How to get the motivation back?

[Feraligatr]

So before covid I was bodybuilding, super lean and fit. But due to covid and a knee reconstruction I've gone from 65kg to 90kg.

Anyway, I've been getting back into the gym but I've got no motivation, I just do a few different weight exercises without any real conviction.

I've kinda just stopped weight lifting and doing 30 minutes cardio a day now.

Does anyone have any tips on to how to get my head back into the game?

 

[Milpool]

Motivation will always come and go, you need discipline instead. Just keep showing up and it'll get there.

 

[M Malice]

DO! Don't think.

 

[Required]

So before covid I was bodybuilding, super lean and fit. But due to covid and a knee reconstruction I've gone from 65kg to 90kg.

Anyway, I've been getting back into the gym but I've got no motivation, I just do a few different weight exercises without any real conviction.

I've kinda just stopped weight lifting and doing 30 minutes cardio a day now.

Does anyone have any tips on to how to get my head back into the game?

Thats a bit vague..

You want to get your head back into; actually playing? Weight training? Exercise in general?

Alcohol is often associated people gaining weight. Beer is worst. spirits and coke 2nd worst. It will undermine everything one does if one dosent severely limit it

Weight loss is the issue that requires your attention 1st as it will effect everything you are trying to achieve. Its also the easiest. GO ON A LOW CARB DIET. Its the easiest diet you will ever go on, if you do your research and put aside time to prepare (keep it interesting) Remember. Weight loss is 80% diet, and 20% exercise. Exercise will also speed your metabolism.

Loosing weight becomes a self fulfilling prophecy as it will improve you in other areas ie; self esteem, ability to perform and exercise better, hence change mindset.

(You dont have to just slum it eating steak, bacon and eggs, Nandos chicken and lamb roasts... You can get near zero-carb ice cream, chocolate bars, and a heap of other 'sweet' stuff for when you feel like dropping off the wagon.)

Get off the mental ups and downs rollercoaster of the 'normal' high carb diet..

.

 

[Mofra]

Set really really really small goals. You'll find yourself hitting then easily for a few weeks, then you'll naturally want to increase them

 

[La Dispute]

Set yourself a routine and stick to it, the results will come provided you don’t deviate off it.

You’ll also never get to the end of a workout and regret it, but you will regret skipping a workout.

 

[Mesc]

Organize a schedule with a mate. I found this is vital for keeping the motivation up cause you dont want to let each other down.

 

[raskolnikov]

Have you considered CrossFit?

 

[raskolnikov]

I'm only half joking. I found that the CrossFit community gives me the motivation to attend much more than working out on my own in the gym.

 

[BallaratBulldog]

I got to a major goal of getting my weight loss to a certain heathy point and then lost motivation because I didn’t have another goal. Going to change tactitic to remove with the intention of losing further fat by replacing with muscle/strength I just need to quantify it I guess. So I agree with having clear goals and milestones.

 

[k31th]

Cager Macleod - just join me, I seemingly have infinite motivation to go the gym haha

 

[Rankine2Rachele]

I wish I knew. I’ve never been anything but sporadic at best. I just can’t seem to find a way to push through and do more than that, even with minuscule tiny goals to push for - my brain and body just won’t cooperate and just do it.

 

[kickazz]

Set really really really small goals. You'll find yourself hitting then easily for a few weeks, then you'll naturally want to increase them

Agree with this.

OP it seems to get back to where you were is a big stretch now and probably a little overwhelming. Set a small goal (perhaps completing couch to 5K, or to be able to do weights at x% of what you used to, take 5cm off the waist, etc) and plan time to "just do something".

Short term, your motivation need be nothing more than "I'm a runner" or "I go to the gym 3 times a week" or "I walk the dogs every morning" - as in, that is now who you are, you are not someone who is overwhelmed and doing nothing.

Then after four weeks or so, see how you feel about things and what you want to do and why. By starting off even just doing a little bit you already elevate yourself above, I dunno, 50% of the slobs out there that do nothing, and you'll feel good about that.

 

[go you pups]

I was in a rut in autumn last year

I had a hip flexor issue over Xmas that I got on top of towards the end of February/March through changing physios and getting back to a strength focused approach.

I dove back into the thick of it too quickly however to make up for my lost summer months, so I was ok for a few weeks in March/April, but by the end of April and most of May it was a big struggle, only trained like twice a week only making sure I did my rehab stuff and bibs and bobs, but my normal hypertrophy and cardio routine I cbf with at that time and I felt like I was getting no benefit at all.

In June I changed my mindset, set small goals for myself for that week, month, across winter etc, strength is my main goal, so I stuck with my rehab exercises for the hip/lower back, but I resumed my strength training with an upper lower split every 2-3 days 30-40 minutes mainly compound exercises light deadlifts, light squats, light presses/rows/pulldowns etc, no more than 3-4 exercises a session (would do 6-7 sessions a fortnight) and made sure I went for a half hour walk on my days off, ended up progressing to 4 days a week 45-60 min a session bro split that I was accustomed to come mid July and I absolutely smashed it out through lockdown in that August-September period and did a PR bench on Xmas eve and built my sumo deadlift up too which is my main rehab strength exercise. (I have a home gym thankfully to take advantage of)

Routine helps bigtime I find for me, it helps get through them ruts, if you're not feeling up for it or have plateaued with a normal sort of workout, then change it up, be it exercise selection or change the volume/intensity/frequency, the rut might be the body needs a rest, so an active deload could help where we'd back off on the volume and intensity for a week or 2 before ramping it up again. At the moment I find I'm gravitating towards kettlebells a lot more for accessory work and it does change it up significantly compared to the normal dumbbell/machine stuff I'd normally do in the past for accessories as kettlebells require alot more core stability/activation and I reckon they get the heart rate up a lot more too, so hopefully I'm getting a bit of overlap too there, be it core strength/cardio benefits.

