But My Couch is Super Comfy
On Blogger here.
"Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude." -Thomas Jefferson
Ah yes, motivation. There are books, blogs, and videos galore on this topic, and while I might not be bringing anything fresh to the table I'm still going to offer up a dish. I will first start by coming clean; like most of the general population I am super lazy. So, what do I know about motivation? Well why don't you pull up a chair, grab a plate, and partake in what I have to offer.
There is no magic solution for motivation.
Now that we have that out of the way let's discuss this in earnest. Unfortunately due to the above being true it means what works for one person won't necessarily work for another. I can drone on for hours about what gets me motivated, but if what gets the fire in my belly roaring only makes your fire sputter, then ultimately it served no purpose. With that said I will briefly describe what motivates me, but I'll spend more time discussing how you can find what motivates you.
Let's begin with what gets me going. Several things actually do it for me; good and heavy music, martial arts films, the simple thought of being stronger, the list goes on. Some of these just get me pumped up in the moment, and that moment might not be when I need the motivation. So what do I do when I need to go down to the basement and hit the weights, or go on that run when it's just too dang hot? Simple; routine. I have a routine that I go through before every workout. It doesn't take but a few minutes, but I make sure to do it prior to any exercise session no matter what. What this does is pretty great. Since I've kept up this pre-workout ritual my body now knows what's about to happen, and because it knows what's about to happen my endocrine system kicks into overdrive. This means endorphins, adrenaline, dopamine, androgens and all the other good hormones that pump through your body when you put it through hell. This means my body is on fire, and ready to take on the world like a viking of old.
Now that you know what works for me we can try to figure out what works for you. I wish I could just tell you what will work, and then you just go to town doing that resulting in success. Unfortunately this isn't the case, and I lament the fact. What I can do, however, is point in a generally acceptable direction, and that direction is going to be to first try a simple routine like I do. Find something that gets you pumped up, but is also quick, and easy to repeat. The combination of those three things is paramount to have even the slightest chance of success. If the routine takes too long, is to costly either via time, or monetary consumption, or worse yet doesn't really get that fire going then it's ultimately pointless. So find something quick and easy to do, and stick with it. It won't happen over night, I'm sorry to say, but if you keep it up you might find it was all you needed. If you find after about two weeks that it's really not doing anything to get you motivated, then find something else. Keep an eye on what really gets you jazzed, and see if there's a way you can incorporate that into some kind of pre-workout. Explore, learn about yourself, and most importantly have fun. If you hate what you are doing, then you'll never keep it up.
I also want to circle back and hit on a point I covered last week. I probably sound like a broken record, but being part of a fitness group can really help with motivation. If you communicate with people who are positive, and motivated themselves on a regular basis then it is a lot easier to stay motivated. When you are actually serious about getting in shape, staying in shape, or just being healthier, then surrounding yourself with people of a similar mind will only make things easier for you.
If you were expecting progress pictures they will be next week. I kind of goofed by doing the first ones in the middle of a two week cycle. To stay consistent I'm going to wait until Friday to weigh in, and take pictures. From then on it will be every other week.