Fallen out of love with lifting / gym

ninerbuff

To cut a long story short, 5 years ago you couldn't get me out the gym. I loved it all, the nutrition, the burn, the fatigue. Loved it.

Then a few years ago I started suffering with Sciatica, I had a week off, turned into 2 and to be fair I never really got my rhythm back.

Since then I've pretty much been forcing myself to go, some weeks 3 times, sometimes once and also had a few weeks off here and there.

I'm 29 now and just had a baby and logistically there are issues, the fact i have no routine probably doesn't help motivation, and I have to stick to FBs pretty much due to the infrequency.

It doesn't help my gym is always rammed too.

Anyhow, scatica hasn't been an issue for sometime now, and I work from home more so I can easily get to the gym after work. Last thing i WANT to do after a day sat at my desk is get up and work out, but i have to to help my diet in shifting this weight and not losing the core strength I've built over time. All the old tricks of looking at beautiful people don't work for me anymore

Anything you guys do throughout the day to help spark you up into the right mindset?

One of the hardest things to do is to get back to the fitness you were once at. Age makes a difference in recovery and performance. So it's possible you take a different approach and a different workout.
I've had people who were gym rats for years, quit and then come to me to do something different. Even if it's only for a few sessions, it gave them something different than what they were used to doing and it was a new direction. Might give it a shot. What's the worst that happens? It gets you into the gym and you get some positive support from a trainer.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

obrientp

People have it backwards. It's not the motivation that gets you going; it's the going that gets you motivated

I don't have the right mindset. I don't have any motivation. I just have a set time to go workout and when it's that time....I go workout. And then when I'm there, sometimes the right mindset will materialize and motivate me. Or not, but no matter, I'm there so I'm getting my workout on.

If it was an important business appointment you'd make it no matter what mindset you were in. If it was your kid's doctor appointment you wouldn't blow it off. Treat your workout like any other important thing in your schedule and get it done.

^This needs to be quoted in every "I need motivation" type thread on here

I have to agree with this too. The only time I can go to the gym is in the late afternoon, and most times I just want to go home. But, three days a week, I make my way there and do my thing. Sometimes I get there and get into what I'm doing. Sometimes I'm grumpy the whole way through. I'm always so happy and glad I did it when I'm done, though. Motivation and even mind set don't really have anything to do with it. It's just habit. Just turn off your mind and go.

likitisplit

People have it backwards. It's not the motivation that gets you going; it's the going that gets you motivated

I don't have the right mindset. I don't have any motivation. I just have a set time to go workout and when it's that time....I go workout. And then when I'm there, sometimes the right mindset will materialize and motivate me. Or not, but no matter, I'm there so I'm getting my workout on.

If it was an important business appointment you'd make it no matter what mindset you were in. If it was your kid's doctor appointment you wouldn't blow it off. Treat your workout like any other important thing in your schedule and get it done.

^This needs to be quoted in every "I need motivation" type thread on here

I have to agree with this too. The only time I can go to the gym is in the late afternoon, and most times I just want to go home. But, three days a week, I make my way there and do my thing. Sometimes I get there and get into what I'm doing. Sometimes I'm grumpy the whole way through. I'm always so happy and glad I did it when I'm done, though. Motivation and even mind set don't really have anything to do with it. It's just habit. Just turn off your mind and go.

This. I don't work out at a gym - I do bodyweight exercises at home. One thing is critical - I have a plan. I know exactly what I need to do next. My next challenge is Bridges: 17/17/40. I don't have to think about it.

I've done a few motivational challenges with friends to help set the habit of doing something every day. I always know what I need to do. I keep it stupid simple. I just do it - like brushing my teeth.

jofjltncb6

I was hoping nobody would say that

Secretly I know this will soon become the only option as the little one will get a bed time.

I'm actually pretty good in the mornings, the commute to a gym and back home (Where I work most of the time) is a ball-ache, generally because I'm actually at home and so it feels wrong to "unnecessarily" leave.

Still, would be quiet too, so that solves that issue also. No rudeboy chavs swarming around the only squat rack in packs of 5+.

Is putting together a suitable gym at home an option? I can understand your lack of inertia to leave the house to go to the gym to return to the house.

