Fitness/gym: How do you motivate yourself?

Hi,

To me, exercising, going to the gym, jogging etc is just plain out boring and I have a hard time motivating myself. Best option so far has been listening to music - but still, it doesn't seem to solve the motivation problem fully.

How do you motivate yourself?

idane

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I think of every weak-minded guy like yourself, and how easy it is to set myself apart from you by simply having the self-discipline to lift weights for three hours a week.

Ok, not really. But that's how you should think about it. In terms of the massive amounts of benefits conferred, there is no better return in life than three hours a week spent in the gym. The social, physical and mental/psychological benefits are enormous. You're missing out on a lot by failing to discipline yourself. Other men are reaping those rewards and making you look worse in comparison. Don't miss out because you lack "motivation". You don't need to be motivated to lift weights, you simply need to show up and lift them. Discipline, not motivation, is what you need.

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I have dumb reasons but they work

Weight lifting=Batman, Larry wheels, the ability to lift up and throw petite women around, to be strong enough to choke out a baby panther,

Mobility/flexibility=nightwing, Ido portal, the ability to put any girl in any position and still destroy her,

Endurance=Jason Bourne, Batman, navy SEALs. The ability to last long in bed in any position and give girls consistent pleasurable pumps.

Overall athleticism=Batman, James Bond, Westbrook, Lebron James, Derrick Henry, these hoes and all it takes to please them

Aesthetics=Zyzz, Jeff Seid, night wing, the looks on the girls faces when they see them. The compliment women give me about my muscles I have now


I’m always motivated to workout, but the main videos that motivate me are ANY Batman training videos, the most interesting man in the works videos, and any videos by the YouTuber “the bioneer”

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Stronger people live longer and are harder to kill.
And have a better quality of life.

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I tend to watch TV when I'm on the treadmill so it keeps me going. I managed to do 33 minutes without stopping with just watching TV and running.

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(02-17-2019 10:38 AM)scorpion Wrote:  Discipline, not motivation, is what you need.

Embracing this changed my life.

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I wish I could find the post, I think it was by Beyond Borders a long time ago - He said what he does is to tell himself that he makes himself at least drive to the gym. Then, once he gets in the parking lot or even in the gym itself, he can go home whenever he wants to. He gives himself permission to go home, no big deal.

This is huge psychology and I've done it ever since I read that post. The key to this trick is you really have to let yourself leave the gym or turn the car back around if you want to.

I'll add, ever since I've used this trick, I've never once turned back around. Even on days where I'm not feeling so great, I'll just say well since I'm already here guess I'll knock it out. Like he said in his post, getting there is half the battle.

If I can find his post again I'll quote it, he explained it better than me.

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I've always found that making the gym part of your routine was the best way to ensure you get there. I personally have had great success in using it as a way to avoid traffic on the way home from work, the gym was near work so I would go there for a workout after work and by the time I was done it meant no traffic. The routine part was key as it was an every day thing, I'd actually park my car away from work past the gym so that I had to walk past the gym to get there for a further surety. The reward of not having to deal with traffic was a strong incentive to just go.

Outside of that the most success I've had is when training with others, the social contract is a strong one, you're not just letting yourself down if you skip out but also the training partner.

Never been one to need motivation once in the gym so can't really help (I've always trained with music but that's just a preference).

For cardio if you've got a machine at home I do find putting an episode of something on is a good way to do it, doesn't work as well for HIIT stuff so more of a just getting some cardio in type activity.

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Easy - lifting is a deeply ingrained habit, so if I don't go I feel fucked up/weird like I haven't showered or brushed my teeth. This is a core part of discipline.

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What works for me is that I’m not exercising, but I’m training. This means that I stick to a program and have the goal of increasing my numbers. This way I get rewarded for my training.

You can also start going to a gym with a coach, say a powerlifting or oly lifting gym. This way I guarantee you you’ll start to see real results and fast, plus you’re accountable for showing up.

I don’t do bodybuilding exercises, it’s more boring and I’m not inspired by body builders. Watch some olympic competitors train on the all things gym YouTube channel and it might motivate you - it works for me.

Overall lifting is not boring for me, it’s such a powerful reset button and knowing that I’m improving myself is a great motivator.

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How do you motivate yourself to brush your teeth every day?

Answer is that there's no need for motivation once it becomes a habit.
I don't need to fucking listen to Arnold Schwarzenegger speeches on Youtube, have PWO every time before I go or listen to all sorts of music before.

