Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below i recently started working out again, i am trying to stay on a strict workout schedule and diet. the diet part is the hardest, but the workout is almost as hard to maintain. my question is how do you guys stay motivated to workout everyday or close to it, and keep doing it over the years? and also how do you stay on a strict diet and keep it that way?
Staying Motivated....
- Thread starter swaptrex
- Start date
Maintaining a constant state of superior health, including exercise and nutrition, and a certain self-image just becomes part of your value system and daily routine. Your workout is built into your daily activities and has a high priority. Eating properly just becomes "normal". In your "minds eye" you are this disciplined person.
Ups and downs of interest level is normal. Learning about new routines, nutritional break-throughs, biographies of Champions, movies, events, and even magazines keeps you up.
Charting your progress has great value. I chart my body weight and workout sets, reps and weights using Microsoft Excel spread sheets posted on a cork board. It is staring right at me telling me what is going on.
Assessing yourself every 3 months has value also. It gives you an opportunity to sharpen that image you have of yourself and kick-start the effort to improve.
Yes ... It is a mind game.
Good luck!
Ups and downs of interest level is normal. Learning about new routines, nutritional break-throughs, biographies of Champions, movies, events, and even magazines keeps you up.
Charting your progress has great value. I chart my body weight and workout sets, reps and weights using Microsoft Excel spread sheets posted on a cork board. It is staring right at me telling me what is going on.
Assessing yourself every 3 months has value also. It gives you an opportunity to sharpen that image you have of yourself and kick-start the effort to improve.
Yes ... It is a mind game.
Good luck!
it all makes sense, out of all those listed i would say loss of interest hurts me the most. it is part of my personality to like something one week, then loose interest the next.....it can get very frustrating!! i think i am going to start a subscription to a mag or get a few books....any ideas??
Guinness5.0
New member
nix the magazine idea. they are not worth their weight in toilet paper.
I'm lucky in that I LOVE to train so staying motivated isn't an issue, but I would venture to guess that learning will keep jsut about anyone going. Read up on madcow's posts. That guy knows his stuff.
I'm lucky in that I LOVE to train so staying motivated isn't an issue, but I would venture to guess that learning will keep jsut about anyone going. Read up on madcow's posts. That guy knows his stuff.
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Forced Negative
New member
i feel what u sayin bro since im a hard gainer its why do u keep coming here
Fast Twitch Fiber
New member
Magazines can be great. If not for the articles, just looking at the pictures of the pros is motivating. If you work out at home, keep some pictures of your favorite pros on the wall in your work out area. Make sure to play some of your favorite music. Get a big mirror to look at yourself while you train.
On another note, are you training with weights every day? That's probably not a good idea unless you are juiced up. Recovery is critical. I only use weights 3 days a week. Four days a week is probably tops for someone not competing.
On another note, are you training with weights every day? That's probably not a good idea unless you are juiced up. Recovery is critical. I only use weights 3 days a week. Four days a week is probably tops for someone not competing.
I used to have that problem with not staying focused because I was always focusing on my bf%. When I finally got the percetage I was shooting for, I decided to go for another goal and now focus on lifting more.
I find that lifting more keeps me motivated to go to the gym. Also, its my only away time from the wife and kids.
I find that lifting more keeps me motivated to go to the gym. Also, its my only away time from the wife and kids.
wallcrawler
New member
A few tips:
1. Remember why you started working out in the first place. Sometimes we lose sight of this.
2. Find pics of guys with physiques like you wiould like to have. Look at them frequently.
3. Look at pics of hot women frequently and remind yourself that sticking with working out will make more of these kind of womens' heads turn - toward you!
4. Daily affirmations and visualization greatly increases motivation. Lots of times people fall by the workout wayside because when gains start to slow down (big gains are probably the biggest motivator for people who have only been working out for a short time) they start to believe, subconsciously, that they can't achieve their goals. If you take 10 minutes every morning and every night to say a few affirmations about what you WILL look like in a given amount of time and how you will achieve this while strongly visualizing this reality in your mind, your brain will become programmed that THIS IS THE WAY IT WILL BE and it IS the way it will be. Ryan Reynold, who transformed his body in an AMAZING way for the film Blade Trinity said that visualizing was the single most important thing he learned for transforming his physique. Don't underestimate it.
