I've been training all my life. This is no exaggeration. I discovered organized sport and martial arts at 13. I have, since that time trained virtually every day apart from one year when changing countries and struggling with a new language and a totally foreign culture led me to lock myself up in the house for a year and do nothing. I was 18. I snapped out of it and have used physical training as both my primary source of entertainment and a form of self-medication. If I am troubled by something I run. If I feel down I will exercise until the darkness lifts from my brain and I can see things more clearly. Some of my closest friends exercise and, occasionally, we workout together once a week as a means of keeping the connections alive and doing something that is physically and mentally good for us. Despite all this I struggle with motivation most days. Fitness is hard. Our bodies have been made to do physical work in order to remain healthy and keep our brains healthy but they have been programmed to do this as part of our struggle for survival. Today, that struggle for survival is no longer physical and this is where things go wrong.
I start each day with exercise. When it is just me, I probably feel like doing it two days out of ten. Before I start, my brain always gives me a ton of excuses not to exercise: "let's go tomorrow twice as hard", "last night's work wasn't finished and today is a tough day", "everything aches from yesterday's workout", "it's too hot/cold", the list is virtually endless. I've learnt to ignore those voices in my head. To get me in the mood I always use music and usually the same playlist as it signals to me that exercise is about to begin. To keep myself honest I always keep track of what I did the day before. I then try to build on it. If, for example, if I did a Darebee workout that was all speed, I know I now need to focus on strength. If, I'm so physically tired that strength is not on the cards, then I will do a tendon strength workout. If I have done strength work the day before, I will work on endurance.
I am sharing this here because we all struggle. Keeping a log of what I did keeps me honest otherwise I'd be tempted to cheat, do a lot less the next day or do something that comes easy to me (like martial arts moves). I have two aims in my log: First, build on the day before. Second, do something that takes me outside my comfort zone. So far all this is working.
How do you guys keep it going?
I start each day with exercise. When it is just me, I probably feel like doing it two days out of ten. Before I start, my brain always gives me a ton of excuses not to exercise: "let's go tomorrow twice as hard", "last night's work wasn't finished and today is a tough day", "everything aches from yesterday's workout", "it's too hot/cold", the list is virtually endless. I've learnt to ignore those voices in my head. To get me in the mood I always use music and usually the same playlist as it signals to me that exercise is about to begin. To keep myself honest I always keep track of what I did the day before. I then try to build on it. If, for example, if I did a Darebee workout that was all speed, I know I now need to focus on strength. If, I'm so physically tired that strength is not on the cards, then I will do a tendon strength workout. If I have done strength work the day before, I will work on endurance.
I am sharing this here because we all struggle. Keeping a log of what I did keeps me honest otherwise I'd be tempted to cheat, do a lot less the next day or do something that comes easy to me (like martial arts moves). I have two aims in my log: First, build on the day before. Second, do something that takes me outside my comfort zone. So far all this is working.
How do you guys keep it going?