Top 100 Exercise Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting. When I feel pain, that’s when I start counting, because that’s when it really counts.”

— Muhammad Ali

Also featured in: Motivational Quotes, Quotes About Strength, Hard Work Quotes, Willpower Quotes

2. “No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.”

— Socrates

Also featured in: Motivational Quotes, Quotes About Strength, Inspirational Quotes for Men, Motivational Workout Quotes

3. “It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort. And when you bring that effort every single day, that’s where transformation happens. That’s how change occurs.”

— Jillian Michaels

Also featured in: Perseverance Quotes, Hard Work Quotes, Motivational Work Quotes, Wellness Quotes, Effort Quotes

4. “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.”

— Steve Prefontaine

Also featured in: Inspirational Quotes, Goal Quotes, Excellence Quotes, Effort Quotes, Motivational Workout Quotes

5. “Sport is a preserver of health.”

— Hippocrates

Also featured in: Feel Better Quotes, Sports Quotes, Healing Quotes, Past Quotes

6. “When I'm running I don't have to talk to anybody and don't have to listen to anybody. This is a part of my day I can't do without.”

— Haruki Murakami

Also featured in: Focus On Yourself Quotes, Running Quotes

7. “If you are losing faith in human nature, go out and watch a marathon.”

— Kathrine Switzer

Also featured in: Running Quotes, Sports Quotes, Quotes About People, Monday Inspirational Quotes

8. “Push YOURSELF to the edge of YOUR limits. That’s how they expand.”

— Robin S. Sharma

Also featured in: Ambition Quotes, Determination Quotes, Moving Forward Quotes, Workout Quotes

9. “It never gets easier; you just go faster.”

— Greg LeMond

Also featured in: Competition Quotes, Sports Quotes, Workout Quotes

10. “Running teaches us that we are capable of so much more than we ever imagined.”

— PattiSue Plumer

Also featured in: Feel Good Quotes, Encouragement Quotes, Motivational Workout Quotes, Running Quotes

11. “Every major decision I’ve made in the last eight years has been prefaced by a run. Where else do you get those uninterrupted hours to do nothing but think?”

— Casey Neistat

12. “Things live by moving and gain strength as they go.”

— Bruce Lee

Also featured in: Moving Quotes, Keep Going Quotes, Moving Forward Quotes, Martial Arts Quotes

13. “The reason we race isn’t so much to beat each other, but to be with each other.”

— Christopher McDougall

Also featured in: Happy Quotes, Positive Motivation Quotes, Running Quotes

14. “Don’t think about it. Do it. Don’t talk about it. Do it.”

— Henry Rollins

Also featured in: Dedication Quotes, Practice Quotes, Risk-Taking Quotes, Momentum Quotes

15. “Success isn’t owned – it’s leased. And rent is due every day. Every single day, someone’s coming for your job. Someone’s coming for your greatness. If you’re the greatest, someone wants to be the greatest, and so if you’re not constantly improving your game, somebody else is.”

— J. J. Watt

Also featured in: Hard Work Quotes, Epic Quotes, Competition Quotes, Football Quotes

16. “Nothing compares to the simple pleasure of a bike ride.”

— John F. Kennedy

Also featured in: Enjoy Life Quotes

17. “Don’t buy upgrades, ride up grades.”

— Eddy Merckx

Also featured in: Workout Quotes, Climbing Quotes

18. “When I can, I do 25 minutes of calisthenics every day.”

— Willard Scott

Also featured in: Workout Quotes

19. “An active soul is a healthy soul.”

— Maori Proverb

20. “Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever.”

— Lance Armstrong

Also featured in: Courage Quotes, Persistence Quotes, Quotes About Strength, Hard Work Quotes, Short Inspiring Quotes

21. “There is magic in misery. Just ask any runner.”

— Dean Karnazes

Also featured in: Running Quotes

22. “Average is Your Enemy.”

— Lance Armstrong

Also featured in: Gym Motivation Quotes

23. “If your spine is inflexibly stiff at 30, you are old. IF it is completely flexible at 60, you are young.”

— Joseph Pilates

Also featured in: Gym Motivation Quotes

24. “Victory is in having done your best. If you’ve done your best, you’ve won.”

— Bill Bowerman

Also featured in: Encouraging Quotes for Students

25. “Yoga is like music: the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.”

