Keeping The Drive

Keeping The Drive

 

Remember the first day of school each year?  Can you remember how excited you were to go back and see your friends?  Don’t you wish you could feel that way about working out?  If you have been working out any length of time, you have probably had days that you just didn’t want to go to the gym.  I love working out more than anyone I know, but going to the gym day after day can get monotonous.  When you have to balance the gym in with work, family time, and everything else that life throws at you, it gets even more difficult to go over and over again.  Everyone knows that you have to be consistent to make positive results in physical fitness, but you also need to do more than just show up.  Yes, “showing” is half the battle, but once there, you must put a real effort in to get real results.  In the next few paragraphs, I am going to try to give you some tips to help keep your workout fresh and full of positive drive.   Although I can’t promise that every time you walk in the gym will feel like the first day of school, if you follow along, I believe I can help you get better workouts more often.

 

The very first thing that you must do to prevent losing interest in physical fitness is to make sure that you clearly define your goals.  It can be very easy to go astray without short and long term goals because you have no clear-cut path to follow.  Your goals do not have to be complicated to be effective and they may change as you progress but you must have a goal to stay focused.  It can be as simple as saying “I want to lose 20 pounds” and then you have a long-term goal.  Setting short-term goals of 1 or 2 pounds at a time would also help you stay focused along the way.   Now, write down your plan to achieve your goals.  Your plans will most likely have to be revised even if your goals stay the same but write them down anyway.  This will help you to hold yourself accountable when you see that in order to achieve your goal you must do what you have written.  It is your contract with yourself.  Even if you have been working out for years, it can be very motivating to put your plan in print.

 

Now you’re off and running with your goals and a good plan but somewhere down the road you still lose your focus.  Coming to the gym and doing the same thing day after day no longer gives you the feeling it did when you started so you don’t put the same effort in and you stop making progress.  This is where most people quit!  Don’t break your contract with the person you have to look at in the mirror everyday.  Make a positive revision.  There are many things you can do to revive your drive and get back on track.  Try working out with a partner from time to time to give you an extra push, but be careful when choosing one.  A good partner can help bring you back to life and a bad one can suck the life (what’s left of it) out of your workout.  Also, change gyms from time to time.  A new atmosphere can sometimes give you the boost you need.  If you are still under contract at your gym then just use a guest pass or pay the one time fee at another gym once in a while just to break the monotony.  One of the most effective things for me is to make some changes in my workout.  Throw in some super sets, giant sets, strip sets or anything that can make a positive change.  Those of us who have had the pleasure of working out for years have all felt a drop in motivation at one time or another.  What you do at the point of recognition can make all the difference in the world.

 

The best thing to do is not wait for your motivation to drop and stay ahead of the game.  Make changes before you get disheartened.  Also, try to keep your gym feeling like a special place.  Get away from the gym to do cardio as much as possible and don’t stay in the gym too long before or after workouts.  Get in, get it done, and leave.  In the end, it’s all up to you.  It’s simple really; you’ll either find motivation or quit.   Do you want to be just another person with excuses about why you quit working out or do you want to be the guy or girl that people feel like they have to make excuses to?  Do you want to let yourself down one more time or do you want this to be the time you commit to yourself and make a positive change?  Well, what do you want to do?