Everyday I come into the gym knowing what I need to do. It’s as simple as looking at my logbook and seeing what needs to be done. However, I do not always feel like doing the work outlined in my plan. The question I have to ask myself is first, am I being lazy or do I really need to take the day off? This is not an easy question to answer. Most if not all of what goes on in this gym is like this question, simple, but not easy. Once I have decided that I do in fact need to do the work, it’s a matter of getting motivated to put in the hard effort the workout requires. If I walk in feeling unmotivated to do the work there are a few techniques I use to get motivated which is the point of this post.
My workouts are planned out in advance, usually about 1 month or so. I get a little carried away sometimes and want to program out 2 or 3 or even 6 months in advance sometimes, but I have found this to be a waste of time. Things change. I change. Sometimes I realize that I have spent too much time doing what I like to do and not enough time doing what I don’t like, or what is more important to meet my goals. So 1 month in advance at most. This monthly plan starts off with “rest” days. Days I know that I’m going to be traveling, out of town, or just need the day off. I usually like to pick Sunday as on off day for sure, and by the time the end of the week rolls around, Saturday is usually gonna need to be a rest day too. So Monday thru Friday is where the work is going to be done. I know that for me, 3 days “on” is about all I can handle before the quality takes a serious dive. Day 3 is usually pretty rough to get done and requires some serious attention. That day is usually the day that I’m trying to dig inside myself and find my motivation for being here.
One of the first things I do, is to look at my goal board. On this board I have a list of simple things that I can check off on my journey to elite fitness. I guess it’s a given that I have an end goal and all the things on the board are a sign post along the road there. I have in mind 4 levels of fitness. Level 1, beginner. Things like learning the lifts; high volume, lots of reps and practice. I figure that this level lasts about 1-2 years and I kind of assume that based on my past I put in enough work to be considered a beginner. Level 2; here we start talking about some standards. I think of things in terms of Strength, Endurance (about 45 min. or so), Power-Endurance (less than 45 min.), and power (less than 30 sec. all out efforts). Strength – basic barbell lifts, things like deadlift, squats, push press, etc. Power-Endurance – a couple CrossFit workouts that I can measure like Helen, Eva, etc. Endurance – simple stuff like 5k run, 10k run, 5k row, 60 min row, etc. Power – Olympic lifts and broad jump; I might even consider a 400m run, or 100m freestyle swim a power event too. I have set out time standards for each thing at level 1, 2, 3 and 4. What’s interesting is level 4 ends up being about the beginning of true fitness and in the big scheme of things might even be considered “beginner” in “elite” fitness. Things like 2x body weight deadlift, etc. This is the beginning of training for serious athletes.
So I look at my board. I start imagining my future when I have met my goals. More specifically I imagine what it will feel like. The pride of being able to do 5k run in 19:00 and turn around and deadlift 2.5x body weight is powerful. Or maybe it’s seeing your reflection in the mirror and 6% body fat. How many stares will you get when you walk out on the beach? I put myself in that future when I have already achieved these goals, but I like to do this for a specific time period or I might find myself just daydreaming for an hour. Next, I change my clothes. Sometimes I like to workout in jeans and barefoot, but on days like these, I need to put on the uniform. There is sacredness to putting on the “workout clothes.” There is a psychological association to working out and hard work when I put my special clothes on. They are for this task and this task only. On days like these, if I were to wear the same old stuff, my state might not change and I can’t afford that.
After I’m changed, I’m still not totally motivated, but more than when I came in the door. So the next thing I do, is to just start walking. I walk about 400 meters or so, just to get moving, something. Then I slowly start doing a little more, maybe skipping, maybe I start doing some of my mobility drills to loosen up a bit. Depending on the day I might want fast music, other days I prefer sad music to find strong emotions, doesn’t really matter which it is, I just need to find a strong emotion. Sometimes it’s pain, sometimes it’s happy.
So here I am skipping in my gym, listening to sad music in my workout clothes feeling quite a bit more motivated and I look over my logbook to see just what’s in store. Sometimes, if I’m by myself, I yell, if there are others, I stomp. Yelling and stomping my feet can change my state real quick.
Start to jog now. Maybe do a couple sprints, feeling powerful. Thinking strength and power…domination. Intensity. Let it grow inside.
I start doing the warm-up, nice and easy, building the intensity in my mind until it’s time for war. All out war. No one, nothing will prevent me from stopping now. I will burn this building to the ground and keep going! Nothing will interrupt me. Not my cell phone, no one.
Motivation is a state. States are connected to both the physical and the mental. To change states you have to change one, the other, or, the best would be to change both. Sometimes it’s too big a jump though and you have to go through apathy first to get to motivation. So the first thing I do is change the mental, start thinking motivated thoughts, like what it’s going to feel like when I’m at my goals. Then I change my physiology; my clothes and start moving around. These all build on each other. More and more motivated thoughts, more movement, and more intensity. At the end, I’ve gone from apathetic to highly motivated in about 15 min or so.
Another option is to have a ritual that you do. Do a series of specific actions in a specific order so that at the end, you are ready for war. When I was playing water polo, I set the national anthem as my trigger. Before every game the anthem was played and when it went on…my mind made the switch; it was time to go to war. Some times it still does. You can set a trigger like that too. Every time you are highly motivated give yourself a unique stimulus, something like pressing your index finger to your thumbs, or rubbing your hands in a certain way, or turning your hat backwards (who didn’t see Over the Top with Sly Stalone?). Do this repeatedly and a very short time you will feel like Pavlov’s dog salivating every time I ring a bell, but hey, it worked for him and it can work for you too.
Try it and see what happens. You can always quit later. ;)
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