How Former Athletes Lose Their Drive to Exercise (And How to Rekindle It)
How to rekindle your drive to workout again.
By Kelan Ern Updated: 04/14/26
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When I was in 4th grade, I fell in love with football.
For years I did conditioning drills… worked on my 40-yard dash… and hit the weights to build my strength and power. I felt pulled to work out. Almost no motivation was required. But when I reached college, something changed.
I decided to hang up my jersey (due to a low back injury) and for the first time, working out became a real struggle. For the first time, I had to find motivation.
But why? Why did it become so hard to stay motivated after years of exercising with little push needed?
My purpose for working out had vanished.
My reason for exercising evaporated like a puff of smoke in the air. Since then I’ve learned that I’m not alone in this. Many collegiate (and high school) athletes struggle to find the drive to work out once they stop playing sports.
How do you fill the void? Where do you go for new motivation?
Here are four key lessons that helped me get through this 'motivational dilemma' and rekindle my motivation to exercise (and discover what smolders it out).
4 Ways to Recover Lost Motivation to Workout
#1: Find a New Purpose
More importantly, find a new driving purpose - a new compelling reason to exercise.
Something that excites you, something that rekindles your drive again. Maybe losing 5… 10… or 20 pounds on the scale motivates you. Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe finding a way to be an athlete again does.
All these can re-kindle your drive to move more. And they can bring out that inner athlete in you again - that side of you that loves to compete or be part of a team.
Now as powerful as a new purpose is, here’s something that will smolder your motivation fast unless you catch it.
#2: Inward Comparison
Inward Comparison is comparing yourself to your previous self.
We’ve all heard we shouldn’t compare ourselves to others. But comparing yourself to where you were years ago… or even decades ago can be just as destructive. It’s constantly measuring yourself up to how fit or strong you used to be. And this constant comparison can hammer down your self-confidence and motivation.
Especially when you put on top of it the belief:
"I should be better than this!"
This little phrase squashed my motivation.
When I went to the gym, I would imagine how much I used to be able to back squat... bench press... or hang clean. Then I'd compare it with the smaller numbers I was currently lifting and beat myself up.
I’d think to myself:
I should be stronger. I should be able to bench press 250. I should be able to squat 315 again.
The truth was, no I shouldn’t!
Not because I wasn’t physically capable of those numbers. But because I hadn’t put in the work. If I would have kept doing my collegiate workout routine, yes. But since I didn’t, I can’t be surprised that my strength levels dropped.
So what do you do instead?
#3: Honest Starting Location
You need two pieces of information to travel anywhere:
a) Your ultimate destination (whether that's the Grand Canyon or Des Moines, Iowa) b) Your starting point
If you aren't honest about this second detail, you won't arrive at your destination. Because different starting points require different routes. Some people have to take back roads and country highways to reach a destination. Others need the interstate.
Same with fitness goals.
Some people have 100+ pounds to drop… or a reconstructed knee … or haven’t looked at a dumbbell in 20 years. For others, the issue is simpler - but frustrating: figuring out why they can't touch their toes.
Each requires a different path. If I’m going to help a former football player who had rotator cuff surgery, I’m going to build a very different battle plan than working with mechanic who hasn’t lifted a weight in his life.
Your route should be individualized for you.
But to do that, you have to be honest about your starting location: your weight… your blood pressure… your hip mobility (or lack thereof)… how far you can walk without getting winded… or just how many minutes of physical activity you get each week. This may stir up some hurt and dissatisfaction but it also grounds you in reality.
And guess what?
That might just be just the high-octane fuel you need to fire up your exercise and nutrition habits again. And then kick them into the next gear.
Be at peace with your starting point. Because it doesn't mean you have to stay there for long.
#4: Focus on Constant Improvement
There's a great story about Stephanie Laska, who grew up living off of Froot Loops, Kool-Aid and other questionable foods. Plus, she never exercised. So gradually these habits caught up to her until in her 40's she was close to 300 pounds. That's when she realized it was time to reboot her fitness.
She started small.
Cutting out pop. Limiting on desserts. Reducing beer.
Those helped her drop 50lbs right off the bat.
Then she hit a plateau, and decided to include exercise into her plan. This wasn't easy though and she got stuck overanalyzing and overthinking the details. And she just kept putting it off until one day she decided she was going to make it simple and just walk.
So she did.
She started walking around her neighborhood - until she got in the habit. Then one day while she was on her walking route (which included going around a tennis court), she had a wild hair idea:
She would run along one side of the tennis court.
Then over time, she ran around both sides. Then three sides and then around the entire court. This paved the way for running her first mile.
From there, she progressed to 5ks... 10ks... half-marathons... and then a full-blown marathon. Eventually losing 140 pounds!
While running seemed like a stretch-goal for her, she simply broke it down into small, manageable upgrades.
“What motivated me to keep going was that it wasn’t as hard as I made it out to be. People tend to make these huge decisions – like joining a gym or signing up for a bootcamp – but I just made a tiny choice to take a walk around the block. I always try to remind myself that those little decisions snowball, positive or negative.” - Stephanie Laska
Even if it’s gradual.
Even if it’s baby steps (or crawls) forward. Focus on walking those few extra blocks… lifting 5 more pounds… or doing 10 more minutes on the elliptical. Just push yourself a little bit more each time. Better you best. Over. And over again. Then watch yourself close the gap between where you are and where you used to be.
Even if you are no longer an athlete. Even if it’s been years since you’ve exercised. Even if you aren’t happy with the shape you are in today.
It’s time embrace your inner athlete again. It’s time to storm the field again. Just in a new way.
Kelan Ern Elite Fitness Coaching
P.S. If you want to awaken that inner athlete again and restore your athleticism - check out a free issue of Mind-Body Breakthroughs - where I do a deep dive on the mindset, habits and strategies of the fittest athletes on the planet.
