What is your motivation technique?
mystivan
Posts: 3 Member
Just wondering what methods/techniques/motivation you guys use to get out of bed or house to workout?
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Replies
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Chiefly, looking in the mirror.7
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No techniques. Health is a core value for me. What I eat and how I keep myself fit are key components of that. I don't need any additional motivation. If you need a motivation technique then I would question what you value as you find important should be motivation enough IMHO.3
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Motivation hasn't been an issue for the past 6 months but it's now winter and getting up at 5am to hit the gym isn't so appealing. For the past 2 mornings I've seriously considered staying in bed. But I tell myself this is who I am, this is what I do, I'll love it when I get there, and serve me right for not going to bed earlier. I bust my chops at the gym because I love it and that keeps me motivated.3
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To get out of bed after 3-4 hours of actually sleeping and laying awake from 3-ish to 4-ish a.m. wondering if sleep will return, my motivation to get up is my bladder. Once I'm done with that business, I just admit that sleep isn't going to happen again and get started.
To get out of the house, I get dressed and go. I have to if I'm going to make a living.
To workout, I get out of bed, get dressed, maybe get to work and maybe get home from work or maybe it's not even a work day, but I don't workout naked. I can workout at the fitness facility in my office building, in my house, or outside my house.2 -
Thanks for sharing guys!!
I would also love to hear what you say to yourself to push on, on days when it's hard..like the voice in your head.. 0 -
I don't need it. It hurts me more not to go train.2
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Chiefly, looking in the mirror.
Me too. Then I tell myself that diabeetus is real, and I'm next.
Joking aside, I really do tell myself things like that. Helps me focus on WHAT I NEED TO DO to stop the terrible things I imagine myself getting down the road if I carry on like nothing is wrong. Works for me, but that self negativity could be pretty harmful for others so find your lane and stick to it.2 -
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nokanjaijo wrote: »
For me, I'm just nervous. I don't like to miss. I don't want to be average.2 -
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I think about how awful I used to feel before exercising and losing weight. Don't wanna go there again.1
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It's part of my life. Some days I don't want to workout,m and I have no motivation, but I do it anyway. It's just a habit.3
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my double chin when I look in the mirror and an award ceremony I am attending in 2 months, sick of being unhappy with my body!
I have found that if I get up and put ON my workout clothes, even though the kids won't be gone for a couple more hours I am much more likely to go through with the actual workout. Cos you know, walking upstairs later for them is pretty unappealing and not likely to happen
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Thanks for sharing guys!! I would also love to hear what you say to yourself to push on, on days when it's hard..like the voice in your head..
- i bike commute. so i'm pretty much doing it whether i want to or not - unless i feel like making that concrete decision to change what i do. some days i ride because doing it is just easier than the decisions and alterations involved in not doing it. never underestimate inertia for its power to keep you going
- again, i bike commute. so in that context a lot of the time i function by knowing it's always finite. it's a specific distance. it's going to be done. i think it helps that i've always been fascinated by the idea that if you just keep doing something - making the pedals go round in this case - one day you will reach wherever you're going to. it wouldn't matter if i was riding across the gobi desert each time. so long as the pedals are moving i'm going to get there.
the other thing i do is lifting. with lifting it's different because yup, i always can quit. the 'destination' in each workout is arbitrary. i'm not sure what specific thing keeps me going when it's bad, but i got the flu a few months ago. that memory's useful, just because when i had the flu it sucked too - and there was nothing that i could do about it. i find myself using that comparison quite a lot, in i guess just my own kind of way. 'yup, this sucks. if it was the flu you would just have to let it suck, wouldn't you'.
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I enjoy being active. I look forward to it.
I also participate in events, and I know that if I don't keep up with the exercise, I'll suffer when I cycle 200 km or more.2 -
It's a PRIORITY. It's not hard to be motivated to do something that's important enough over some other things in your life. Personally the gym is my "free time" and I like my free time.
