Results of a recent T Nation Instagram poll:
A few thoughts:
- Maybe motivation is low because you’re overtrained, overstressed (physically and/or mentally), or your nervous system is shot. We often seek motivation when our bodies are maybe just telling us to take a few days off and do some walking. Getting yourself psyched up to train could be digging a deeper recovery hole.
- On the sciency side, it could an overactive habenula.
- Or maybe you really just feeling lazy and need to motivate yourself? How do you tell the difference between a physical need for rest/recovery and being lazy? Chad Waterbury once said that a dedicated person who loves to train (favorite time of the day!) should pay attention to feelings of motivation. If it’s just not there, don’t train.
Your thoughts?
Having a goal is a big driver of motivation for me. All the longer term benefits (health, mood, etc) typically aren’t enough to get my butt up off the couch in the moment. I need the pressure of a deadline.
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I always offer the following solution for motivation.
Sign up for a physical competition of some variety (marathon, bodybuilding show, strongman/powerlifting/weightlifting/crossfit meet, etc)
Pay your entry fee that day
Book your travel, hotel and time off work that day
Tell all your family and friends you’re going to compete and ask them to come cheer you on
Now, you have money, time and reputation invested. You will have a fire lit under you.
Otherwise, during periods of training ennui, I like picking entirely new goals. Been crushing the strength scene for a long time? Take on a full up legit bodybuilding workout. Something completely different. Or go REALLY off the reservation and do something like a combat sport or some distance running. Enjoy the newbie gains.
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My way of motivating myself is to keep an open mind in terms of what to do when I train. A liberal approach to lower the threshold in order to actually make it happen. But - You still have to make an effort! Force yourself by dressing up in training clothes, and/or keep your pack prepared and ready to go.
I may have decided to train 2-3 times a week but do not keep a fixed schedule. One of these sessions needs to be heavier in my way of thinking, but depending on how I feel, this session may end up on any weekday. If I have a very stressed schedule and feeling tired, I may go for a lighter upper body session. One strategy is to divide a particular number of reps (10-20) into several mini sets on a fixed weight (ladder type or cluster type or rest-pause). Another strategy is friendly AMRAPs, just do what you can during 1-3 minutes. A really bad day may end up in just one set or muscle group (“anything is better than nothing”). Yet another strategy is to “meditate” your way through a set by a SuperSlow approach. In any case, an emphasize on eccentrics open up for fewer sets and more effective bang for the buck training.
Keep different equipment around and apply them as needed for fun (resistance bands, chest expander, dumbbells, Bullworker etc.).
Also, stay open for hometraining instead of losing time going to the gym.
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For me, I’m always motivated. It’s more so my excitement that ebbs and flows. To fix that, it usually just means I need to switch up my program a bit and find something that has me excited again.
For me, I love training. I love the feeling of pushing sets to failure and pushing myself to improve. If I lost my love for that, then I’m simply not me anymore. My advice for others, find a way to love this, find a way to train that has you fired up and excited and you won’t struggle with motivation.
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