For me, I don't see it as a question about motivation, in the same way, I don't have to pump myself up before I go and brush my teeth, because it's a habit. I've always been physically active, when I was a child it was with different sports and as an adult, it's just gym and cardio.

I've read somewhere that generally it takes about 60 days for most people to build up a new habit. How hard can it be, if you're asking others how to be motivated for your life you're already asking a useless question in my opinion. You're the one who choose what's important in your life.

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Having raw physical strength is a core part of being a man. It cannot be bought, only earned through thousands of hours of consistent training. No one can take it away from you.

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It’s not that easy for everyone. Some people (like myself) don’t particularly enjoy going to the gym and find it boring and repetitive

I’d much rather work out via Thai boxing, jujitsu or swimming

Choosing a gym that you feel comfortable with can make a huge difference. I’ve recently moved - previously I was a member of a proper old school gym which helped me. Now I’m in a more affluent area the gym I have joined it literally like globogym from dodgeball and I can’t stand it

Having a gym buddy would help too

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Masculinity, strength, physique, and eating for longevity is the duty of every masculine man.

When you are born in this world, you are thrown into the darkness and left to survive.

Some men do survive, some men claim to be intellectuals instead and rot in their own farts while pretending to have the answers to life.

I don't go to the gym because I want to, or because I enjoy it, or because I am motivated. I go because it's the ultimate "fuck you" to life, refusing to go gently into that good night. We are here because our ancestors survived through all the malice, pestilence, war, and famine for thousands and thousands of years.

I will carry that sword as best as I can.

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Start listening to these on headphones before even leaving your house for the gym:









Btw I am not an Apple fanboy at all, but the Airpods are just the best for the gym. No wires, not even between the ears is fckin great, especially when squatting and having the bar on your shoulders.
I connect mine to my android phone w bluetooth just fine.

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(02-18-2019 02:38 PM)LINUX Wrote:  Masculinity, strength, physique, and eating for longevity is the duty of every masculine man.

When you are born in this world, you are thrown into the darkness and left to survive.



I don't go to the gym because I want to, or because I enjoy it, or because I am motivated. I go because it's the ultimate "fuck you" to life, refusing to go gently into that good night. We are here because our ancestors survived through all the malice, pestilence, war, and famine for thousands and thousands of years.

I will carry that sword as best as I can.

This whole post is gold. but this part in particular made me chuckle

Quote:Some men do survive, some men claim to be intellectuals instead and rot in their own farts while pretending to have the answers to life.

Anyone that downplays the physical and violent parts of masculinity is not a man to be taken seriously as a man (AKA simply, the male).

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I don't. I'm compelled by good habits. I just have to. I'm a person who does jujitsu and lifts weights. It's part of who I am.

I wasn't always "gym guy". For a long time I sat on my ass on Tuesday evenings doing nothing but drinking.

And no, I don't consider myself a disciplined person at all.

What changed my life was realizing it didn't matter how tough of a workout I did, but that I simply went to the gym. Not feeling it today? Saturday morning hangover?

Oh well, go down there and hit the sauna and shower. Maybe do a set or two of a few things. Keep the habit. Better to go to the gym than not.

Then you'll find yourself lifting more. And caring about getting a good workout in, even when you weren't feeling like lifting going in.

(As JP says, life isn't about winning the game, because life is an infinite series of games. You don't want to go in and go for PRs right away. Don't go in and exert yourself to the point you don't want to go back. Keep playing the game.)

The gym...basketball, then lifting, then jujitsu, then.... (you'd be surprised who you'll become when you develop these "stay busy" habits

This has led me to be more productive in every area of life. Now I'm putting in my 40 at day job, 15-20 at side business, and jujitsu and lifting when I can fit it in.

Yep, I'm now the gym and busy side business guy, all thanks to those early days of just wanting to sweat out my hangover in the sauna.

...momentum is an amazing thing.

You'd be surprised what a 10% change in your life will lead to. I sure am. 6 years ago I was doing nothing...I mean **nothing** with my life.

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I don't "motivate" myself. I go every other day and lift the damn weights, with a two day rest after each 3rd or 4th workout. It not an option, no motivation involved.

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OP you recognize the importance of being in shape, but simply don't like doing the activity... and that's cool! Instead of butting heads with this fact, simply roll with it.

Either hire a coach to help you out, or either a Home Training Program like Power 90X or Insanity to get the ball rolling. Then you go from there. First, simply establish the goals you're trying to achieve, and stick to a strategy to get there.

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To motivate myself I generally just take a look in the mirror, check out that juicy chest and arms. All I need.

