If you've got a competitive streak, you know the power of adding some friendly rivalry to goad you on.

Dr. Gary Hall, Sr., three-time Olympic medalist and founder of The Race Club, says creating a competitive environment when athletes are struggling at the end of practice helps them to push through pain and fatigue.

Research shows that working out with a super-fit buddy motivates women to work out harder and longer than those who exercise alone. The best part? The women increased their workout without even realizing it.

Your ideal workout buddy is someone who is in just a little bit better shape than you, especially in the areas you want to work on. If you're against the idea of mixing friends and fitness, get a virtual buddy on the app Nexercise.

It sounds cliché, but world-class athletes (and the people who train them) swear by visualization. As hocus-pocus as it seems, envisioning yourself crushing a ball into the stands or blasting by the competition as you sprint to the finish line can actually help you achieve that goal.

Lauren Weisman, mind body manager of Exhale, uses it to get through the particularly taxing last few minutes of her core fusion workout. "I either visualize the finale to a ballet performance or the finish line of a race -- that one last big push. I see the end in sight and I strive for it," says the former ballerina and track star.

Sixty seconds usually goes by pretty quickly, unless, that is, you're dripping sweat and struggling to complete that last Chaturanga.

To keep her clients engaged in their yoga practice, New York-based celebrity yoga and Pilates instructor Kristin McGee uses this little trick: "I tell them they can do anything for one minute ... and that minute turns into many more." Setting mini-goals within your workout breaks it up into less intimidating pieces. It's not a two-mile jog, it's just four little half-miles.

As long as the beat goes on, so will you -- so say several pieces of research on the powerful effect music has on workout motivation.

Listening to a beat that matches the pace of your activity actually makes your workout feel easier, and can drown out that little voice that is telling you to stop. In some cases, music made people work out 15 percent longer and decreased use of oxygen by 7 percent (meaning they weren't gasping for every last breath).

SoulCycle, known for its pumping playlists, is one workout that uses music as a motivator. "I really want to feel like I'm inside the song with every pedal stroke. When I feel no separation between myself and the music, I don't feel like I'm working -- no matter how hard the class is," says Fitzgerald.

Likewise, when Kaiser is teaching a cardio dance class, her motto for her students is, "I don't stop until the song does."

It might sound hippy-dippy, but repeating a meaningful phrase or mantra can help you power through a difficult workout. Though yogis chant the traditional "Om," you can use any word that summons strength. One of McGee's students repeats, "Stay strong all day long" when she starts to lose motivation. It reminds her that finishing the workout will make her feel stronger for the rest of the day.

According to sports psychologists, mantras should be action-based, short, instructive and positive. Choose a mantra that describes what you want to feel, rather than one that acknowledges pain. "Define yourself" was the mantra chosen by Deena Kastor in 2005 when she became the first American to win a major marathon since 1994. Sarah Reinertsen chose "You're tougher than the rest" to qualify for a spot at the Ironman World Championship, where she became the first female leg amputee to finish the race.