9 Years as a Gym Rat — Why Motivation Should Go Hand in Hand With Hard Work
Tags: Motivation, Workout, Training, Gym, Fitness

9 Years as a Gym Rat — Why Motivation Should Go Hand in Hand With Hard Work LM Dec 30, 2021·3 min read

Photo by Victor Freitas on Unsplash

The 2nd of January is coming. It’s marking the 9th anniversary of my first significant training effort.

My New Year’s resolve in December 2012 was to start going to the gym. I was a frail young man who was not into sports.

It’s remarked that training alone is difficult; you need a partner to keep you motivated. But I trained alone for those nine years. How did I make it through those nine years? To be honest, it isn’t that difficult. It’s become a habit that I can’t break. Sport is good for you and gives you strength, which is why I began training in the first place.

Motivation played a small role in my life. I knew that going to the gym 3 or 4 times a week would not be easy, but I did it. I stuck to the principle — think less, do more. I knew I wanted to be strong and the only way to do that was by training.

The more you think, the more likely you are not to go to the gym. You have to promise yourself — I’m going to do it — and stick to your promise. Because your body will thank you.

Motivation alone won’t make you successful

We all know that feeling when your head is full of ideas and hopes for the future. You’re ready to experiment and do your best to reach your goal.

Yet, these feelings fade with time. Other interests and other goals emerge. You no longer have the time to train or you have to force yourself to do it. If this is the case, then training is not for you at all. To achieve your goals, you need to go to the gym. It must become an integral part of your life.

Hard work is the key to success

When motivation is low, you need to keep going. Sometimes I was too lazy to go to the gym, but I went because I had to. You have to do something not because you want to, but because you have to.

That’s life. We go to work not because we want to, but because we need the money. If you want to be healthy and strong, you have to exercise. You get tired of doing a lot of things, but the key is to stick with it no matter what.

If I didn’t like fitness, I wouldn’t have been able to do it all these years.

Set small goals and go for it step by step

From the start, set yourself days when you will go to the gym. You don’t have to think about anything else. Go and do it.

You have to have some motivation to stick with it. You have to set small goals. Like how many kilos do I want to bench press in 2 months or how many squats do I want to be able to do in two weeks. If there is no goal, then the activity itself is pointless.

When you’re in the gym, make the most of your time. Don’t leave until you’ve completed the workout in your programme. Keep your promise.

Conclusion

To make fitness a habit that is part of your daily routine, you have to teach yourself to stick to a routine. You have to get to the gym no matter what.

I can’t teach you to motivate yourself. You have to realise the benefits of fitness for yourself and decide whether it is worth the time. I do 5 to 8 hours of training a week. Depending on how much free time I have. You can do it too and the longer you do it, the harder it will be to stop.