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Just look around you in the street. Whatever age you are, the bar is set pretty low among your peers. Lift and run/cycle and you are way ahead of them already.

The words of Jack Donovan always motivate me;

''I train for honor'... I train because somewhere in my DNA there's a memory of a more ferocious world, a world where men could become what they are and reach the most terrifyingly magnificent state of their nature. I don't train to impress the majority of modern slobs. I train to be worthy enough to be worthy enough to 'carry water' for my barbarian fathers, and to be worthy of the company of the men most like them today. I train because I imagine the disgust and contempt out ancestors would have for us all if they lined up modern men on the street. I train to be less of an embarrassment to their memory. I train because most modern men dishonor all of the men who came before them. I train "as if" they were watching and judging us... I train because it is better to imagine oneself as a soldier in a spiritual army training for a war that may never come than it is to shrug, slouch and shuffle forward into a dysgenic and dystopian future.
Train for honor'

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DISCIPLINE EQUALS FREEDOM.

Sport is something, what makes my life valuable. Without sports, I would be nothing. Working out brings you so much, that it´s unbelieveable. There can be Paretto´s rule found: 20% of invested free time is responsible for 80% positive things that happen in my life. I started to hit gym when I was 14 or 15. People claim I have good genetics. Their argument is invalid until I see them putting in a lot of hardwork for 10 years, like I did. How dare they talk about genetics, do they go running when they come from work and it´s midnight and freezing? I do.
Being fit allows you to bang a lot of girls, they want to be seen with guy, who has big arms and six-pack. Some of them may never touched such man. But not only girls react to great physique. Even men do. In all social situations you will be better than chubby idiot. In work, in social circle. It gives you credit whether both with girls or men. When you want something, you will get it much easier, when you are fit.
Praise the spirit of warrior in yourself. I like the feeling, that I can beat the most of the men, who get in my way. I like the feeling, that when the shit hits the fan, I will be on of few, who will be able to deal with it. It´s also nice to realize, that you are between few percents of best men on the Earth. The rest are piece of shit.

I like motivation, but it´s mostly about discipline. Do it automatically. If you are tired, postpone it. Not the workout, but taking a rest. Just do you workout routine, that´s something you can do even though you are really tired. If you are tired even more next day, than take a rest next day.

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It's not so much a matter of motivation as it is a requirement for living well. I've cycled throughout my youth having a good physique and an unremarkable one, from age 17 to now, my mid-30s. At this point in my life, the data is in and it's very simple:

If I don't go to the gym, I feel weak, soft, and lethargic. When I go to the gym, I feel firm, solid, and energetic.

If I don't go to the gym, I'm prone to irritability and mildly melancholic. When I go to the gym, I'm equanimous and mildly positive.

If I don't go to the gym, other areas of my life slowly begin to deteriorate. When I go to the gym, other areas of my life somehow start to flourish.

If I don't go to the gym, I have to chase girls. When I go to the gym, many of them start to chase me.

In my case, regularly going to the gym, i.e. strength training, needs to be a bedrock habit like brushing my teeth and showering if I'm going to enjoy life. Experience has seared in my mind that this habit is more to important for my well-being than any job, any girl, any friend, and even my net worth.

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Fuck motivation, HIII DISCIPLINE

That said, if you have a goal, even if you are pretty down you will feel the power to go to the gym. Goals are everything, if you are just lifting for fun, when you do lose your motivation you are done.

Music can help, but nothing as powerful as a goal, if you wanna get girls...just imagine ur body dream and how it would help with girls, if you wanna be a personal trainer, imagina that.
You need to have a goal...if not..i wouldn't be able to workout hard 6 times a day, 1:30h per day

Fitness is such an amazing thing, help you with self confidence, give you better looks, you are athletic, it gives you a lot of values...search a goal bro, that is the way to go

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(03-20-2019 03:01 AM)Unikorn Wrote:  Fuck motivation, HIII DISCIPLINE

That said, if you have a goal, even if you are pretty down you will feel the power to go to the gym. Goals are everything, if you are just lifting for fun, when you do lose your motivation you are done.

Music can help, but nothing as powerful as a goal, if you wanna get girls...just imagine ur body dream and how it would help with girls, if you wanna be a personal trainer, imagina that.
You need to have a goal...if not..i wouldn't be able to workout hard 6 times a day, 1:30h per day

Fitness is such an amazing thing, help you with self confidence, give you better looks, you are athletic, it gives you a lot of values...search a goal bro, that is the way to go

You work out 9 hours a day.

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