100 Powerful Gym Quotes to Keep You Motivated During Workouts (2024)

100 Motivational Workout Quotes

1. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” – Muhammad Ali
2. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then is not an act but a habit.” –Aristotele
3. “The body achieves what the mind believes.” – Napoleon Hill
4. “The hard days are the best because that’s when champions are made, so if you push through, you can push through anything.” – Dana Vollmer
5. “If you don’t find the time, if you don’t do the work, you don’t get the results.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
6. “Dead last finish is greater than did not finish, which trumps did not start.” — Unknown
7. “Push harder than yesterday if you want a different tomorrow.” – Vincent Williams Sr.
8. “The real workout starts when you want to stop.” – Ronnie Coleman
9. “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.” — Jim Rohn
10. “I’ve failed over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
11. “Once you are exercising regularly, the hardest thing is to stop it.” – Erin Gray
12. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started.” — Mark Twain
13. “Exercise should be regarded as tribute to the heart” – Gene Tunney
14. “You’re going to have to let it hurt. Let it suck. The harder you work, the better you will look. Your appearance isn’t parallel to how heavy you lift, it’s parallel to how hard you work.” –Joe Mangianello
15. “Most people fail, not because of lack of desire, but, because of lack of commitment.” –Vince Lombardi
16. “You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don’t take.” – Wayne Gretzky
17. “If something stands between you and your success, move it. Never be denied.” – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
18. “All progress takes place outside the comfort zone.”– Michael John Bobak
19. “Just believe in yourself. Even if you don’t, just pretend that you do and at some point, you will.” – Venus Williams

20. “The harder you work and the more prepared you are for something, you’re going to be able to persevere through anything.” – Carli Lloyd
21. “Enduring means accepting. Accepting things as they are and not as you would wish them to be, and then looking ahead, not behind.” – Rafael Nadal
22. “If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” – Thomas Jefferson
23. “The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
24. “Continuous improvement is better than delayed perfection.” – Mark Twain
25. “Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.” – Vince Lombardi
26. “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth
27. “Do something today that your future self will thank you for.” — Sean Patrick Flanery
28. “Success is usually the culmination of controlling failure.” – Sylvester Stallone
29. “Think of your workouts as important meetings you schedule with yourself. Bosses don’t cancel” – Unknown
30. “Workout till you feel that pain and soreness in muscles. This one is good pain. No pain, no gain.” – Invajy
31. “Confidence comes from discipline and training.” – Robert Kiyosaki
32. “I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting because they’re the only ones that count.”–Muhammad Ali
33. “What hurts today makes you stronger tomorrow” –Jay Cutler
34. “Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will” –Mahatma Gandhi
35. “You must expect things of yourself before you can do them.” – Michael Jordan
36. “The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides a champion from someone who is not a champion.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
37. “If you fail to prepare, you’re prepared to fail.” – Mark Spitz
38. “Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” – Jim Ryun
39. “A champion is someone who gets up when they can’t.” – Jack Dempsey
40. “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” – Tommy Lasorda
41. “When you have a clear vision of your goal, it’s easier to take the first step toward it.” – LL Cool J

