Hello T-people. I am in need of assistance. I would like to know what you all do for motivation when you get off track on your program. I finished up a monster diet phase a few weeks back, and I started Poliquin’s first phase of Maximal Weights. The first two 5-day cycles went great, but I started getting a sort of burning pain (like a muscle pull feels) around the posterior chain. I figure it was due to doing squats and deads in the same leg workout, plus it’s been a while since I’ve taken any real time off (over 20 weeks). I haven’t trained since Saturday and the week before I took a couple extra rest days. The injury is better and I am slated to train tomorrow but I’ve really gotten off track on my diet and have no motivation to get back in the game. Has anyone else gone through this? It usually happens to me at least once a year. It doesn’t help matters any that I’ve moved to a new town (much smaller one) w. no gym so most of my workouts rely on my home equipment (power rack, Power Block dumbbells, Olympic Weights and two swiss balls). I’m really unhappy where I’m at and if I can’t get back into lifting I’m gonna go nuts here. Any suggestions appreciated.
Teddy…hey, buddy. I’m not sure if my suggestions or advice will be all that superior or even valid for that matter. But given the fact that you’re one helluva T-Brother and have done one helluva job in helping me and so many others out up in this hizhouse, I feel that I owe it to you to get your ass jacked up.
To tell you the truth, it sounds like you're ready to rumble. You've taken a few extra days of rest and realized where you're at and where you belong. You've busted your balls for a long time, big guy--20 weeks of balls-to-the-wall training in an under-nutritioned state is not easy on the bod. If you recall, a few weeks back I posted saying that I just had one of the worst workouts ever and I didn't know where to go. You and a couple other guys advised me to take a few days off. Against my better judgement and fear of losing ground, I did take a few days. I came back more focused and energetic than ever. I may have been a little off, but my mind was back into it and my body was refreshed.
At this point, Teddy, I think what I’ve spit out is just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo that I’ve pieced together. It really doesn’t mean a damn thing. What’s critical is that you are ready and willing to get back into things. I mean, you’re not pleased with the fact that things have gone off course, so what can you do? You can check yourself at the door and make the necessary adjustments. Don’t let the past couple days bother you. If anything, use them to motivate yourself. Think about how you feel now, and think about how you feel when you’re busting ass training and eating the way you see fit. If you still can’t get back into it, do it for me, baby, do it for the T-Men. You have come way too far, know way too damn much and have contributed a plethora to my training/nutrition and so many others…we don’t want to see ya down, big dawg. So put some jams in the ol’ music machine, get your ass jacked, and do it for yourself…do it for the T-Men…do it for the Honeys…I think you get the point, bro.
Well, if I’m already training and I really can’t be buggered to do the last few sets, I do like Timbo said and do it for the T-Folk out there. It’s as if me doing those last few sets and reps will keep me in the T-Clan. Otherwise, I should go home, put on a friggen’ dress and watch the Welsh over-80 Speed Knitting Championships…!
My other tip, which may not be feasible in your position, is to let the honies be your motivation. I’ve found it works best if you don’t get a load off for a couple of weeks, so basically your balls are about the size water-mellons, and you NEED to get a load off!!! Put yourself in a sexually deprived state (the unused sexual energy helps my lifting too), and then go out hunting for ripe, young chicks that just “ooze” sex-appeal. Now, you WILL feel the need to do something irrational (such as offering to physically examine her tight ass for abnormalities, and doing it regardless of her answer), but you’ll think better of it and walk away so frustrated you wanna scream and yell and generally break stuff. Then, you fall back on the knowledge that all hot girls worship guys with a ton of muscle and zero bodyfat (deep down it’s what we all wanna believe… [grin] ), so to get that way, to get that lush gal, you have to go the gym, containing that pent-up H-Bomb-like energy, load up the bar, AND LIFT LIKE YOU’VE NEVER LIFTED BEFORE!!!
You’ll pull faces like crazy, SCREAM like a mad bastard, bust your personal bests, 'cos you’re convinced that by absolutely massacring your body in the gym will eventually lead to getting that ripe, young (and probably very willing) chick!
Works for me…
Hey Timbo, good to hear from u. I almost didn’t post this question because I felt so guilty. “Practice what you preach,” you know. I appreciate your pep talk. I’ve just really been in a funk the last two weeks. A lot of it is due to depression-when I get depressed, I eat, A LOT. I hate my new town-there is nothing to do here. I hate my job. I even miss the crappy gym from my hometown (YMCA) so you know how bad things must be. I’m a bartender now and it is really depressing seeing so many people that come in almost every night and just drink themselves into a stupor. Not to mention all the flak I get from customers if I mix up a protein shake at the bar. At least when I was with GNC back home I got to deal with people who were into getting in shape. I just ordered my training certification course materials from ISSA so hopefully this will keep me focused for a while. I just wish I would’ve been into this when I was still in college so I could’ve pursued a four year degree. I guess I’m going to have to move to a bigger city and get hooked up w. a real gym, not to mention being around people that are into “the lifestyle.”
Great! You’ve moved to a small town that probably has next to 0 body builders. Take advantage of it and crank it out that much harder. You should have the “buff” advantage when grabbing small town chicks (small town chicks are simple minded and still prefer muscle over money (at least for a banging partner).
Thanks for the suggestions T-Men. I was expecting to get totally flamed since this was a rather stupid question but I’m desperate. Yeah, there’s no other lifters that I know of-that’s half the reason I spend so much damn time on this forum. Doing it for the ladies is definitely a valid reason, but I have yet to see any worthwhile “scenery” up here to make it a motivating factor. Most every woman I’ve seen here smokes and drinks, and I can’t stand that. Something I just remembered though-my ten year class reunion is this summer and I definitely want to turn some heads, particularly since I used to get made fun of back in high school for having a bit of a gut.
