Motivation! Get Er Done!
By Dr. James Stoxen DC
Published in Planet Muscle Magazine, April 2005
(Print this article out and put it where you can see it)
I hated every minute of the training, but I said, “Do’ I quit?” Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion” – Muhammad Ali
We all know that you should train at least three or four times a week to see real benefits. Yes, it can be a challenge. It is one thing to create goals, another to keep the schedule to make them! Growing muscle is important but so is preventing disease and living healthy!
Excuses for not training are lame!
If you don’t have a schedule you aren’t even “in training.” The first step to getting in training is determining your goals. Everybody’s goals are different but there are some fundamental components that have to be in place. Set up goals and draw up a schedule that allows you to make them.
- Goals have to be measureable. You have to be able to quantify the goal for it to be measurable.
- The training goal has to be attainable. Your goals have to be realistic because if you set your goals to an unattainable figure you are sure to fail.
- Training goals have to have a time limit with a definite date of realization.
LOSER OR WINNER…
WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE THIS TIME?
EXCUSE – I don’t have time or motivation.
Life is priorities. Is everything else in your day more important than training. Do you need more motivation than if you don’t work out you will probably die early? “If you were having a heart attack would you be able to find the time to go to the hospital?” Your health is a priority. On the night before, when you are making out your schedule for the next day, put work, sleep, meals in the schedule, then put training in next as one of the first priorities. Unless you want to spend your sixties, seventies, and eighties, running from doctor to doctor everyday, (and filing insurance claims forms for the rest of your life) give your training a high priority.
EXCUSE – I hate exercise!
Read Planet Muscle. It’s the only magazine not over-loaded with steroid images that has some sarcasm and humor, some realism and change. A trainer can give you structure and come up with workouts you don’t dislike. A trainer is an even greater authority than your own conscience. A great workout partner should help to encourage you NOT to skip a workout. Sometimes you are doing boring workout routines. Do something different next time! Again, read this magazine for some ideas. You may hate exercise but love the result. Just do it!
EXCUSE – I have little ones.
What if your kids are in shape but you aren’t? Do what they do! If your children are overweight then you should be working on that solution immediately! My 9-year old daughter, who weighs 60 pounds, walks into my training center one day and knocks off 10 pull downs with 50 pounds.
If your kids are toddlers or preschoolers or early grade-school age, then take them to the park for a game of tag or ball. Remember, sometimes they will cheat and force you to run around more than them, but don’t complain and quit.
Play to get in shape. What ever you do don’t make excuses in front of your kids. They will turn into excuse makers too.
EXCUSE – No gym money
You don’t need a gym. Try doing 4 tri-sets of deep free squats with no lockout and no weight, alternated with 25 push-ups and 25 crunches! Try jumping from the ground to a higher plane such as a box or large old chair. (This is great for building your legs and if your goal is to lose weight, then working your legs is essential). Big muscles will burn big energy — fat. When big muscles are exercised with cardio they burn more energy than smaller muscles so you get more fat burning from your workouts in a shorter amount of time. Run down the street, to the coffee or newsstand but do something!
EXCUSE – Too out of shape, tired or injured
It’s understandable that you proceed with caution but you still proceed. Again a trainer may be required but don’t get discouraged and delay the inevitable. You are going to have to start sometime and somewhere. I am so surprised by how fast people jump back into shape after an injury or a long time lapse in training which goes on for years or decades. Again — just do it!
As for injury, I recommend a sports doctor that is connected to a great rehabilitation team preferably based out of a health club to make the transition from injury-to-rehab-training without a break or in a seamless fashion. That’s what I do.
Specialists will help you with your limits and help you to set measurable and attainable goals, but 90% of all injuries can be overcome.
EXCUSE – No Stamina
Many folks who haven’t exercised in a long time can’t exercise much at first. Don’t be discouraged – the results can come quickly. See a doctor for clearance to start a workout. And then remember: If you are too tired to train and you don’t train you will only lose more stamina, the more tired you become, the less likely you are to get back into training. Sooner or later you have to get off your fat ass. You must break the cycle. Let me tell you my true story. After a long layoff, I couldn’t even run across the street.
I knew that if I wanted to achieve my goals in the long run, it would be easier if my leg muscles were bigger because bigger engines burn bigger amounts of fuel. I knew that if I could get to the point where I could run for an hour that I could burn a lot more fat per exercise time.
What i decided to do was run for a s long as i could and then stop and slow walk until I caught my breath. I’d start running again, and then after a period of time catch my breath again.
I set out a course of 2 1/2 miles. I had to stop 27 times the fist time I ran! Two weeks later, I only had to stop 18 times. At the one month mark, I ran without stopping! Now I can run miles a day and feel fantastic! The same progression will be true with muscle-building!
EXCUSE – Not enough sleep
If you’re not getting enough sleep, find a way! Your longevity and health on good sleep, diet AND exercise. but people who are fit don’t need as much sleep so if you just get started you will create time for yourself rather than use up time. You can’t compare an hour of training to an extra hour of sleep. You get energized, increase your metabolism, burn fat, and get motivated with one hour of training a day. If you get up one hour earlier and train, you will get a more restful sleep that night and chances are you will find it easier to get up an hour earlier the next day, and thus you have your clock reset.
Now, get out of bed!
When you train in the morning, the pumping action brings blood to the tense stressed muscles and flushes them of tense aches. You will feel more relaxed and pleasant to be around. When you train in the morning, you will feel like you got one of the day’s most difficult tasks out of the way, and a sense of accomplishment.
Here are my tips to sticking to morning workouts:
Don’t re-set your snooze alarm, just get up. Have your workout and work clothes out the night before. Plan an extra 10 minutes into your training time because you have an extra clothing change – into your work/daily clothes. Guys — You don’t need a shower in the morning, splash some water on your face, put on some pit stick, and get out there.
If you get side-tracked for 10 or 20 minutes, don’t blow off the entire training plan. Remember even if you walk 5 miles per hour at that pace you can walk 2 miles in 30 minutes. Do something! Run to the Starbucks! You’ll feel good for overcoming the adversity and not missing a day. If the weather sucks, do a home workout.
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