I've written many times, year after year, that I'm not a huge New Year's Resolution person. In fact, everyone saying, "I can't wait for 2020 to be over" is like someone saying, "I can't wait for Monday when I can start my diet." Tomorrow will be just the next day... the day after today.
Yes yes, I fully understand the significance of seeing 2020 as the past, the old, the gone but not forgotten. And it gives many people hope to see the new numbers of a new year.
I digress and hope that no matter time of year it is, you continue to grow and not look for the first of the year or the first of the week to start that growth process. But it all got me thinking about motivation.
A couple months ago, I reached out to Paul Oneid for some coaching. I literally said, "I'm in a weird place, my desire to train is slim, I don't know what I want to do, but I do know I want my body to feel good again." He basically said, "I got you."
It was drudgery at first... I was doing the work. Some days I felt great, other days I felt slow and not very energized. Some of the assistance work I hated... but I did it. As the weeks went on, I knew I needed to challenge myself more. Even though my insides said, "Stay at the same weight as last week," I battled against it, picked up the next heavier dumbbells and just did it. No, it didn't always feel great and not every time did I feel accomplished.
You see, in the past, it was easy to get motivated when you went up in weight. It was easy to get excited for the next training session when you saw progress. And here I am, slowly creeping up in weight and I'm not even excited about it.
I should probably just give up.
That probably means this is a terrible training program.
Probably means my coach doesn't know what he's doing.
Probably means I should jump ship after 9 weeks and find a new program.
I mean, I should LOVE training all the time, right?
After 25 years of lifting weights (eek!), it hasn't always been sunshine and motivation. Sometimes, you just have to do the work. Sometimes, you just have to go up in weight because you know you should and you just do it.
I was talking to one of my clients the other day and I said something about bodybuilding shows. She said, "I don't have the food discipline to do that."
I said, "That's fair, it's not for everyone. But when you first started training with me, you came twice a week. And even that was tough. But you did it. And now you're coming 5 times a week... twice with me and 3 times on your own. You already reached a deadlift of 245... if you want to get to 300, will you just stop showing up? No... you'll keep doing the work, even on days you might not feel awesome."
So that's really what this is all about.... CONSISTENCY. Motivation fades. The love of training may come and go. Life stressors may get in the way. Not every day is going to be an RPE 10 day. In fact, some days, I can put in great effort into my main movements before feeling tanked. So don't feel like you always have to go balls out.
Just be consistent. Show up. Do the work.
Happy New Year.