What are your keys to keep motivated to go to the gym?

[whipped guy]

Definitely music when on the stationary bike, treadmill, etc... and definitely classical music.... and upbeat stuff... Vivaldi, Haydn, Mozart, Rossini, Verdi... No Mahler Ninth need be involved...

[nynakedtop]

Simply having a very specific goal (beyond looking good naked) keeps me going day after day....I am working on a 5% drop in body fat: achievable and quantifiable, and ample motivation!

[btmstudnyc]

Mikey, try changing what you say to yourself...

NOT: I SHOULD go to the gym.

SAY: I MUST go to the gym.

 

Make the image of what you desire/expect very clear. Think about it when you get up and as often as possible. The disconnect of what your body looks like in real life and the image of what you desire will motivate you. I think listening to yourself will motivate you. Make a short (3month) and a long term (1 year) goal of where you want to be and decide what needs to happen for you to get there.

 

Is that other "STUFF" really more important than your health? and won't it eventually effect your career if you ignore it?

 

These are all the questions you should ask yourself...they are not rhetorical. Make your mind focus on what you want.

 

Lastly, schedule a photo shoot for new pics of you naked that you will promise to post here. We will all motivate you woofie.

[robberbaron4u]

The garments in my closet are sized 38R, and, my tailor has predeceased me.

[Michael Wayne]

thanks guys! I am back! Have had 3 great workouts since I posted this thread. I feel amazing. I appreciate all the tips and I am incorporating many of them. http://www.rentmen.com/mikeyusatop

[bigvalboy]

thanks guys! I am back! Have had 3 great workouts since I posted this thread. I feel amazing. I appreciate all the tips and I am incorporating many of them. http://www.rentmen.com/mikeyusatop

 

Good for you Mikey. We all hit a wall in our workouts from time to time. Changing things up and mixing up the routine usually reinvigorates you....good luck.

[ErieBear]

Mikey, try changing what you say to yourself...

NOT: I SHOULD go to the gym.

SAY: I MUST go to the gym.

 

Or even better: "I WANT to go to the gym."

[Steven_Draker]

What are your keys to keep motivated to go the gym?

 

Change your routine.

 

Change often.

 

I canceled my membership to my previous gym and joined a larger chain that perfectly meets my needs. I can attend more than 20 different locations in my city.

 

Another tip: join group fitness classes. They're entertaining, high energy and the fact that you exercise in group keeps you motivated and pushing your limits further.

 

My favorite is BODY COMBAT by LesMills. If I miss a class I feel guilty afterwards. It's MY "drug".

 

[video=youtube;JIlIHf5RwcE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JIlIHf5RwcE

 

Since this thread was started:

 

Health and fitness apps are experiencing major growth this year, more so than any other year, according to data from Flurry Analytics. From December of 2013 to June of 2014, apps grew by 33% while health & fitness apps grew by 62%. This is attributed to the growth of devices that now support and help users track their physical activities in addition to independent apps that can perform similar functions.

 

5 Fitness apps that actually get results: http://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/18/health/health-fitness-apps/index.html

[whipped guy]

Well... it's been a year and a half since this thread first appeared and I can honestly say that I have not missed a workout and I am still logging every exercise that I perform with the amount weight, number of sets, and number of reps...As I posted way back then I have been doing that for many years. It is my greatest motivator... In fact I am between bench press sets as I type and was just doing a quickie check to see what was transpiring in the forum... gotta run!

[Epigonos]

1. My bathroom scale

2. My bathroom mirror

[gallahadesquire]

1. My bathroom scale

2. My bathroom mirror

 

Oh yes!

[gallahadesquire]

Oh yes!

 

Also, my package of 12 sessions with the personal trainer a month. That does not come cheap. Plus water walking makes me feel so good just being upright for an hour to an hour and a half every day

[adriano46]

Also, my package of 12 sessions with the personal trainer a month. That does not come cheap. Plus water walking makes me feel so good just being upright for an hour to an hour and a half every day

 

Yes, personal trainers (if you can afford them) are very good for inspiration and coaching, but have to be supplemented with getting out of the chair and walking, or riding a bike or something on the days now training with them, and making some dietary changes.

[whipped guy]

While I can totally understand the need and benefits of hiring a personal trainer, I personally never felt the need for one. Yes, they are very knowledgable and in speaking with several over the years some have given me valuable training and nutrition tips. Still it was nothing that I could not have learned from reading a book or checking online.