42. “When I feel tired, I just think about how great I will feel once I finally reach my goal.” – Michael Phelps
43. “You have to think about it before you can do it. The mind is what makes it all possible.” – Kai Greene
44. “The only bad workout is the one that didn’t happen.” – Unknown
45. “Don’t be afraid of failure. This is the way to succeed.” – LeBron James
46. “You should never stay at the same level. Always push yourself to the next.” – Marnelli Dimzon
47. “You did not wake up today to be mediocre.” – Robin Arzon
48. “Action is the foundational key to all success.” – Pablo Picasso
49. “If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.” – Fred DeVito
50. “You can either suffer the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.” –Jim Rohn
51. “We can push ourselves further. We always have more to give.” – Simone Biles
52. “If you want to be the best, you have to do things other people aren’t willing to do.” – Michael Phelps
53. “Every champion was once a contender who refused to give up.” – Rock Balboa
54. “The difference between try and triumph is a little ‘umph’.” – Marvin Phillips
55. “If you are not pissed off for greatness, that just means you’re okay with being mediocre.” – Ray Lewis
56. “Keep working even when no one is watching.” – Alex Morgan
57. “Your health account, your bank account, they’re the same thing. The more you put in, the more you can take out. Exercise is king and nutrition is queen. Together you have a kingdom.” – Jack LaLanne
58. “Don’t dream of winning. Train for it!” – Mo Farah
59. “Most people give you right before the big break comes, don’t let that person be you.” – Michael Boyle
60. “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment.” – Jim Rohn
61. “Fitness is not about being better than someone else. It’s about being better than you used to be. – Khloe Kardashian
62. “Exercise should be regarded as a tribute to the heart.” – Gene Tunney
63. “Keep listening to your body. It will tell you when something is not okay.” – Emily Infeld
64. “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t. you are right” – Henry Ford
65. “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” – Walt Disney
66. “Great things come from hard work and perseverance. No excuses.” – Kobe Bryant
67. “Always make a total effort, even when the odds are against you.” – Arnold Palmer
68. “Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” –Winston Churchill
69. “Your mind will quit a thousand times before your body will.” – Reginald Red
70. “I’ve grown most not from victories, but setbacks. If winning is God’s reward, then losing is how he teaches us.” – Serena Williams
71. “Set your goals high, and don’t stop until you get there.” – Bo Jackson
72. “Physical fitness can neither be achieved by wishful thinking nor outright purchase.” – Joseph Pilates
73. “If you take time to realize what your dream is and what you really want in life — no matter what it is, whether it’s sports or in other fields — you have to realize that there is always work to do, and you want to be the hardest working person in whatever you do, and you put yourself in a position to be successful. And you have to have a passion about what you do.” – Stephen Curry
74. “You shall gain, but you shall pay with sweat, blood, and vomit.” – Pavel Tsatsouline
75. “You have to push past your perceived limits, push past that point you thought was as far as you can go.” – Drew Brees
76. “Get ready, be prepared. So when opportunities finally show themselves, you’ll be able to own them.” – Hannah Gabriels
77. “You dream. You plan. You reach. There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, with belief, with confidence and trust in yourself and those around you, there are no limits.” – Michael Phelps
78. “Be Humble. Be Hungry. And always be the hardest worker in the room.” – Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson
79. “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” – Michael Jordan
80. “A year from now you may wish you had started today.” – Karen Lamb
81. “A goal is just an awesome way to force growth on yourself” – Deena Kastor
82. “If you do not believe in yourself, no one will do it for you” – Kobe Bryant
83. “Our bodies are gardens, our wills are our gardeners.” – William Shakespeare
84. “Get comfortable with being uncomfortable!” – Jillian Michaels
85. “Time, Effort, Sacrifice, and Sweat. How will you pay for your goals?” – Usain Bolt
86. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks, will accomplish nothing in life.” – Muhammad Ali
87. “It’s supposed to be hard. If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it.  The hard is what makes it great.”  — Tom Hanks
88. “The purpose of training is to tighten up the slack, toughen the body, and polish the spirit.” — Morihei Ueshiba
89. “Put all excuses aside and remember this: You are capable.” – Zig Ziglar
90. “The groundwork for all happiness is good health.” – Leigh Huntfs
91. “Success usually comes to those who are too busy to be looking for it.” — Henry David Thoreau
92. “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vidal Sassoon
93. “The clock is ticking. Are you becoming the person you want to be?” –Greg Plitt
94. “The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.” – Bruce Lee
95. “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong
96. “Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.” – John F. Kennedy
97. “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
98. “Making excuses burns zero calories per hour.” – Unknown
99. “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
100. “Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance.” – Samuel Johnson

The Power of Motivation in Fitness

Research shows that approximately 50% of people who start an exercise program drop out within the first 6 months. This begs the question of why.  The reason is because of a lack of motivation – if they don’t want it badly enough, they will abandon it.  You need motivation, either external or internal motivation to meet all your different goals, both in the fitness industry and in other areas of your life. Sometimes, motivational quotes are just what you need to get yourself up and running. Besides, all the motivational fitness quotes outlined in this article all highlight one thing – not giving up even when it gets difficult.