Take Power Drive oooh yeah!!! Yes I just took some an hour ago!
Teddy, you’re right on track, baby. You know it. I can feel it in ya, dawg. I’ve never been to NE and I’m not real familiar with small-small town life, but I gotta imagine–playing high school ball in some little hick towns with gyms in the middle of cornfields–that the female population may not be the best route to go for motivation. Hell, you could be driving around searching and end up taking another whole off week! And, basically, I don’t want to see that. Boy, you’ve busted your ass way, way too hard to get down on yourself. So you’ve had a bad week…get stoked, my friend, feel the synergy up in here, blast the jams…hell, you’re training at home, no ones watching, just go buck-friggin wild, my man! I’m not saying train naked (that’d be pretty damn wild) or scream and yell and do things way out of character. Just have yourself a grand time. If you still can’t muster up the levels of intensity, motivation and enthusiasm that you’d like…then I have to say, do it for me, bro, do it for all the other guys you’ve helped out up in here. Teddy, you’re one helluva a T-Bro and I hate to hear that you’re down (but you are not out). Man, I’ll even give you my digits if you want to give me a jingle! I want you back in the thick of things and busting your ass again.
BTW, that's great that you're pursuing the ISSA certification. It is one of the few out there that I think is really worthwhile, from the standpoint of this lifestyle. I have read the majority of the manual and I think it's terrific. Another awesome thing is it's written by powerlifters, bodybuilders and a bunch of really experienced guys who aren't blowing a bunch of nonesense out their ears. Good luck, Teddy. Seriously, we're here for ya, baby. You're not gonna get burnt...I've got nothing but love for ya...I'm here to jack yo ass up!
I don’t know if any of my fellow T-men are cowboys, but go rent the movie 8 seconds. There is a siene when Luke Perry(lane frost) is thinking about quiting. Tuff tells him he ought to because it would be great to be able to sit at home like regular people doing regular things. And when you are on your death bed one question you will keep asking yourself, Could I have been the best? So quit and be regular and live the rest of your life wondering what could have been. I have two words for you, COWBOY UP!
Even if you aren’t a redneck, it still is something for everyone to think about. So in out case T-MAN UP!
You know way too much to let it go to waist bro!
Thanks Timbo. I was getting a little stale myself and very frustrated. My last week absolutely sucked in the gym. Every workout felt like hell and I found myself looking for any excuse I could find to bail. Then I read your post for Teddy this morning and started thinking about why I do it. Chicks? Looking good? Feeling healthy? Feeling great. I just got finfished my best workout in more than a week. I blasted my arms, got a great pump, and feel like a million bucks. All because I remebered that I love the feeling and satisfaction I get when I squeeze out the extra rep, do the extra set, or grab the bigger dumbbell from the rack and power though it. Thanks Timbo. And good luck Teddy. I have all the confidence in the world that you’ll make it.
J…yeah, dawg, you da man, you da man…don’t let anybody tell you different. Now you remember today, you remember how much ass you kicked, how friggin’ pumped your pipes felt. Yeah, flex right now and savor the flavor. Now, don’t ever fall into a hole…you gotta catch yourself slipping. Or else, in the words of my man DMX, you’ll be slippin’ and fallin’ and won’t be able to get up. Feel the synergy, baby, feel and ride the wave. It’s all in the mind. BTW, way to go in and kick some ass.
If my workouts are going bad and there is not a physical problem – i.e. injuries – I usually just take a couple of days off and get extra sleep, plus increase my fat intake for a couple of days. If I eat low-fat for too long – eventually I get cranky and sluggish – so a couple of days gorging on fast food and junk brings me back to normalcy.
And if the workouts are going bad because of an injury, I try to workout the other non-affected parts of my body. I once had a bad forearm injury combined with some nerve damage in my left arm. Couldn’t do much any upper-body at all – was really demotivating. So did nothing but leg workouts for 8 weeks.
But more than anything, I motivate myself on an ongoing basis by knowing that as I get bigger and stronger, I know I look better to others, and it directly relates back to my increased ability to find sexpartners. Maybe I'm a pig -but that has a lot to do with my internal drive at the gym. Especially when I have had a "successful" encounter with someone unbelievably hot -- and I know it likely wouldn't have happened unles I was big/muscular -- because face it -- there is a lot of competition out there.
Teddy - it just struck me that there’s quite a few things that are bothering your position in life that I would say NEED to be fixed before you’ll be properly primed for max performance in the gym. It’s a great start getting all that stuff sent out to you (sorry, don’t know much about it, but it seems to be a step forward for you), and like you said, you gotta move to a bigger town. I’ve been studk in a small town out in the middle of friggen’ Australia for 7 months before I’d had enough and had to move. The only ones I had to impress out there were a bunch of kangaroos and the odd wombat, but they were never real impressed or too inclined to put out… [grin/shrug]
Good point, Mark. Only problem is that I can’t just pick up and leave (yet, anyway). I’ve pretty much decided that once my lease is up, I’m either going to look for a job back home, or if I get my certification by then, I’m going to send a resume to some of the gyms. Ideally I could do this back in my hometown, but there’s virtually no demand for trainers. My former training partner is certified through the same organization and she is set up with one of the local gyms where she only gets $10/hr, and she has a hard time getting that as people say they can’t afford that. Anyway, thanks for the input.