One of the greatest hurtles of training is staying motivated. As a competitive athlete I always had a goal. When I fought, I fought a lot. I went from one training camp to another for over 15 years. I always had somebody somewhere thinking about hurting me bad. This kept me in the gym doing what I thought I had to to stay on top of my game. Now I don’t have as many people trying to knock my head off, so where is the motivation?
Motivation to go kill myself in the gym just doesn’t exist anymore. Once I get going the killer instinct kicks in but the motivation to get going is the hard part. How do we sustain the motivation to train, eat right, and live a healthy lifestyle? If we don’t have some kind of event to get ready for, where is the inspiration? Some people have life altering experiences where they value their life so much that they will do anything to stay healthy. For the rest of us who haven’t had the heart attack, cancer, etc….. scare, what do we do?
The answer is sustainable and achievable goals. Fads and outrageous challenges will not get us anywhere we can maintain. Balance your fuel, rest, training, work, and stress to find what you can and cannot do. If you work 60 hours a week you probably won’t be running the ironman next year. If you have a job, kids, wife, and a complicated domestic situation, you won’t be training 2 to 3 times a day. Be real about what you can achieve and what you want to achieve.
Training at an extreme level was great but it was taxing. I was always hurt and always tired. The best I ever felt was the week after a fight. Then it was back to the grind. The only real breaks I took were because of my knee surgeries and assorted major issues that flared up in everything from my shoulders to my neck, back, hips, and more…. I don’t want to live like that anymore. I don’t think anyone can live like that for that long.
If you want to fight in the UFC and be a professional, you have to be prepared for the above paragraph. Long, hard days ahead for you with lots of fatigue, nagging issues, and hard living. If you want to enhance your existence and simply be better, you have to train appropriately to your goals. Don’t do the GSP workout, do the workout that makes you a champion in your world not somebody else’s.
Unless you are a morning person don’t start getting up at 5 am to train. If you are used to eating a mix of foods , don’t go on a crazy restrictive diet overnight. You have to start setting small goals that will lead towards a more positive pattern. If you go from one way to a complete lifestyle change overnight, you will be back to your old ways before you know it. Work with your habits not against them. We are creatures of habit and it takes time to change.
Be real about what you want out of your life. See where you are and where you want to be, then work towards it one step at a time. Take your time getting to sustainable healthy living. If you do it right you will do it for the rest of your days instead of just a handful.
Don’t know how to do it? Come see me. I have the plan and we can get there together.
Brian Wright
Real Elite
www.realelitetraining.com