How to find motivation for the gym
When asked during an interview if he ever cheated on his diet, eight time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman responded "Why would I want to do that?" When it comes to achieving your desired results from your training and diet, 95% of your success is contingent on your mental state. How badly do you want it? What are you willing to do to get it? What sacrifices are you really willing to make? Ronnie Coleman's quote exemplifies the pinnacle of motivation. It's almost as if he can't even fathom the thought of deviating from the plan and doesn't understand why anyone would ever do it. You can read all the training articles you want, buy every supplement in GNC, spend 4 hours per day in the gym, and set an alarm when it is time for your next feeding; but if you aren't giving 100% in the gym and being brutally honest with yourself about your program, you will not achieve your potential.
All to often do you hear an overweight individual state something along the lines of, "I go to the gym for two hours, I have tried every diet, I just can't lose weight." Is that true? is it possible that someone is physically incapable of changing their body? Of course not. The person who says this is not being honest with themselves. They have rationalized in their head that they have done all they could and it didn't work, so they have convinced themselves that they are simply victims and thus no longer have responsibility to try to change. While this is an extreme example, even the highly motivated face this struggle every single day. "Will it really hurt if I have just one cookie?" "My muscles are really sore, I can skip out on this last set." or "I probably need today off from the gym anyway." I'm sure all of these thoughts have gone through your head at one time or another.
So what can you do to stay motivated? it varies from person to person tremendously, however here are some tools that may work:
• Get a good workout partner who is very motivated. You can feed off this energy, not to mention setting an appointment with someone to workout obligates you to show
• Start conversations with people at the gym who are serious about working out. This will give you an insight as to what winds their clock.
• Write your workouts and diet down in advance. If the plan is pre-determined, all you have to do is follow it, so you are much less likely to stray.
• Set short term realistic goals and achieve them. Every week or even every day set a new goal.
Your ability to stay motivated to achieve is by far the most important aspect to your success. Muhammad Ali once famously said "I hated every minute of training, but I said, don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."
