Motivating yourself to train

This is an area which continues to intrigue me. I want to throw a few ideas and concepts out there which have allowed me to stay motivated about exercise as well as motivate my clients to achieving more from the whole personal training experience.

Everyone has their own personal relationship with exercise, nutrition and health. Most people are aware that all three should play an important part in their lives but just don't seem to be able to apply them. For many novices, this is because they wouldn't know where to start, and for existing exercisers, they are scared of changing their existing routine which they know isn't great but  it is not making them any worse.

These are all things which I hear as I take on new clients. Most people that contact me these days have heard or read about the specific type of results I achieve over a short period of time and the thought of shorter workouts, minimal cardio, simple diet changes and spot reduction on body fat is a far more appealing approach compared to what they are currently doing…say 3 long runs a week with little or no results for the last 6 months! Sound familiar? If so, today is going to be a good day!

Motivation is the glue that keeps your quest of looking and feeling better on track. Without it, the most convenient and best equipped gym facilities are worth diddly squat! It is essential that in your mind you have established why you are getting up earlier to go to the gym, why you are drinking less at the weekend and why you are making better food choices. These are all things I have dealt with over the last 15 years of my own training and now have a clear idea of what motivates me to continue to take it to the next level.

The first point to make about starting the change process is to visualise the end result. Based on the majority of the feedback I have heard over the last 9 years, shorter workouts, not having to run everyday, following a results driven programme personalised to your body type and focussed specifically on fat reduction is all music to the average clients ears. It does however take more than a few fancy pep talks from me to actually get the ball rolling with all this.

Quite simply, it is my job to show my clients that you don't have to spend your life in the gym, in fact, I quite often cut down the overall volume of their training because most of what they are doing is of no benefit to their bodytype. I'll take it one stage further and say that not only are you going to train less,

you are actually going to see results! Results in my opinion are based on you being noticeably leaner with better muscular definition on a week by week basis!

Does a routine which involves overall less exercise and visible results on a weekly basis appeal to you? There is a big difference between understanding what should happen if you follow a certain programme and actually making changes and seeing them work on you. This is the greatest motivator of them all. Taking the time to learn a concept and apply it on yourself with success is incredibly satisfying and motivating.

Achieving results is addictive and it is my job to coach you towards creating your own internal motivation for ongoing training which we all know means better results. Once you have proved to yourself that making gains is not an impossible task, you will have that inbuilt motivation for life. Before you know it, you are taking an interest in which foods will help speed up your results and what is the next stage of the exercise programme.

My goal is to coach every client of mine to this place where they take responsibility themselves. This is when people starting dropping 1% of bodyfat a week and find people continually complementing you on your physique. Everything mentioned so far in this short intro to motivation has all been based around getting the ball rolling and creating a habit around the new leaner, stronger and heather you. Staying motivated is stage 2.

I have found that several factors influence my ongoing motivation to train and get results. Everything from how friendly the gym staff are, the music being played, the layout of the gym, meeting a role model, how effective the mirrors in the gym and changing rooms are at making you look great, how confident you remember feeling when you were in better shape heading for a night out, the community atmosphere within the training environment, how you felt smashing your personal best completing a half marathon and the dramatic increase of confidence and pro activity which positively affected every area of your life.

It is incredibly important that you understand what makes you tick when it comes to going to the gym. Simply turing up and deciding what to do as you get changed is not quite what we are looking for. This is where a good personal trainer comes in.  Providing structure, realistic goals, being a role model and offering ongoing motivation are all essential in achieving maximum results.

Written by Dave Fletcher – Feb 2011

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