stop immediately if you experience pain.
When Nike unveiled its now-famous slogan “Just do it” in 1988, it helped propel the US-based sportswear company to worldwide fame. Ordinary people also began invoking the catchphrase to motivate themselves to tackle daunting tasks, such as sticking to an exercise routine.
That’s no surprise to researchers, who have found motivational quotes, mantras and positive self-talk help people in myriad ways.
College students who listened to the mantra of their choice were more cheerful and had more clarity of mind afterward, according to a 2018 pilot study in the Journal of Religion and Health, while self-talk strategies facilitated learning and enhanced sports performance, a meta-analysis published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science found.
Researchers also uncovered a positive connection between human health and mantra meditation — the practice of focusing your mind by repeatedly chanting a mantra — in a 2022 review published in the International Journal of Yoga. The use of mantra meditation for stress relief and coping with high blood pressure was especially promising.
With mantras and mottos so helpful, many fitness coaches incorporate them when working with their clients.
“I find them extremely useful,” said Alysha Flynn, a women’s running coach and founder of the training program What Runs You based in York, Pennsylvania. “They help people refocus their mind and develop a sustainable habit that keeps them moving and healthy for a long time.”
Motivation can be fleeting, agreed Kaya Luciani, a coach with the virtual training app Future based in Raleigh, North Carolina.
“A more reliable source of drive comes from our mindset,” Luciani said. “While mottos are bite-sized, they are also a really powerful way to hone and train our mindset. They get people thinking, ‘Maybe it is as easy as just doing it.’”
Finding your mantra or motto
While mantras such as “Just do it” and “Yes, you can!” are popular, they don’t work for everyone. Each person has to find the particular phrase or sentence that speaks to them.
Choosing something that’s short and easy to remember is best, said Flynn, who doesn’t recommend finding a mantra through research.
“I usually encourage clients to let the words just find them,” Flynn said. “That’s what will make the mantra resonate more deeply.”
Mantras and mottos are definitely personal, Luciani agreed.
“I don’t suggest a specific phrase or quote to a client,” she said. “They often develop naturally and always end up being something that just clicks with a client in some way.”
While not everyone will be helped by adopting a fitness motto, the two coaches have noticed some commonalities when using them with their clients.
Younger women often adopt phrases such as “I can do hard things,” because they want to prove something to themselves, Flynn said. “But for women who are 35 or 45, their mantras are more about grace and understanding and honoring themselves.”
Luciani, who coaches both men and women, doesn’t see huge differences in the mottos selected by each sex. Instead, she finds the mantras people adopt are more associated with their personality type and lifestyle.
“Phrases that are more cut-and-dried like ‘Just do it’ or ‘Suck it up!’ align more with masculine energy, for example, whether that energy is in a man or woman,” Luciani said.
One piece of the exercise puzzle
Both women said they use mantras and mottos as one piece of their coaching, and more as a supplemental tool that glues together a client’s exercise program. More importantly, the coaches said, individuals need to assess where they are at in their fitness journey, along with the aspirations they have set for themselves.
“When it comes to developing fitness goals and setting a pace for yourself, it’s very important that you don’t get the temptation to dive in headfirst all at once,” Luciani said. “That heightens your risk of stumbling into an all-or-nothing mentality, which is very common when folks are developing a new pattern.”
For seasoned exercisers, it’s important to push yourself a little outside your comfort zone, Luciani said. If you don’t, you’ll risk becoming bored or disengaged, she said.
“Ensuring you’re challenging yourself in an engaging way is just as important as not going overboard,” Luciani said.
You should also ponder the thoughts or processes that might have been ingrained into you since you were a child, whether that’s a rigid training protocol or believing you’re a failure if you haven’t achieved a set goal.
“It helps if you develop a mindset that’s more adaptable and flexible,” Flynn said. “Training is not a linear process.”
Both Luciani and Flynn have used fitness mantras themselves, and they change over time. Luciani said she recently wrote on a sticky note, “You can do this.”
“There’s not much to it,” Luciani said. “But having those words in front of your face every day can be something you really need one day and then a little whisper in your ear another. Your needs can ebb and flow.”
One motto that currently resonates with Flynn is “Because you can.”
“I have a deep understanding that, at some point in time, I won’t have the same fitness opportunities because my body won’t be physically capable of doing an activity,” Flynn said. “So I use it to squeeze out another drop now, while I’m able to do so.”
Overall, the essence of using a motto to improve your fitness is understanding that your internal dialogue can be a powerful asset in changing your behavior.
“We all can use words to train our minds, just as we train our body,” Luciani said.
Melanie Radzicki McManus is a freelance writer who specializes in hiking, travel and fitness.