Will power

[The Feral Underclass]

For those that work out regularly, how do you keep yourself motivated? How do you keep yourself from stopping when the burn and fatigue starts to kick in.

This is by far my biggest challenge and I would be interested to see how other people deal with it.

[Tim Cornelis]

Write down your performance (weight - reps - sets per workout) each time and see the improvement for motivation. If you mean when you're already there, I don't. I sometimes (often) skip cardio. But I suppose if you have your workouts schedule on black and white with you it's easier to finish them all as well.

[The Feral Underclass]

I work out at home, but I think you're right: Keeping track of stages of workout is a good way yo build to a goal.

How often/long do you work out for?


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[Igor]

ive always found it more difficult to work out at home: there's just way too many distractions as opposed to really dragging your ass to the gym and dedicating yourself to the session a bit more than "might as well do it now"

tho otoh ive had the benefit of either free or very affordable gyms and i get that isnt always an option

[The Feral Underclass]

I wish I could go to a gym but the difference is 30 minutes out of my day vs a couple of hours there, work out and back. I can't do that ever day, I just don't have the time.

I don't really get distracted at home, it's just finding that will power to not rest between exercises and keep going. I wonna stop so bad :(


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[Tim Cornelis]

Dragging my ass to the gym would be my number one obstacle actually.

I work out 3 days per week (but, unfortunately, I too often skip fridays because I went out the night before) for an hour or so. Resting is not a problem, between 5 to 10 minutes is okay or advised. But yeah, if you have your workout schedule printed and you maintain it, then I suppose seeing how some of the fields would otherwise remain blank can motivate you to complete your routine.

[Per Levy]

mmh my workout has become part of my everyday routine, i think that helps. otherwise i try to watch or listen something i enjoy while doing it so i dont get bored wich usually does the trick. but i get you, so often i dont want to go down and do push ups cause meh. cant afford gym so i all i do i do at home.

[The Feral Underclass]

I fucking hate push ups, man....I Just. Hate. Them.

[PhoenixAsh]

I lift. 7 days a week....2 days rest every once in a while. With varying schedules.

I get stressed and annoyed when I do not train...so that is motivation enough.

I train between 1 and 2 hours a day. I have a fixed number of exercises I do for each split. And I usually keep track of the previous weight I used but vary this based on what I feel I can handle safely.

Currently my work weight for bench is 10x10x195 lbs followed by 8×10×90 dumbbel press.

Deads are at 8x5x250lbs

Squads are at 8x10x190lbs (easilly my weakest exercise because of my knees and lower back)

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Between workouts - I find the physical urge to exercise starts to kick in after 4-5 days. Really bad, I get quite restless.

I also find that if I haven't worked out one week, the weakening of my abilities (how many push ups/lower weight/weaker cardio capabilities) is really frustrating, as it effectively means that the previous workout's effort was wasted, so that's motivation (don't waste workouts).

During a workout it's sort of the same. If i've done 70% of the work and i'm finding the last 30% really tough, i'll just remember all the work i've put in in the first 70% of the workout and how wasted that will be if I don't finish.

If I did 50 push ups per session last week and am wanting to quit on 50 this week, i'll just think about how little progress that would be, and also how good it'll feel to do 60 push ups today.

Generally if you've had a few really amazing workouts, you'll psychologically remember that feeling and whilst every workout might not hit such heights, you'll never want to settle for just falling short, because the sense of disappointment will be palpable. Shit workouts are awful because you've still put a fair amount of physical effort in, yet you know that it's not achieved its aims and was essentially pointless, just because you didn't put that extra 20-30% effort in.

[Ele'ill]

planks

[Os Cangaceiros]

Push ups are awesome. I love push ups. And pull ups. And any other exercise you can do without equipment.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

side plank

Fixed.

[Ele'ill]

Everyone's different but I found that doing sprints 1 week on 1 week off for about 15 minutes to an hour each session really helped me not lose the mental part of being able to get through my other workouts. Sprints and planks. All planks. Minutes and minutes of planks each side and front and other variations. And then bicycles.

[Trap Queen Voxxy]

I usually count what I'm doing and have a pre-determined set numerical goal so when I'm in pain I can just focus on counting and getting to that number. I don't really exercise aside from fake yoga, running and skating tho. Occasionally ill throw push ups or pull ups or sit ups in there.

[IWantToLearn]

I wish I could go to a gym but the difference is 30 minutes out of my day vs a couple of hours there, work out and back. I can't do that ever day, I just don't have the time.

I don't really get distracted at home, it's just finding that will power to not rest between exercises and keep going. I wonna stop so bad :(


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I generally listen to relaxing music while training hard, i use my energy too quickly when i listen to fast music. What are your goals btw?, if you are training for strength i think rest between exercises is good. Also when i find an exercise hard to do i just devote the whole session/day to that exercise and i eventually get the hold of it even if i have to work it in set of 1 repetition.

[Quail]

I struggle with motivation to work out on my own. I generally do two 2 hour sessions of Judo or Jiu-Jitsu per week (more if I have the time) and I find that doing exercise with other people makes it so much more enjoyable, so that gives me motivation. I also find that having the specific goals that come with martial arts (i.e., competitions and gradings) give me something to focus on so I take my training more seriously. When I'm working out at home, which I would like to do more often really, I either listen to music or do it in front of the TV. If I'm on my own I generally need something to distract me so that I don't get bored.

[Ethics Gradient, Traitor For All Ages]

It sounds like you need different activities. If you honestly hate doing push-ups it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to force yourself to keep doing them, especially if the end result is you not working out at all. Find activities that you actually want to do and stick to them for a while, then swing back around and see if push-ups are more enjoyable once you build up some strength/lose a little weight/whatever.

[BIXX]

The less days you skip the more motivated you will feel- I skipped two days in a row for my workout (which I'm trying to do 7 days a week (not counting weight training as a workout because I'm doing it for school)) and today I feel dead. To make up for it in going to a wrestling practice, a boxing, and an MMA practice, and tomorrow two kickboxing practices.

The less days you miss, the more you'll be willing to work out (even if you don't want to).

Also it's easier to convince myself to work out if it's for a 1 on 1 combat sport (wrestling, kickboxing). I think it helps because I am forced to work with others (unless I'm hitting a bag) who I don't wanna let down. Also, I like to be able to show off later haha.

I'd recommend starting a sport like the ones I mentioned- it sure helped me.