So you just have to have the attitude that it's an important part of your life that you don't have an issue devoting time and energy to it. Just like anything else you like.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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I've got a medical condition that can be controlled (not cured) through weight loss. I've had one flare-up that required daily visits from home-care nurses and multiple courses of antibiotics. I'm also short and sedentary. Exercise gives me more calories to play with (cardio) and helps me hang onto muscle (strength training). I guess my motivation is to minimize flare-ups, get fit, get healthy, and have the calories available so that I can eat moderate amounts of the foods I love (many of which are healthy but all of which have calories) and still lose.2
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oh. i'll also mention [ because i keep thinking up things to help me procrastinate here on going to bed] something concrete i did when i was just re-starting as a bike commuter. two somethings.
first was to carve out a specific number of weeks. it was sort of arbitrary but i've done this start-again-stop-again thing a few times so it seemed fairly reliable. and i told myself: okay, while you're getting back into this there is a specific and finite quantum of suck that you'll have to get through. it was basically some equation like [physical condition in which this will feel much easier] - [physical condition that you're in now]'. and then when i had that 'gap' in my head, i went through those 8 weeks or whatever it was reminding myself, this is a specific quantum of suck. you're cutting off one tiny inch from that quantum of suck with this ride.' i kind of made myself the mental promise that if i did it consistently for x weeks, it was going to be easier [and of course it did]. so that was another way i got myself started and kept myself going in the beginning.
second thing i did helped too with keeping me in those first weeks. it was a grown up, weight-conscious version of the little kid's sticker chart on the fridge. mine went like this: i did some math, based on 3500 calories in a pound and 500ml of volume to a pound of butter. and i crunched it all in my mind and came tot he conclusion that 40 calories equates to a teaspoon of literal, physical fat. idk if this is true or not; we're talkinga bout motivational tools here, not concrete science
anyway, once i had that i lowballed the hell out of my notion of how many calories each of those suck-rides was worth. decided that for every day that i rode to work and rode home, i could probably safely assume that i'd burned 40 calories going each way. and then i brought out some random clear tub from the supermarket, which held at least 2 cups and decreed arbitrarily that it would represent a pound. therefore, every day that i rode to work instead of driving, i would let myself get out the sack of rice when i got home and measure two teaspoonsful into that container.
i'm very childish, but sometiems i figure out hwo to make it work for me. during my 're-entry' stage, i got an enormous amount of motivation and fun out of nothing more sophisticated than wanting to fill up that tub. and i did a hell of a lot of bike days which were about nothing more than wanting to earn another two-teaspoonsfull ceremony when i got home.3 -
I'm having a day where I really don't want to go to the gym (I'm tired), but I will. When I don't go, my pain increases (I have a chronic pain condition), which then makes it harder to go the next time, and so on. I was already trapped in that vicious cycle for an extended period this year and it took forever to get to a place where I could exercise again at all; avoiding pain can be a big motivator.
Before my chronic pain issue, I exercised all the time without any need for extra motivation simply because I loved it.1 -
My tip is always the same, get dogs that need walks/runs to survive lol. Although I can go one, maybe two days without walking/running them anything past that and they are pent up, whiny, and just plain guilt monger's.
I love my dogs more than anything in the world and (sadly for myself) I care far more about their wellbeing than my own, so I do many things for them that I would never do for myself, such as making sure that no matter what they get exercise every day and they have lots of enrichment in their lives. It works as a plus for me me because I get exercise too.
It is much more fun to go on adventures or even walks around the neighborhood if you have a buddy or a reason to do it. I would never go on a hike by myself, however having a dog to enjoy it with completely changes the experience...sure I'm alone but I have a companion who is having a blast too, so I take them on hikes by myself all the time. Plus workout selfies are so much more fun when you have "someone" else to take them with, and dogs can't blow you off and are always up for anything you want to do that day! - oh and they get accustomed to routine, so you better believe my border collie and Australian shepherd are up bright and early for their morning walk rain or shine, nudging and licking me until I can't ignore them any longer- if that's not motivation I don't know what is.
For other workouts, I find group classes the most motivating thing out there. You make friends in the classes, and even if you barely talk to them it's amazing how quickly you begin to feel not only accountable but also excited to meet up to do it. Same goes for running races, everyone is so friendly and encouraging and the comradeship is unbelievable, even though you have never met them in your whole life.
At home doing the workout dvds is very motivating and fun, it sounds strange but for some reason it really changes the dynamic of a home work out and kicks it up a notch, I get a similar feeling as the group classes even though they are just in the DVD, because you think about how other people are out there doing the same thing or something (I'm not really sure to explain it lol but they are fun).
