How do you keep yourself motivated?

[Memo]

I had a workout partner and we would push each other, make fun of each other, and talk crap to each other and it worked. Well, this guy decided to get a g/f and is now over there all the time and stopped working out.

How do you motivate yourself at the gym when you work out alone? I do the preworkout stuff, take my music, and stuff, but I feel like I don't push myself like I used to and the results are stagnant.

Now when I'm tired, I just stop and before it was like, "one more you P*$$!!!"

[CexMashean]

Get a foreign trainer with a work visa. Should work good.

[Big A]

I look in the mirror, and want to be stronger and leaner.

Honestly, insecurity drove me early on, and when I started making progress, I wanted more and more. Couple that with the fact that you almost always feel really good after a workout, and I'd force myself to trudge through on lazy days, always better off for it afterwards. Then I got into strength training, and I could never put enough weight on the bar or machine.

The trick for me was to always go straight to the gym after work, if you go home first "to change," the likelihood of finding something else more important to do (like sitting on the couch) increases 10 fold. Some are blessed with being morning people, so working out before work is great too, but if you aren't truly a morning person, sleeping in will begin to take priority if you aren't motivated enough.

Today insecurity isn't the driver any more fortunately, and ironically I have a beautiful and loving girlfriend that wants me to atrophy some. My motivation now comes from habit, that good feeling when I am done, and the desire to get lean again and stay there. I've never been less than about 10% bodyfat, so my goal today is to keep tightening up my diet to be able to maintain less fat than that with minimal cardio, and do it the healthy way, not living on shakes and plain oatmeal. Stangin4lyfe has been a good motivator for that.

Everybody is different, so you need to find out what truly motivates you, and build on that. Set realistic goals, and take pride in achieving them.

[yellowstang]

There are a few songs that get me pumped up to go work out, all death metal, LOL.

Similar to what Big A just said, the feeling afterwards is worth it, even on days you don't feel like going. I have really lost my motivation recently for a couple reasons. I am eating a lot more, but still loosing weight, and I do not want too! Second, Saturday will be my last workout for about 4 weeks, having surgery and won't be able too, so now I am like, meh, don't feel like going... I still wake up at 5, surf the net a little and end up not going at all. I'll go Saturday, then not again until Nov.

[JC316]

I used to be in the same boat. I just do it for myself, thats all the motivation I need . Or this:

[Danny46]

Community, and accountability. We have both at Crossfit, the community is great and I compare it more to a church (in a friendly introduce yourself kind of way). Now that I am coaching and have a much better knowledge base of wellness and fitness, being healthy also motivates me especially when I see people at the store who are overweight, need assistane, can barely walk etc.

[yellowstang]

Community, and accountability. We have both at Crossfit, the community is great and I compare it more to a church (in a friendly introduce yourself kind of way). Now that I am coaching and have a much better knowledge base of wellness and fitness, being healthy also motivates me especially when I see people at the store who are overweight, need assistane, can barely walk etc.

Yeah, the guys at the gym are all really friendly, and help push/motivate you when working out. It is like a little family, LOL. Your church comparison is funny. Most of them go to the same church, I on the other hand never go to church, and had to apologize for dropping so many F bombs, LOL. I didn't stop, but cut down! Took me a while to figure out why they never cuss, and play crappy music. I did get the, to play Five Finger Death Punch once!

[jdgregory84]

Gotta agree with Danny46, since doing the crossfit thing I'm not sure I could go back to working out alone although I did do a workout at home a few weeks ago and got through it pretty well. When I was working out alone, I would write my workouts down before doing them so I knew what I needed to get through. That's actually when I started dabbling in crossfit. I would just program random shit as long as I focused strength wise on one or two muscle groups and other stuff to either supplement that or give me a break but keep my heart rate up. It's all mental.

[stangin4lyfe]

Make it a habit, plain and simple.

The mirror has always been my accountability partner.
Once you make it a true priority, motivation comes from your atmosphere and the people you surround yourself by.
Sometimes you find yourself truly alone on this path, but that's when you need motivation the most.
I will look at old pictures of myself and see how far I have come on this journey.
As you keep producing results, your inner desire craves more and more.
Strange thing though...the journey never ends!

[Silverback]

I've always had a problem with getting motivated, but never staying motivated once I was there. Typically when I fall off, it's because life gets in the way; work, school, relationships, family, etc.

I took the last two years off from any sort of gym activity due to finishing my degree, and taking on new responsibilities at work. I moved to Austin for a year, then came back. In the end it payed off for me at work. I was promoted, and finally things are back to a normal level where i can get back into the gym 3-4 days a week.

It took a few months of talking about getting back in the gym before I finally took the plunge again. Been at it 6 weeks now, and really what keeps me going back is that pump feeling after a workout. I feel better mentally and physically. I sleep better at night after a workout, I drink less when I do go out once a week.

I think having a good gym partner helps too. I workout with someone who wants to be in the gym everyday, and we work together, so we're usually on the exact same schedule on gym days.

[0 GT 2]

This is why goals are so important. People will rationalize anything (not going to the gym, not hitting that last set, doubling up on rest) so taking the time to actually write out and memorize your goals is key.

Some of mine are weight related (245 clean and jerk by 12/31) and others are for things that I want to do because they seem fun (dunking a basketball by next May (I'm a 6'3" white guy)).

They keep things fun for me and keep me going back to the gym and that's what works for me.

[bjtheman1]

I have a couple pictures of me from 2010-2011, can't believe I ever let myself get that out of shape. They are on my dresser so I see them everyday! That's all I need

[mustang_revival]

motivating

[no4njnk]

Honestly it is a lifestyle change, becomes a habit. But I think too many people do not take the time off to let the body recover. If you are feeling like you don't have it anymore take a week off but be disciplined to come back. This week off not only lets your body recover but also your mind and desire. I try to take off about 2-3 weeks straight once or twice a year where I let myself workout of I want but not for long.

[Scott Mc]

Become single and want to be attractive to 8 level women.