Motivation: The X Factor in Fitness

Another great post by our good friend here at MOB, Kevin over at Strong and Fit.

The year was 1997. After several weeks of training and diet I was in the best shape of my life (in terms of body composition, at least). I had achieved an unprecedented level of leanness. For the first time in my life I had visible abdominal muscles.
What brought me to that point? Had I learned something new about training and diet? Absolutely not! When I started the transformation process, in fact, I quickly learned how little I really knew about losing fat (especially the diet aspect).
So how did I manage to reach the next level of fitness? I can answer it in one word: MOTIVATION.

I had joined a transformation contest advertised in a fitness magazine. I didn’t win, and I’m sure I spent too much money on supplements (a requirement of the contest was that you use only their supplement brand). But the contest really put the fire in me to do something I had never done before. I was up every morning doing some form of training. Sometimes it was so cold I was doing my sprints in a ski mask (maybe I looked like I had just held up the local convenience store).
Not everything I tried was working—I still wasn’t getting as lean as I thought I should be. This led me to some intensive research on how the body works. I learned about manipulating my carbohydrate intake, for example. Once again, the key was my incredibly high level of motivation—I refused to quit training and learning.
Fitness contest have become even bigger since the 90’s. Show’s like the Biggest Loser have shown us the kind of transformations that are possible in a relatively short period of time. Once again, motivation is the key factor in the contestants’ success.
Here’s my point: I believe the reason most are so out of shape is a simple lack of motivation.
Consider the common excuses:
*I just don’t have time to exercise.
*I don’t want to count calories.
*I can’t afford to join a gym.
*I’m too fat to join a gym. I’d be embarrassed.
Now, let’s imagine this scenario: what if someone offered you one thousand dollars for every pound you lost over the next six weeks? Would you still say the same things? Yet isn’t your health worth more than money? Have you ever thought of the money you’d save in medical bills—couldn’t this easily translate to more than a thousand dollars a pound?
I wish I had a magic formula for motivation, but I don’t. I will offer a couple of suggestions, though:
*Be honest with yourself. If you are not 100% motivated, you probably won’t improve your fitness level. Just honestly tell yourself “I’m not motivated.” I think there’s power in simply being honest with ourselves. It has a way of helping us cut through the bull and get more focused.
*Be creative. Maybe you can’t join a national contest. Why not start one in your office? I’ve heard of several small groups (offices, churches, etc) that did their own version of “Biggest Loser” with great results. It kept them all accountable and gave them a focused goal/deadline to work towards.
I hope I’ve somehow inspired you towards better health. For more articles on strength and fitness, feel free to visit strongandfit.net

Thanks to MOB’s favorite and most prolific guest poster. We love when Kevin honors us with one of his great posts. Always filled with great information and as the title states motivation. We hope you enjoy his posts as much as we do.

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Posted by Kevin Sanders on Mar 15 2010 Filed under FEATURES, HEALTH, SELF HELP, SPORTS. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry