Never Settle For Less

Imagine waking up to the sound of the loud screech of an alarm clock.  You look over and the display reads 6:15 am.  That alarm has been set for one reason and one reason only…for you to wake up and hit the gym.  Instinctively you hit the snooze button and return to dreamland.  This vicious cycle continues until you’ve given up working out that day.

Over the last few days, weeks, or months you’ve been struggling with your motivation to hit the gym.  I’ve faced (and still face) this issue every now and then.  Here are 10 tips I use to maximize my motivation.

    1- Keep and Display all your Old Pictures

It’s a known fact that human’s respond quickly to visual stimulation. If you see a red light you stop on a dime (unless you’re adventurous).  When you see the golden arches you know McDonald’s is on the horizon.  When you see the “swoosh” your mind immediately shifts to Nike.  Images always trigger responses.  Keeping and displaying your old photographs will give you that extra kick needed to attack the gym!<strong />

An inspirational story is always good to get the juices flowing.  Bodybuilding.com is chock full of people who have achieved the dream.  Everyone from teens, housewives, businessmen, and retirees crowd the Transformation of the Week/Month.  Reading the story of someone who has lost 100 lbs of fat and can now play with their grandkids moves the soul (and provides some motivation to reach your goals).  Seeing someone go from the kid who got pushed around to the kid nobody wants to touch is inspiring as well.  Use the transformations as fuel to hit the gym!

3-Buy Clothes at Your Target Size

I don’t know about you but I hate wasting my money.  Putting money into something makes me much more likely to engage myself.  I’m a firm believer in getting what you pay for.  Go ahead and purchase some clothes a size down (or up) and put them in the front of the closet.  Spend a good bit (around $200 or so).  The first week you may not be able to get those pants past your knees.  The second week you should see those pants starting to creep up.  The third week even further.  Eventually, they’ll snap onto your new firm and trim body.  Oh yeah, throw the receipt away so you won’t tempt yourself to give up.

4-Chart Your Strength Gains

This tip caught me by surprise.  When I began to really work out it was purely for the look.  I didn’t care if I was lifting 90 lb dumbbells or 45’s as long as I looked better.  One of the trainers in my gym asked me to do a fitness assessment out the blue one-day and I agreed.  To my surprise my bench press max had jumped from 220 lbs to 330 lbs in a year.  It was a pleasant surprise.  Since I felt stronger I began pushing even harder in the gym.  Imagine how good you’ll feel by tracking your progress from the start.

5- Contact People you’ve Lost Contact With

We all enjoy admiration (some more than others).  People who haven’t seen you in a while will be taken by surprise.  Believe me they’ll stand there with jaws dropped in utter shock.  They’ll ask for your advice.  They’ll praise your new shape.   Most of all they’ll praise you for what you’ve done.  Praise makes us feel good and want to push it to even higher levels in the gym.

6-Bring others along for the Ride

Inspire someone else to join the gym.  They welcome your advice and encouragement with open arms!  Allow them into your routine.  Show them the ropes.  Push them towards their goals.  Their progress and enthusiasm is contagious and will infect you as well.  Few feelings can rival the enthusiasm of a newcomer realizing results.

7-Shout your Story from the Mountaintops

Never shy away from the opportunity to tell others what you have done.  People love a feel good story.  Those who have yet to pull one off treat body transformations like miracles.  When you tell your story start from the beginning and recall all those emotions that drove you.

·        Remember being angry?

·        Remember being fed up?

·        Remember making that change for good?

As you tell your story a wave of energy and excitement will overtake your body.  Bring that tidal wave to the floor.

8-Keep your Workout Routine Fresh

Boredom equals death.  If you’re bored with a relationship the train is going to stop at the next station.  If you’re bored with a game you stop playing.  If you’re bored with your workout routine you’ll slog through it.  Vary your rep schemes, exercises, and break timing to add variety and spice.  Try burnouts, strip sets, cable machines, dumbbells, weighted chins, and isometrics to spice it up.  Breaking the monotony makes the gym fun.  Keep it fresh and you’ll be excited as a result.

9-Get Aggressive with Goals

Grown tired of 2-3 lbs a week of weight loss?  Challenge yourself one week and go for 5.  Tighten up your diet and put your all into your sessions.  Explode through every rep.  Add 30 minutes to your cardio.  Eat super clean.  Enjoy the results of your aggressive week.  Aggressive goals are great when managed properly.  Sprinkling in a frenetic week is always good to get the pistons firing.

10-Workout Around People with Top Physiques

Being around top-notch bodies provides a challenge.  Seeing a well-built person provides true inspiration.  These people are walking knowledge bases as well and they are MORE THAN HAPPY to share with you.  Being around people who are better makes your rise to the occasion.

Use these tips to maximize your motivation.

I’m trying to sharpen my writing skills with this blog.  Please comment on what you enjoy and what I can do better.  Thanks!

Marcus A. Smith
B.S. ISYE

AAAI/ISMA Certified Personal Trainer
Advanced Communicator-Bronze

Recently I’ve begin to notice that individuals who are out of shape may tend to look down on those who actually care about their fitness level.  They all ask the same questions over and over again and it becomes pretty funny after a while.  Here is a list I call "The Questions" and my answers to them.

Q1)   Why do you run so much?  Isn’t that bad for your knees?

A1)  Wait a minute are you holding a cigarette?  Isn’t that bad for your……EVERYTHING?

Q2)    What happens if you meet a girl who doesn’t like guys who work out Monday - Friday?

A2)   You mean what will I do if I meet a girl who doesn’t value living longer, going to the doctor less, and looking the best I can?  I’ll probably do nothing and we’ll part ways.

Q3)   Are you one of those health freaks?

A3)  I have to dig out the dictionary for this one.

Health - the general condition of the body or mind with reference to soundness and vigor: good health; poor health.

Freak - any abnormal phenomenon or product or unusual object; anomaly; aberration.

By those standards I guess I am. Sorry

Q4) Why do you get upset every time a commercial for the ab doo hickey 2748b comes on tv?

A4)  The manufacturers of ab doo hicky 2748b put the important information at the bottom of the screen in itty bitty teensy weensy print. If you blow it up it says something like "These results not typical.  The best way to achieve weight loss is through proper diet and exercise. I get upset because they are deliberately misguiding you throughout the advertisement and pulling the CYA by placing the disclaimer at the bottom.

Q5) Why won’t you come to happy hour with us and throw down 5-6 beers man?  You’re in good enough shape

A5)  You ever seen a hamster on a wheel?  He’s not making any progress is he?  Why would I throw a weeks worth of hard work down the tube for 5 beers??

My favorite question of them all is….drumroll please

Q6)  Why do you do all that working out?  Aren’t you going to eventually stop and get out of shape again?

A6)   No

I’ve been toiling over whether or not I should bring distance running back into my program.  Last year when I was struggling with my weight I saw tremendous results from running 5 miles once or twice a week.

Oddly enough my issues with the jump rope brought this about.  Apparently I either jump rope too fast or too hard b/c I manage to obliterate one weighted jump rope per week.  The first time it happened I got a rush and felt like strutting around the gym.  The 4th time it happened I felt like I’d flushed another $10 down the toilet.

So starting tomorrow I’m going to return to old faithful on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.  I’m going out to purchase some new shoes today and I’ll be on my way.  I’ll keep you posted!