— B.K.S. Iyengar

Also featured in: Self-Care Quotes, Serenity Quotes, Harmony Quotes

26. “I think goals should never be easy, they should force you to work, even if they are uncomfortable at the time.”

— Michael Phelps

Also featured in: Sports Quotes, Gym Motivation Quotes, Grind Quotes

27. “Inches make champions.”

— Vince Lombardi

Also featured in: Coaching Quotes, Sports Quotes, Gym Motivation Quotes

28. “I push myself to the limit.”

— Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Also featured in: Gym Motivation Quotes, Gym Quotes, Boxing Quotes

29. “To be the best, I had to work harder than everyone else.”

— Jahangir Khan

Also featured in: Hustle Quotes, Grit Quotes, Gym Quotes

30. “In 10 sessions you’ll feel the difference, in 20 you’ll see the difference, and in 30 you’ll have a new body.”

— Joseph Pilates

Also featured in: Motivational Workout Quotes, Fitness Quotes, Health Quotes, Workout Quotes

31. “Everything you ever wanted to know about yourself, you can learn in 26.2 miles.”

— Lori Culnane

Also featured in: Running Quotes

32. “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure.”

— Eric Liddell

33. “I play each point like my life depends on it.”

— Rafael Nadal

Also featured in: Athlete Quotes, Dedication Quotes, Mental Strength Quotes, Tennis Quotes

34. “I believe that when the body is strong, the mind thinks strong thoughts.”

— Henry Rollins

Also featured in: Strong Quotes, Gym Quotes

35. “The wall! Your success is on the other side. Can’t jump over it or go around it. You know what to do.”

— Dwayne Johnson

Also featured in: Willpower Quotes, Obstacles Quotes, Grit Quotes, Epic Quotes

36. “Even if you don’t win you learn. So there’s no losing. You win the fight or you learn.”

— Renzo Gracie

Also featured in: Growth Mindset Quotes, Warrior Quotes, Loss Quotes, Martial Arts Quotes

37. “The real purpose of running isn’t to win a race, it’s to test the limits of the human heart.”

— Bill Bowerman

38. “Don’t dream of winning, train for it.”

— Mohamed Farah

Also featured in: Hustle Quotes, Gym Quotes

39. “Get the mind right, the body will follow.”

— Greg Plitt

Also featured in: Gym Quotes, Weight Loss Motivation Quotes

40. “The last three or four reps is what makes the muscle grow. This area of pain divides the champion from someone else who is not a champion. That’s what most people lack, having the guts to go on and just say they’ll go through the pain no matter what happens.”

— Arnold Schwarzenegger

Also featured in: Quotes About Strength, Work Ethic Quotes, Grit Quotes, Motivational Workout Quotes

41. “What I like most about track is the feeling I get after a good run.”

— Steve Prefontaine

Also featured in: Athlete Quotes, Running Quotes, Gym Motivation Quotes

42. “Worrying gets you nowhere. If you turn up worrying about how you’re going to perform, you’ve already lost. Train hard, turn up, run your best and the rest will take care of itself.”

— Usain Bolt

Also featured in: Mental Strength Quotes, Sports Quotes, Gym Motivation Quotes

43. “At the end of the day, your health is your responsibility.”

— Jillian Michaels

Also featured in: Accountability Quotes, Gym Motivation Quotes, Health Quotes

44. “The fastest way to still the mind is to move the body.”

— Gabrielle Roth

45. “Do your best and forget the rest.”

— Tony Horton

Also featured in: You Got This Quotes, Keep Going Quotes, Have a Great Day Quotes, Good Day Quotes

46. “Good posture can be successfully acquired only when the entire mechanism of the body is under perfect control.”

— Joseph Pilates

47. “By all means never fail to get all the sunshine and fresh air you can.”

— Joseph Pilates

Also featured in: Wellness Wednesday Quotes, Sunshine Quotes

48. “Movement is life; without movement life is unthinkable.”

— Moshe Feldenkrais

49. “If you knew you had to fight for your life tomorrow, would you change your training today?”

— Bruce Lee

Also featured in: Fighting Quotes, Martial Arts Quotes

50. “There are no shortcuts – everything is reps, reps, reps.”

— Arnold Schwarzenegger

Also featured in: Quotes About Strength, Hard Work Quotes, Work Ethic Quotes, Motivational Workout Quotes