Michelle R. Martinelli

For The Win

With a strict workout regimen, a book with a 12-week exercise program and aspirations to one day be an instructor for the masses, it's safe to call Danica Patrick a fitness expert.

The recently retired race car driver regularly changes up how she exercises through a combination of things like weight training, cardio and yoga, and she recently broke down her favorite workout moves for For The Win. In her health and fitness book, Pretty Intense, she describes herself as 25 percent weight lifter, 50 percent CrossFitter, 20 percent sprinter and 5 percent distance runner.

But Patrick is still like everyone else when it comes to not wanting to work out sometimes or just needing a chill day.

"I definitely have some days where i'm a little less energetic," she told For The Win.

So how does she motivate herself to get to the gym or push herself through a grueling workout? She shared these seven fitness tips with us.

1. Plan ahead

"I would say that having a little bit of a schedule for your workout tends to get you doing it," Patrick said. "So that's helpful. Having a designated space to do it is also helpful if you're doing it at home, so you have a purposeful place for it."

In a chapter of Pretty Intense focusing on mantras in a section called "Stop Thinking, Start Doing", she explains:

(If) your regular workout is at six P.M. and you choose not to go, chances are you probably came up with a well-thought-out excuse: "I'm too tired." "I can't fit it in." "My legs hurt." Standing up, putting on your gear, and starting to work out takes little, if any, thought at all. It's figuring out why you can't go that requires some real thinking.

2. Challenging = Confidence

Don't be scared or intimidated by challenging exercise moves or complicated workouts, Patrick said.

Wall walks are one of her go-to moves, and they're a multi-part exercise that begins in a push-up position and moves into a handstand against the wall. She said people read the instructions for them or see them listed in her workout program and freak out because they don't think they could ever do a handstand.

"While things are difficult, the amount of confidence you gain from being able to do it or accomplishing it, that seeps into so many other facets of your life," Danica said. "You believe in yourself entirely - as opposed to just, 'I can do that move.' It's now, 'Oh, you need me to do that work? Sure, I got you.' 'Need me to do that? Sure, I got it.' You tend to get more confident in your life, period, because you realize you can do it if you believe in yourself."

3. If you don't have a workout…

…try doing a single full-body move on repeat, like burpees, which are another favorite of Patrick's. No one says you have to always be clever or creative with your workouts to get a good one in.

"A couple years ago, I was at my parents house, and I did not feel like thinking of a workout that day," she recalled. "I was like, 'I wanna workout, but what should I do? I'll just do burpees.'

"And I was going to do 1,000 burpees for time, and then I looked online and saw that takes over an hour, and I didn't have an hour. So I was like, 'I'll do 500.' And the only thing I stopped for was every 100, I jotted down the time it was on the clock, just to see what my intervals were. I'm pretty sure it took me 35 minutes."

4. Manage your workout

Five hundred burpees sound excruciating and 1,000 seem impossible. While Patrick certainly isn't saying go that big on your first day of getting back in shape, there is a way to help digest a daunting task. Whether it's for motivation while exercising or to push yourself next time, she recommends breaking it up.

"The most helpful for (me is) to break down the reps into a manageable set," Danica said. "So let's say you have to do 100 push ups. Do 10 sets of 10, or 20 sets of five. Whatever your manageable amount is, do that."

And then build on it.

5. Have a 5-count

When Patrick's intensity level is high and she feels like she wants to give up, her go-to mantra is: "Slow down, don't stop." But there are times when she, like everyone else, still needs a break.

"While you're in the middle of it when things are difficult, give yourself a certain amount of time to count to," she explains. "So - and I literally just did this today - when you're tired and you stop for a second, just count to five, and when five is up, start again."

6. When you're really not feeling intense…

…there's an option for that too.

"If you are in one of those days and you're just tired, or it's cloudy out, or maybe you're exhausted from traveling or from work or family or kids, just go for a walk," Patrick said.

"Honestly, I do that a lot. And I'll go for an hour or an hour and a half, and I'll take the dogs, and it's great exercise from a low-intensity perspective. But you're getting moving, and I think that's the thing I'll do if I'm bored or not energetic."

7. Food matters

Danica loves to cook, and there's an entire section in her book dedicated to food. She doesn't just like to eat and cook healthy food, but she says there's a direct link between food and desire to exercise.

"Diet is very important. I find I don't really have many low-energy days where I'm not in the mood (to work out), so I think cleaning up your diet and getting away from gluten and dairy can really help your energy levels."

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