JT wrote:
“I was just reflecting over the past few weeks really in term of my motivation and why I kinda lost it with the gym after the wedding and I quickly realized it was linked to having a goal and the routine going out the window.
So I have been thinking a lot about motivation, goals and all of that. So I have decided that I two goals that I would like to achieve............”
The reason I want to talk about this is that I 100% relate.
My whole life, I have trained, but mostly with a goal in mind.
I'm not an aesthetics guy, so training has always had some kind of performance element to it.
Like JT, and I'm sure many of you on my email list, I started training to support my sport.
My sport was Karate, which I absolutely loved, but I needed something extra to help me be better at Karate.
And when my instructor, the late great Jack Parker uttered that life changing sentence “Dave, you need to get strong” I started to explore the wider reaches of physical culture.
I ran for stamina.
I lifted for strength and power
Both of which I needed for Karate.
Years later, I ran or mountain biked as my main sport as I lived in the Lake District. Once again, lifting helped me feel strong on the climbs and helped me with speed and potentially injuries.
I could go on.
But the gym, or rather my strength training, was always to serve a purpose.
Running and cycling the same, except for when I lived in the mountains when they were an activity in themselves.
So without a goal, why train?
If you're a competitive person (you're reading this, of course you are!) then it's training to compete that drives you.
Lifting or whatever without a goal seems empty.
I have to say, it took me forever to learn to get past this.
So what drives my training now?
Partly habit.
Partly the enjoyment of pushing myself
Partly the release, the opportunity to be an aggressive snarling animal for an hour
And very much for the simple fact that since I am now 47 years old with a list of injuries, if I don't lift and move, my body will deteriorate very quickly.
So for me it's to feel healthy and vital.
Yes, I keep my martial mindset.
I'm protective by nature, so being physically competent is part of that nature.
All of which boils down to the idea of maintaining certain minimum standards.
Minimum standards are the numbers you can hit after rolling out of bed.
Not PR's
Not what you can do after getting hyped up
Not what you can do after a long warm up
It's what you can do now.
Right now.
Maintaining a set of minimum standards has been the best metric to ensure I train right.
And to direct my training.
Any standard that falls behind gets moved to the top of the training pile.
Between this and setting the occasional challenge of a goal to knock off is how I manage myself.
It sidesteps the motivation question
It does require discipline, but actually not that much.
It's simple
Just not easy.
Regards
Dave Hedges
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