But at the end of the day be it training at home or my local, I try to keep to the basics and base my training around the barbells for my main compounds (Sumo DL, BBR, OHP, Squat, Bench) but come accessories changing it up every so often helps keep it interesting. The last 2 weeks for me has been interrupted by a viral chest infection and gastro, the last 17 or so days I've only trained 6 times, compared to about 10-11 I'd squeeze in normally, having had spells of 3 days off and 5 days off, so when I got back into gym on Sunday after 5 days off with gastro, I went straight for a light upper routine, I didn't have the best workout but I got it in, last night was a lower session and I grinded through my deadlifts, wasn't great but I got them in, then I smashed the kettlebells for 15 minutes afterwards, the kettlebell routine was exactly what I needed and I went back to upper tonight for shoulders and arms and smashed it out, so I feel back on track now and hopefully have a good squat session on Friday.

What you will need to do is workout what your overall fitness goal will be then work from there, do you like cardio more, strength more, is it your physique you value most? It sounds like you're getting some cardio in which is a start, but you definitely need some sort of resistance training, previously what did you prefer? Did you bro split, do full body routines/upper-lower, free weights or machines etc? All these variables will add up to working out what sort of training plan to get you back into it.

 

[phantom13]

Motivation will always come and go, you need discipline instead. Just keep showing up and it'll get there.

This.

Energy and movement begets more energy and movement. Even on days where you dont want to just grit your teeth and get through it, eventually it becomes routine and you cant imagine life without it (within reason obviously, dont injure yourself).

 

[Alberto_Magnifico]

I have to agree that discipline is the key to motivation. The Nike slogan "just do it" is actually pretty intelligent.
For me maintaining discipline has been realising consistency > intensity. Just get out there and do something, if your having and off day set expectations low, have a "light" day in the gym, a slow run/ride, do something that to makes you smile.

Overcoming the mental hurdle can have you feeling pumped even if the workout itself doesn't.

 

[kickazz]

I have to agree that discipline is the key to motivation. The Nike slogan "just do it" is actually pretty intelligent.
For me maintaining discipline has been realising consistency > intensity. Just get out there and do something, if your having and off day set expectations low, have a "light" day in the gym, a slow run/ride, do something that to makes you smile.

Overcoming the mental hurdle can have you feeling pumped even if the workout itself doesn't.

Yeah even with non exercise related things that one tends to put off, starting with the intention of doing anything, no matter how small, helps.

More often than not, putting the sneakers on for a short walk will lead to a run. And if it doesn't, that's fine you at least got out there

 

[Alberto_Magnifico]

Yeah even with non exercise related things that one tends to put off, starting with the intention of doing anything, no matter how small, helps.

More often than not, putting the sneakers on for a short walk will lead to a run. And if it doesn't, that's fine you at least got out there

100% can relate on both points.
Point one I need at work all the time.

 

[Kram]

This.

Energy and movement begets more energy and movement. Even on days where you dont want to just grit your teeth and get through it, eventually it becomes routine and you cant imagine life without it (within reason obviously, dont injure yourself).

I had some minor surgery late last week so I can't do much for a little bit but it just feels weird and kind of annoying not being able to do my regular exercise. It's just something I 'do' these days, only motivation comes in how hard you are gonna go.

Was never like that when I was younger though, feels like a waste now.

 

[phantom13]

I had some minor surgery late last week so I can't do much for a little bit but it just feels weird and kind of annoying not being able to do my regular exercise. It's just something I 'do' these days, only motivation comes in how hard you are gonna go.

Was never like that when I was younger though, feels like a waste now.

Yeh I get it. I ruptured my Achilles 13 weeks ago, I’m 12 weeks post surgery. 4-5 weeks post surgery I was allowed to start exercising again and I just didn’t want to at all.

 

[Alberto_Magnifico]

A ruptured Achilles really doesn't sound pleasant at all. Like hey what would you do to him? Yeh f** him, I'm gonna rupcha the **ts Achilles.
Pretty sure Guy Ritchie could write a script about it.

 

[phantom13]

A ruptured Achilles really doesn't sound pleasant at all. Like hey what would you do to him? Yeh f** him, I'm gonna rupcha the **ts Achilles.
Pretty sure Guy Ritchie could write a script about it.

Yeh it sucks. I wouldn’t recommend it, worst part is the recovery time is like 12-18 months so I won’t be back to “normal” for ages

 

[Kram]

Haven't really had a bad injury in my life, dislocated finger and another sprain that took a couple of weeks to go down is about the worse it's got.

Must be very lucky.

 

[phantom13]

Haven't really had a bad injury in my life, dislocated finger and another sprain that took a couple of weeks to go down is about the worse it's got.

Must be very lucky.

25 ish years of footy, mma and ocr at a reasonably high level, I’ve had broken neck, broken hand and fingers, few concussions, some minor soft tissue stuff and a broken ankle then the Achilles. I consider myself reasonably lucky but the Achilles at 35 is the end of my playing days.

 

[Alberto_Magnifico]

Worst I have done is drunkenly shimmy to the top of a goal post and fall, somehow all I managed was a broken tibia, how I didn't end up with far worse I don't know, I even walked home 2km that night.
Even still, 3 months of a cast and several months of recovery, really makes you appreciate good health when you get it back.