The retired former unified heavyweight champion of the world Wladimir Klitschko once said that motivation comes and goes but discipline always remains. I believe this to be true for all students of the iron game.
Likewise another sporting legend former Liverpool FC manager the great Bill Shankly once stated that football is a simple game, complicated by idiots. Again, he could have been talking about gym training.
To address the first quote motivation does indeed come and go and that includes all athletes at all levels, that’s life (we have to acknowledge that) and as a famous character once said “nobody hits harder than life” there’s going to be times when we inevitably struggle.
Most of us are familiar with the saying “make hay while the Sun shines” and it perfectly expresses the desire make the most of our time in the gym when levels of motivation are shining through every set and rep. But what do we do when our levels of motivation take a dip and that bright, warm Sun is momentarily hidden behind a dark menacing looking cloud?
Well, this is where discipline comes in, having the ability to deny yourself an easy excuse not to train and act on what you believe and not on how you’re feeling that particular day.
You believe in the benefits of pushing your physical and mental boundaries regularly, so that is what you do, emotion in this context doesn’t come into it. But a dip in motivation often leads us on a journey to find it and more often than not, we tend to go online, social media in particular which brings me nicely on to our second quote.
Without wishing to sound too critical, bodybuilding is simplicity itself as I‘ve eluded to many times in previous articles but can often be over complicated by people who should know better and others who should really know their own body better before offering potentially influencing advices.
Too much complication can often be a conscious or subconscious attempt by the author to establish themselves as an “authority” in order to pull people in for personal gratification (think social media ‘guru’s); in fact all it does is distance those who need motivating the most because of the confusion created on topics that don’t resonate with the heart of the problem.
You see when you address the heart of the problem, it generates new thought patterns and new thought patterns spill over to the way we talk and the way we act. This is what makes the difference!
What do I believe to be the heart of the problem? I think in recent times there’s been an emphasis (arguably commercial) on doing things differently and not necessarily better. This translates to all aspects of bodybuilding that include training, diet, supplementation, rest and recovery.
So for starters my advice is to get back to basics, rediscover and master the fundamentals that served you so well in the past, drifting away from these will always diminish levels of motivation.
As dedicated trainers (bodybuilders in particular) we should be more concerned with achieving muscle overload using basic, fundamental free weight movements, rather than breaking our concentration looking at our phones or even going to the lengths of regularly filming ourselves.
We should also be focusing more on consuming 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight daily than the latest commercial fad to hit the market, I could go on but if you feel like you need some additional inspiration to straighten out your thinking then I highly recommend listening to the series of blueprints by Arnold Schwarzenegger that can be found on YouTube.
I must confess Arnold has always been my “go to” when I need motivating, this is a man who even in his 70’s still talks directly from the heart to your heart and his ability to communicate points demonstrates his great knowledge and his passion is contagious.
Again this will then positively influence your thinking which inevitably filters down into action further underlining your beliefs and strengthening your discipline.
Why not give it a go and have it playing in the background while you work (if possible)? Have a good motivational feed, you’ll be better off for it. But in the meantime concentrate on cultivating a character of discipline. Having your actions fuelled by what you believe rather than how you are feeling is an absolute must if you’re to achieve your true potential.
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