5. Like hardrock said, if you don't feel like doing your scheduled workout, at least compromise with yourself and agree that you'll drive to the gym and do 3 sets of one exercise and that if after that you don't feel like working out, you can go home with no guilt. Most of the time, the getting to the gym and doing the first set is the hardest part because your mind MAKES it that way. Once you get to the gym and SEE that the first set wasn't as bad as you were imagining, you'll usually do your whole routine.
Hope this helps! Great advice by the other guys as well!
1. Remember why you started working out in the first place. Sometimes we lose sight of this.
2. Find pics of guys with physiques like you wiould like to have. Look at them frequently.
3. Look at pics of hot women frequently and remind yourself that sticking with working out will make more of these kind of womens' heads turn - toward you!
4. Daily affirmations and visualization greatly increases motivation. Lots of times people fall by the workout wayside because when gains start to slow down (big gains are probably the biggest motivator for people who have only been working out for a short time) they start to believe, subconsciously, that they can't achieve their goals. If you take 10 minutes every morning and every night to say a few affirmations about what you WILL look like in a given amount of time and how you will achieve this while strongly visualizing this reality in your mind, your brain will become programmed that THIS IS THE WAY IT WILL BE and it IS the way it will be. Ryan Reynold, who transformed his body in an AMAZING way for the film Blade Trinity said that visualizing was the single most important thing he learned for transforming his physique. Don't underestimate it.
5. Like hardrock said, if you don't feel like doing your scheduled workout, at least compromise with yourself and agree that you'll drive to the gym and do 3 sets of one exercise and that if after that you don't feel like working out, you can go home with no guilt. Most of the time, the getting to the gym and doing the first set is the hardest part because your mind MAKES it that way. Once you get to the gym and SEE that the first set wasn't as bad as you were imagining, you'll usually do your whole routine.
Hope this helps! Great advice by the other guys as well!
BOOEY
Banned
hardrock said:
I disagree with this. The first few months are the most difficult. You'll want to stay home and do other things, or you'll just be too lazy, etc etc. I would make a schedule and STICK TO IT. No matter what. No excuses. After a few months, you won't even need a schedule, your body will be so used to going, it will be automatic. I think at that point you'll be ready to take days off when needed, b/c you know you'll make up for it the next time you're in the gym.
It's like everything else - You've got to want it.
Welcome to the boards brother!! Staying motivated for me all goes back to the feeling that I have to do this shit. I dont even feel like its a choice. Dont get me wrong, Ive thought about what it would be like not training and without all the burdens, but regardless Ive only taken time off for injuries in the last 10 years of training. Being consistent is the main thing. If I take any time off I lose strength and size rapidly. And it doesnt come back quickly like many people. Time off eating or training. Eating is also the hardest part for me, as I hate eating for the most part. But you have to embrace it. My nerves and stomache are bad as well, and Im not real patient to sit down and eat a meal. So I have a refridgerator on my desk. I eat peanut butter,cheese,sliced meats and things I dont have to cook through out the day. Theres alot of things that dont need to be cooked. Also half a gallon of milk a day, maybe a gallon. A good amount of gatorade to hydrate me (I hate water). Ontop of that theres protein shakes and maybe one actual cooked meal. In the end I can get 200+ grams of protein a day this way when Im consistent. Calories are never as high as Id like these days. But I can gain on this diet if Im consistent. Also it helps me to write everything down. Since Ive kept a written journal of my meals and routines its helped me alot. You have to find what drives you to do this, and just keep bringing it out on those days youd rather not train. I think about how it was when I started and how Id bike through hurricane weather and rain to get to the gym. Seven miles each way. Even when I moved furniture all day, Id bike to the gym and back, and train for hours. So, now that I drive its much easier then it was back then to get in the gym. I have no excuses. Even car wrecks havent kept me from training. You just have to find what drives you and focus on it. KEEP KILLING THAT SHIT!!
Fast Twitch Fiber said:
Ive trained with weights 5-6 times weekly for 10 years with not so bad results. No juice yet! And thats many hours per day. I think 4-5 hard training days is good. I dont like to rest too long as I see myself declining quickly.
wallcrawler said:
10 minutes? haha Its all I think about!! Its true though, I find visualization very important. Its what keeps me KILLING THAT SHIT. As for turning women's heads, I just want to twist them off.
I do like the benefits of people keeping thier distance though. That motivates me even more.
BOOEY said:
Agreed.
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