Help! I'm losing my motivation!

[WildGuy30]

I work a very busy schedule that keeps me travelling all the time. This also makes it difficult to eat often enough to get the most out of my training. I really don't want to lose what I have gained, as I know motivation will knock on my door again down the road. Don't want to start from scratch again!
At this point, I am really not motivated enough to continue my training...but on the other hand, I like the way I look and love the way that I could look. Still, with the minimal gains I have been making, it is tough to justify continueing.

I am looking for something to keep me motivated. Any ideas or suggestions to keep me in the game here?

 

[blut wump]

Just think about all of us who have made the mistake and stopped. Annoying little things like the posterior chain starting to atrophy until one day you try to get out of bed and find that you have a bad back for the rest of your life.

Maybe you like the idea of gaining forty or fifty pounds over the next five or six years and being one of those soft pillowy people that you loathe to brush against accidentally in a queue. Meanwhile you're thinking to yourself that you're still pretty solid and that you've only "gained a little weight" and can work it off whenever you feel like it until someone shows you a photo of yourself.

Do you like the idea that looking at a peanut of a weight and thinking of moving it out of the way makes you start to give advice to someone on how to lift it rather than getting stuck in and doing it? Maybe you'd take a stab at giving it a push to find it hardly moves and you ache for a week.

These are the things that loom in your non-lifting, lardy-ass, butterball future.

The book "Core Performance" by Mark Verstegen has a good handful of routines to follow while on the road. Worth a read and it might be worth folllowing a lighter rotuine for a while to get your energy and drive restored and recharged.

 

[jdevlin1985]

'Its lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges. And I believe in myself' - Muhammad Ali

 

[mrhoon]

Go look at my first pic on my PROGRESS!!!! thread. That is me after taking a break. I drove a truck around all day 6 days a week 10 hours a day. I really hated my job but it payed well. It took its toll. I stopped training, stopped eating right. Stopped caring. What a downward spiral. I was so unhappy in the end I just quit the job. Never felt better about leaving somewhere. Now I'm on the journey back! -(Rocky theme song begins...)-

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/showthread.php?t=401232

Heres a nice link for you.

 

[casualbb]

Find a reason to workout other than looking good, it makes it easier to stay motivated when you realize that it's a large pain in the ass to gain mass only to lose it so quickly.

 

[Tom Treutlein]

Agreed, casual. Training simply for aesthetics will slowly drive you crazy when you don't see what you want in the mirror every day. Even gains in strength can come to a crawl at times, and eating so much food can really drag you down.

Try not training for a week. Eat what you want. If you really like how that feels, maybe it's something to consider. However, I know that if I don't stick to a set diet (varying meals lightly here and there, but following the same backbone) and train religiously, I get very depressed. I get anxious easily. I feel like shit. When I'm training, be it through weights, grappling, or heavy bag work, I feel fucking amazing. I feel invincible.

 

[b fold the truth]

Find a reason to workout other than looking good, it makes it easier to stay motivated when you realize that it's a large pain in the ass to gain mass only to lose it so quickly.

Completely agree man...completely.

I know that it also helped me to focus on bulking for a while and to just use bigger weights in the gym...or to go for reps on things. I'd try to see how many reps I could get with 225 on the flat bench in a month. One week I'd do 225, next week 250, next week 205, then the last week 225 again. Gave me some new goals.

If you are losing motivation...you might want to switch some exercises around completely for a few weeks, go to a more abbreviated program (2 days a week maybe), etc...

Just some ideas...

B True

 

[rbtrout]

At 6' and 205 with 25% bf, I was a skinny bodied (with a big belly) guy. I dropped to about 185 and 3 years later have made it up to 225 with about 16% bf.
What does your wife/girlfriend think of how you look?
I love working out, so it's easy for me to stay motivated. BUT, I always have my ultimate goal of 250 @ 10% bf in mind. I will get there.

 

[WildGuy30]

Thanks guys. If I was a little bigger, it would be easier to stay motivated. Sometimes I look in the mirror though and think I look fucking awesome. Other times I look in the mirror and think what am I doing wasting all this time? I am having trouble gaining...period. I have not bailed yet, as I am off to the gym right now, but it is getting close. A business trip planned for all of next week isn't going to make things any easier either.

 

[blut wump]

Find exercises to do on the road, in your hotel room, etc.

There's going to come a time when you realise that you exercise to stay alive. Maybe you need to stop lifting for a while to come to terms with that. Good Luck with it.

 

[Debaser]

Find a sport or activity that you really enjoy, and start training for functional performance to improve your ability. Also, training for optimum function will improve your everyday life significantly.

The book, Core Performance, as already suggested, is a great choice. It's now in paperback, so it's pretty inexpensive.

 

[Sub-Zero]

try starting a new routine to make it more exciting...try madcows 5x5 and youl get excited about going to the gym all over

or if you were doing bb style make it PL style, or try exersises youv never doen before, like power cleans, regular cleans, standing military presses just to keep it exciting