 

Furthermore, quite a few guys who have worked with trainers usually show up at the gym and then are couch potatoes for the rest of the week. To me that seems like a total waste of time and resources. I have seen more than a few guys "train" for years with meager results. Still, for others they are the required motivation and at least three friends have made miraculous transformations with the help of a personal trainer. Of course the fact that one of those guys was literally in lust with his trainer certainly helped with his being quite motivated. When the lust was not returned he realized that he had made so many lifestyle changes that he ultimately did not need (and probably never needed) a trainer to continue his march to a healthier existence. Still, it was his lust that got him motivated and in the final analysis all turned out well. Incidentally, I did meet the trainer and he was hot... and possibly bi if not gay. I do think he knew my friend had a thing for him and was stringing him along a bit... at least for a while just to get his business.

 

So the bottom line is this: if you need a trainer to be your inspiration (and for whatever reason) and the only way you will hop off the couch then by all means go for it... but you need to follow through with his advice and that means lifestyle changes as well. One those changes happen (no matter what the impetus) there's no looking back!

[MFLV]

The mirror !

[marylander1940]

1. My bathroom scale

2. My bathroom mirror

 

yes... and been able to have sex too.

 

http://galleryplus.ebayimg.com/ws/web/261065226352_1_0_1/1000x1000.jpg

 

http://i.imgur.com/1Hh6VAH.gif

[Epigonos]

Whipped guy I agree totally. In my wasted youth (30’s) I went the full body building route. I didn’t use a personal trainer then and have never seen the need for one since. For me, at least, it has always been a matter of self-motivation. My scale and my mirror have always been sufficient motivators to get me off my lazy ass and into the gym.

 

With that said I can certainly understand that for some the idea of paying someone to make up workouts and encourage one during workouts is a necessary motivator. It just wasn’t ever necessary in my case.

[Rudynate]

Seriously guys?? I have been a gym rat for the last 20 years. I mean totally dedicated so much so that most folk at my gyms have always thought I was some kind of trainer. Lately though I find that my 4 day a week routine has been cut to one day with all the travel, family stuff etc. I also used to train with my bf and now that I am single I find there is alot more STUFF to do. No one else has noticed a change in my body but I can tell the difference. It is hard for a pro to keep motivated when you constantly hear from clients what great shape you are in! lol! Perhaps 20 years of hard training has residual effects and gives you a grace period but I know it wont last long. http://www.rentmen.com/mikeyusatop

 

I don't have much difficulty getting to the gym - I'm a gym rat who, if anything, has to discipline himself not to spend too much time at the gym. In the last year and a half, I've been giving myself more structure, in the form of definite goals with definite dates. I also have been buying professionally-designed programs from my favorite muscle jocks. Last summer, I participated in a 12-week mentoring program with Shawn Phillips. Early this year, I did a couple of Steven Holman's programs. This past summer I did a transformation sponsored by Mike Matthews. A month ago, I started one of Jim Stoppani's programs. These programs cost nearly nothing, far less than a trainer, and, if anything, produce a better result because they have definite end points, making it easier to stay motivated for the 12 weeks or so of the program.

[adriano46]

So the bottom line is this: if you need a trainer to be your inspiration (and for whatever reason) and the only way you will hop off the couch then by all means go for it... but you need to follow through with his advice and that means lifestyle changes as well. One those changes happen (no matter what the impetus) there's no looking back!

 

Whipped guy, years back I joined a health club (gym is an understatement as it was an enormous structure with 5 different ROOMS for exercises, weight lifting, and dozens and dozens of machines to work on, a full Olympic-sized swimming pool, and for men and women (separately) Turkish and Finnish saunas. It was a place I enjoyed going to 4-6 x week and lost a lot of weight "on my own."

 

Now older and heavier after changing cities and moving away from that gym (and after not really exercising and becoming that couch potato), I needed someone or something to not only motivate me but hold me accountable. I found - after a bit of research - a studio right up my alley. The trainers are all excellent; they take copious notes, each client has a pretty thick file that the trainers review before and after each session; they take time to speak with each client about his/her eating habits, cardio (when not in the studio), and lifestyle. That the 4 male trainers I have met all are easy on the eyes helps but aside from that, no... my Gaydar is not telling me one or another is interested (well.... maybe one....). In a few weeks I have lost a notch on my belt, lost a lot of excess flab on my butt and haunches, and see my chest reconfigured with some actual muscle instead of man-boobs, as well as actually seeing for the first time in years biceps and triceps instead of flabby upper arms. Yes I have a way to go, but these 2x/week meetings with follow-up e-mails and conversations have motivated me.

 

I am one who "needed a trainer to be (my) inspiration" and already see definite changes and hope they continue. It is expensive (upwards of $75/session) but well worth it. On the down side, this would be excess money I had saved that would have been used for hiring, but I am motivated to make the change in my weight, body and life so that - down the road - the sex will be (fingers crossed) oh so much better! And isn't THAT a great motivator???