Buying my power cage and a cheap set of oly weights a couple of decades ago was easily one of the best fitness/health investments I have ever made. (Am looking to expand on that investment soon with rubber mats, bumper plates, and better lighting too.)

dazkeirle

All of the advice I've received here has been golden, so thank you. You've really helped motivate me.

The thing is I do actually have a real good garage gym setup, multigym, bench, barbell and dumbells, punch bag. However I pay £60 a month for gym membership so it seems a shame and it looks more like a garage than a gym atm, I'll get it sorted.

So to the future, here's what I'm going to do. I hate gym on Mondays, traffic is killer, gym oversubscribed, no availability, no car park. So I'll vito "gym" on monday but use that as a core / arms day at home, what I call disco weights and what I'm embarrassed to do in the gym. All very necessary I grant you, I just don't like doing these things in the gym. Also better than nothing.

I'll then do a Wednesday evening / Friday evening / Sunday morning gym session. These are the quieter times.

Now my conditioning is poor atm and so I need to build up gradually. While I have always done FBs for the last year or so, probably at the same weights, my risk of injury is way higher. Also not interested in a split routine as it just doesn't work for me.

so.. reading here I've seen a lot of advocacy for stronglifts 5x5 for strength, particularly in combination with a good diet for weight loss. You also start light and build up and so seems perfect for me.

So, one post and a complete turn around. I'm gonna go get in my spandex for a 30 minute lounge workout now</sarcasm>, some nice crunches, planks etc with some curls and extensions to boot (deep burn!) Then look forward to some proper sessions at the end of the week including a lengthy Sunday blast.

I appreciate stronglifts 5x5 contains squats and deads, but I guess tapering up would be a good way to get them back in my routine.

Let me ask, any of you who are "losing weight" and dieting in a deficit, obviously you cannot put on size however that doesn't stop you working on strength, at what point do you stop trying to increase your PB, or do you not and shoot for goals regardless of the fact you're not "gaining"?

(what I'm alluding to is that i assume there comes a point in a weight loss diet when you cannot increase on strength as you cannot gain muscle and reach a maximum strength for your current muscle %)

GiddyupTim

Find something you like and do it. Fitness doesnt always have to be found in a gym or be confined to weightlifting

I see you' have a plan, but the above is what I was going to suggest. Maybe, you are just bored with lifting and you need to do some other type of exercise for a while. I have to mix it up all the time -- run, bike, tennis, lift, etc.

So_Much_Fab

If it was an important business appointment you'd make it no matter what mindset you were in. If it was your kid's doctor appointment you wouldn't blow it off. Treat your workout like any other important thing in your schedule and get it done.

This is probably one of the best things I've read on here.

JoRocka

(what I'm alluding to is that i assume there comes a point in a weight loss diet when you cannot increase on strength as you cannot gain muscle and reach a maximum strength for your current muscle %)

there is a point for that yes.

But there is quiet a bit of work to be done- you have your newb gains to go through- and then probably another year or more of training before you can say- nope- I've taped my entire size potential- I need to build a bigger engine.

You're body is significantly stronger than you think it is!!!

TurtleRunnerNC

I have to do it before work or I can easily talk myself out of it. Especially now that's its nicer out. In the morning, I don't think about it, I just go. It's not even an option to skip a planned workout.

Yup. I don't go to the gym but I run or workout in the morning or it doesn't happen. Maybe you need to try something different. Biking, running, swimming....

OSUalum

People have it backwards. It's not the motivation that gets you going; it's the going that gets you motivated

I don't have the right mindset. I don't have any motivation. I just have a set time to go workout and when it's that time....I go workout. And then when I'm there, sometimes the right mindset will materialize and motivate me. Or not, but no matter, I'm there so I'm getting my workout on.

If it was an important business appointment you'd make it no matter what mindset you were in. If it was your kid's doctor appointment you wouldn't blow it off. Treat your workout like any other important thing in your schedule and get it done.

This!
Every day your motivation won't be 100%...but still show up.
^This needs to be quoted in every "I need motivation" type thread on here

divvvy

This is what works for me. Reading or watching videos on weight loss the last thing before I go to sleep so that it's all I think about when I wake up. Secondly, get a fitbit or any brand pedometer (Endomondo works too). If not anything else, you can at least walk it off!

likitisplit

Also better than nothing.

My mantra is "better than nothing"