Do You Ever Get Bored Of 'Training'?

Bigger Stronger Leaner
1

Ok guys, we all know that we’re hardcore T men who pray to the steel, purging our sins and issues through the medium of basic, hard exercise.

4-5 times a week, we are slugging it out in the gym. Working our way through scientifically precise programmes, far superior to the regimes of the curl monkeys and other fluffy types who have the audacity to get in our way!

But some of us are are starting to feel jaded with the constant slew of ‘training advice’.

Some of us, however, are just flat out fucking bored with it all.

I’m falling into the latter camp.

Lately I’ve been asking myself “why do I train?”. Strength training is all manly and fantastic however unless you compete in sport then real world application of your gains is very few and far between.

Aesthetic goals? All very well and from a discipline perspective, great for sorting the wheat from the chaff, . Thing is that, imo, once you get the 6 pack, then what? You’ve just got the added stress of keeping the fucker and if I’m being really honest, they’re as common as muck nowadays. Thanks to Jersey Shore, nearly every guy is walking around all buffed up. I swear to god, guys will be going for the ‘out of shape’ look, pretty soon, as the ripped look is everywhere.

The clincher for me though, is this life coaching element that’s becoming more apparent. Every PT is now trying to ‘optimise your hormones’ and show you ‘65 ways to boost your confidence’. All because they read an Anthony Robbins novel and got a six pack.

I guess the fun element has disappeared for me. I’ve decided to take 6 months out of training in the gym. Take up a sport or something. Cycling is tickling my fancy right now.

What about you guys? How do you battle through the tedium?

2

Don’t know if I’d say I get “bored”, but there are definitely times when my enthusiasm wanes and I’m basically just going through the motions. When that feeling hits, I might take a few days off, or do bodyweight stuff for a few days, or maybe just push through and go lighter in the gym. But, outside of a serious injury or a vacation or something, I can’t imagine not going to the gym at least a couple of times a week.

Not to sound like a CrossFit ad, but training is my therapy. If I didn’t have it I’d be a total maniac. It keeps me centered and allows me to channel all of my internal debris into something I believe is positive and keeps me from self destructing at an accelerated rate.

3

Rarely do I get bored, but if I do, I go in, do the main lifts, then just focus on a new goal. Like I’ll just do a shit load of mobility work or something. After a few days of not really killing it and all, I basically start tweaking to hit it hard again.

Could try changing something signficant. Do full-body stuff? Do a standard BB’ing bro split for awhile. Work up to heavy 3-6 rep maxes? Start trying to increase your 15-20 rep max.

4

[quote]ChongLordUno wrote:
Lately I’ve been asking myself “why do I train?”. Strength training is all manly and fantastic however unless you compete in sport then real world application of your gains is very few and far between. [/quote]
Seems almost related to the ‘Keeping the Bodybuilder Lifestyle in Perspective’ thread currently going on in the Bodybuilding forum.
http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding/keeping_the_bodybuilding_lifestyle_in_perspective

It doesn’t have to be an either-or. Just saying, you could totally take up cycling and adjust your training to support it. 100% your call though. As was said, it could be useful to make some drastic changes to your plan and try things you haven’t done in a while - new exercises, techniques, sets/reps, whatever.

I realized I was coasting and kinda on autopilot a while ago, so to make the gym fresh again, I came up with some particular goals. The first of which was to stick to programs from the Archives here for a straight year. Now that I’m just about wrapped up with it and I’ve gone through 6 or 8 different routines, I have to say it worked and I’m a little more refocused on being productive in the gym.

It basically helped me re-learn what I like/don’t like and what I do or don’t respond well to, so I can make better decision in my own programming going forward.

On the flip side, instead of “just” focusing on short-term goals, I’m also giving more thought to Wendler’s concept of very-long term goals (as in, ‘where do I want to be when I’m 40?’ (6 years away).

5

I dunno man I can’t relate. I’ve never gotten bored yet. I’m not one of those people who lifts as therapy or as some kind of catharsis to drain the poison of life from my body and keep myself from becoming a black hole of insanity though. I just keep trying to become the biggest, strongest, skull-fucking savage I can be. And so far that hasn’t gotten old.