Personally the most motivating thing for me when I used to workout every day no fail (even when I was sick or had pulled an all nighter or was hungover) was that I enjoyed going to the gym and and making myself better and working to be a better me, but in a visible area... because yes knowing other people can see how hard you are working and that you are all doing it is very motivating- it's just plain true! Now that I don't always have access to a gym, I have a much harder time sticking to it... there are no other gym rats I feel like I'm proving myself to by showing up everyday etc etc so I got to find other ways of motivating, and it's hard. But the good thing is that the more you do it and the stronger the habit the less you have to make a choice/ think about it... it just becomes part of your day.0 -
I just go. I've never worked out and said afterwards "man, I wish I stayed home today and didn't do this." I remind myself of that. Just like brushing your teeth, getting dressed - you may not always be "motivated" to do these things, but you do them - making them part of your routine is the easiest way to get there.0
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When I have trouble motivating myself, my 11 year old fixes it for me. He is now old enough to go to the gym and lift weights with me and knows that doing it will make him stronger for basketball and soccer. If I am going to drive him there, then I am for darn sure going to lift with him. Right now, I can still out lift him. I might have another six months of that if I work hard. He has youth and testosterone on his side.1
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Thanks for sharing guys!! I would also love to hear what you say to yourself to push on, on days when it's hard..like the voice in your head..
I don't say anything to myself. I just go do it. I ignore all that self talk. It's useless. Decide what's important to you and do that. Lot's of things worth accomplishing in life are hard. If you listen to "the voice in your head" about how "hard" it is, you'll never accomplish anything.1 -
What motivates me is how I look and feel because I do it. A self love kind if thing. I don't go to the gym, I do it all within the confines of my home. I do it for me.0
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Motivation for me.. seeing body changes.. more muscle less fat...
Following and keeping my daily step target in check... every month or so i buy a new gym outfit or so.. nothing special just like a shirt or something.. that what works for me.0 -
Just wondering what methods/techniques/motivation you guys use to get out of bed or house to workout?
Not much motivation needed on my end...I love to ride...it's a passion. I love AM summer rides...that smell of a new day dawning...crisp breeze on my face...and it's just a spectacular way to kick a day off, not to mention that my alternative is riding in the evening when it's 100* out...no gracias.
I only have to get up 1/2 hour earlier than I otherwise would, so it's not really a big deal...I have to get up anyway to get out the door and on my way to work, so an extra 30 minutes or so isn't really a tremendous deal. Up at 5:30...on the bike by 5:45/6:00...home by 6:30/7...in the shower and get dressed and in the car by 7:30 to work...no biggie.0 -
Also, on those days where I don't feel like doing my usual routine, I mix it up. I generally do an hour on the fitness glider OR a 2-hour walk that I log as 'walking, leisurely pace'. I haven't measured my stride, don't know how fast I walk or whether it's consistent, so I figure if I'm going 3.0 mph instead of 2.5, bonus calorie cushion! Every other day (so 3 or 4x/week) I strength train. Mostly with dumbbells, as well as some body-weight exercises and leg lifts with ankle weight. But sometimes, I feel like I'm just... not in the mood for an hour of uninterrupted lunges and squats and rows and... you get the picture. Well, my strength-training book also includes some cardio-and-dumbell interval workouts. There's a basic one that can be used as a warmup for the more challenging ones once you get the hang of it. I do that, followed by one that incorporates a 9" 'bouncy' ball along with the dumbbells. (To be clear, it's not HIIT; nowhere near intense enough to qualify. I log it as light calisthenics.) Sometimes, just doing that for a change works wonders.1
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Leave no room for excuses. If you are going to the gym after work, have your workout gear/bag in the car. Some people think your motivation decreases throughout the day so if you have to hit it first thing in the morning to get it done, knock out your workout then. Make it something you can look forward to. Schedule the workout and stick to your schedule, whatever works for you.2
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Just wondering what methods/techniques/motivation you guys use to get out of bed or house to workout?
There is no silver bullet, you need to work out what's important to you and establish how you recognise that. I'm always sceptical of people who claim to never need to work on their motivation, unless they're just coasting.
Sometimes everything works and you're fine, other times you need to remind yourself why you're doing it.
For me it's about going to races and enjoying those, and taking the opportunity to meet with friends when I'm there. I'm not going to claim that being 30 miles into a long training run in the middle of January is particularly fun, but it's a necessary step to bring able to race more comfortably.0 -
Thanks for sharing guys!! I would also love to hear what you say to yourself to push on, on days when it's hard..like the voice in your head..
The same thing I say "on days when it's hard" to get to work and earn a living... It's gotta be done, go do it!
Just wondering what technique YOU use to get yourself to work EVERY DAY. Same technique; to work or to workout.
You either want the results working out will provide enough to put the work in, or you don't. If you want it, you'll do it. If you don't want it enough, you won't. We all get the bodies we want. It just depends on how much you want it.
This, and, "You never regret doing a workout". You will frequently regret missing one.1
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