6

Never been bored, but I’m also fairly young.
This is a deload week and I’m only going to the gym twice and I feel like a caged animal.

7

What about you guys? How do you battle through the tedium?[/quote]

*** As you get older motivation gets easier. The diabetic monster lurks for anyone that wants to give up and sit on the couch and do nothing. It hits the nerve endings of the hands and the feet first. Next thing you know you’ve lost your ability to “rise to the occasion”.

This scenario hit more than one close relative. I can’t imagine a greater motivation to keep working out than to keep your ability to be a man. Of course this only means something to the over 40 crowd.

You younger folks should read “Merry Christmas Bob” and take it to heart.

8

[quote]ChongLordUno wrote:
Ok guys, we all know that we’re hardcore T men who pray to the steel, purging our sins and issues through the medium of basic, hard exercise.

4-5 times a week, we are slugging it out in the gym. Working our way through scientifically precise programmes, far superior to the regimes of the curl monkeys and other fluffy types who have the audacity to get in our way!

But some of us are are starting to feel jaded with the constant slew of ‘training advice’.

Some of us, however, are just flat out fucking bored with it all.

I’m falling into the latter camp.

Lately I’ve been asking myself “why do I train?”. Strength training is all manly and fantastic however unless you compete in sport then real world application of your gains is very few and far between.

Aesthetic goals? All very well and from a discipline perspective, great for sorting the wheat from the chaff, . Thing is that, imo, once you get the 6 pack, then what? You’ve just got the added stress of keeping the fucker and if I’m being really honest, they’re as common as muck nowadays. Thanks to Jersey Shore, nearly every guy is walking around all buffed up. I swear to god, guys will be going for the ‘out of shape’ look, pretty soon, as the ripped look is everywhere.

The clincher for me though, is this life coaching element that’s becoming more apparent. Every PT is now trying to ‘optimise your hormones’ and show you ‘65 ways to boost your confidence’. All because they read an Anthony Robbins novel and got a six pack.

I guess the fun element has disappeared for me. I’ve decided to take 6 months out of training in the gym. Take up a sport or something. Cycling is tickling my fancy right now.

What about you guys? How do you battle through the tedium?[/quote]

Well here is one reason to get strong

9

[quote]mbdix wrote:
Well here is one reason to get strong
[/quote]

I addressed that with regards to strength sports. Useful in what sense? Helping someone move house or helping someone push a car? Should I go to the gym 4 times a week to prepare myself for these rare occasions?

In saying that I do love a Rip quote!

Chris - Yes I considered combining strength training with cycling however I just want away from the gym for a while. Maybe absence will make the heart grow fonder…

10

I think changing up your routine/goals for a bit may be just what you (and I) need. I’ve been kind of dealing with the same thing lately. Or if you have some training buddies maybe a little friendly competition between your group, doesn’t have the stress of an actual bodybuilding/powerlifting comp but still gets you motivated and keeps you accountable.

11

I don’t think I’ve ever NOT been bored with training. I just want to be strong, and training is definitely the boring part of being strong. If I could rub a magic lamp and wish to be strong, I’d do that instead, but until that happens, I just keep training.

12

I’d just like to first point out that the quote above is from Rippetoe, but it’s plastered across a fairly well-known picture of Roger Estep that is frequently confused for a picture of Rippetoe. Rippetoe never looked that jacked in his life.

Second, the best way to eliminate boredom is to always be setting and meeting goals. Without goals, even small ones, training will seem purposeless and therefore boring.

13

I have been wrestling with this problem of boredom with training for the last 4 months or so. I’ve been in a fat-cutting phase over this time period and getting up the motivation to train in a constant caloric deficit has been exhausting. It’s rewarding to see the lard coming off but, I keep asking myself “to what end”.

For me, I could care less about the esthetic side of things; I only care about performance. Cutting the fat is for the long term health benefits. For where I’m at in my life (32, married, 2 kids, small business owner), I’m about as strong as I think I’ll ever need or want to be. Thus, I’ve come to the conclusion that I will be focusing on boxing for the forseeable future and lifting only to maintain the strength that I’ve built up. Mentally and physically, I simply need the break from balls-to-the-wall lifting.

14

[quote]Mad Martigan wrote:

Second, the best way to eliminate boredom is to always be setting and meeting goals. Without goals, even small ones, training will seem purposeless and therefore boring.

[/quote]

Right. This is really the thing I think most people are missing in their training. This was one of those “a ha” moments I had when I started helping people out… Most people just go into the gym and do stuff randomly and without thought to their previous workout. This machine, that machine, some cardio, leave.

Take something like EDT or 5/3/1 where EVERY training session you have a goal to beat. To me that is very exciting, gives me purpose in the gym, and shows tangible results which are motivating. “Last time I used this weight I did 4 reps, today I did 7… Progress”

I understand not everyone has the passion to lift just for liftings sake. I lift because I love to do it the same way a recreational artist does their art because they like to without any thought to making any money/fame or whatever.

15

[quote]Mad Martigan wrote:
picture of Roger Estep that is frequently confused for a picture of Rippetoe.[/quote]
By who lol

16

OP, do you also have trouble getting mentally prepared for big/money sets? I just feel like either you have it or you don’t mentally.
Ex. Kobe Bryant’s instincts

17

I don’t really know how to describe it. I just think it is almost a responsibilty of being a man to get strong. Might sound stupid to some people that’s just how I feel. How strong? Well there is a scene in the movie “Unbreakable” where this bad guy walks up to this house and tells the man of the house he likes it and wants to come in.

The dude is like “no man, you can’t come in” the bad guy just pulls open the door and comes in. Ends up raping the wife and she dies, kills the dude, and it seemed that he was saving the kids to do something to them also. Well, if you are not strong enough to stop a guy from just pulling open your door with you hanging on then you are not strong enough.

I do not train for this reason or do I live thinking that is going to happen, but if I ever started to get bored with it, I could just think of that scene and find myself on the way to the gym with probably a pretty high motivation to hit a pr

18

Bored? No.

Frustrated at times? Yea, dem barbells can be a huge tease.

If anything I miss being able to walk to the gym in 5 minutes. I’m bored of walking 20 minutes to the train, taking a 15 minute ride, walking five more to the gym, and then changing and putting my shit in a locker for another 5-10 minutes before I can finally lift.

19

[quote]Chris Colucci wrote:

[quote]ChongLordUno wrote:
Lately I’ve been asking myself “why do I train?”. Strength training is all manly and fantastic however unless you compete in sport then real world application of your gains is very few and far between. [/quote]
Seems almost related to the ‘Keeping the Bodybuilder Lifestyle in Perspective’ thread currently going on in the Bodybuilding forum.
http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding/keeping_the_bodybuilding_lifestyle_in_perspective

It doesn’t have to be an either-or. Just saying, you could totally take up cycling and adjust your training to support it. 100% your call though. As was said, it could be useful to make some drastic changes to your plan and try things you haven’t done in a while - new exercises, techniques, sets/reps, whatever.

I realized I was coasting and kinda on autopilot a while ago, so to make the gym fresh again, I came up with some particular goals. The first of which was to stick to programs from the Archives here for a straight year. Now that I’m just about wrapped up with it and I’ve gone through 6 or 8 different routines, I have to say it worked and I’m a little more refocused on being productive in the gym.

It basically helped me re-learn what I like/don’t like and what I do or don’t respond well to, so I can make better decision in my own programming going forward.

On the flip side, instead of “just” focusing on short-term goals, I’m also giving more thought to Wendler’s concept of very-long term goals (as in, ‘where do I want to be when I’m 40?’ (6 years away).[/quote]

@ChrisColucci

Hey Chris! Would you mind sharing with us what 6-8 programs you chose to follow for the past year. Maybe enlighten us on which one gave the most results, which one sucked ass, and all the in-between. Just curious. Thanks!!

20

I’ve gotten bored before but not in the long term. The feeling usually passes

But with that said, if you don’t have any training goals anymore, then taking up a sport is a great idea. It’s a good way to add variety and really improve your conditioning, as a plus it gives you a goal to train towards. If cycling has an off season, you could then resume long periods of intense training and be confident that your performance will improve when the season starts again