It’s hard to stay motivated to train!

We’ve all had the moments where we know we’re supposed to workout, but we wind up on the couch watching TV and snacking.

Luckily for me, I’ve watched enough TV and ate enough snacks to come up with a process that I use to change my mindset whenever I don’t feel like training. 

Answer these 8 questions to always be motivated!

Question 1

What do I want my body to look like/be capable of doing?

Question 2

Who has or had a body type that is similar to mine and achieved this goal?

Question 3

What steps can I take this year?

Question 4

What steps can I take in the next 3 months?

Question 5

What steps can I take in the next month?

Question 6

What steps can I take in the next week?

Question 7

What steps can I take in my next workout?

Question 8

What can I do between now and my next workout?

Goal Setting is Key

When we start to look into what motivation is and how to acquire more of it, the definition of motivation that I really like to use is this: 

Motivation is the direction and intensity of your effort. 

I find that this definition really captures how I feel when I am unmotivated.

Simply put, I feel lost. 

This is exactly why goal setting is a key factor. 

Goal setting gives me direction. 

It takes an impossible task and breaks it down into possible parts.

Let’s talk about this process further by breaking down each of the questions. 

And additionally, I’ll demonstrate how I am using these questions to stay motivated for my goal of completing a handstand push-up with my feet on a wall. 

Question 1

What do I want my body to look like/be capable of doing?

 To answer the first question, some decisions have to be made. 

When it comes to setting goals for fitness, we have to decide whether this goal is appearance-related or performance-related.

Examples:

1. An appearance-related goal would be to get 18-inch arms.
2. A performance-related goal would be to bench press 315 pounds for 3 repetitions.

I normally recommend that people set performance goals rather than appearance goals as beginners. 

This is because progress towards an appearance-related goal can take longer and be harder to track. 

Additionally, many appearance-related goals can be met by meeting performance goals. 

For example, you can increase your arm size by increasing your bench press. 

When you are setting goals, make sure to take your time. 

Goals need to be both specific and attainable by the person setting them. 

It may take time, adjustments, and several doses of reality to set a good goal, but it is worth it.

Keep in mind that with Question 1, you are setting a long-term goal. 

It may take several months or years to reach this goal and that’s okay. 

It may seem impossible for you to reach this goal and that is also okay. 

As a tall calisthenics athlete, I have some experience with this. 

When I first started doing calisthenics, I could not find a single person my height doing calisthenics on the same level as smaller athletes. 

However, over the years, I have found a few people and this has helped me set even more realistic goals as well as stay motivated

Example:

What do I want my body to look like/be capable of doing?

I want to be able to do a handstand pushup with my feet on a wall while continuing to build strength and muscle throughout my body. 

This is a performance-related goal. 

As a taller athlete, I recognize that my weight will be a negative factor that will make it more difficult for me to achieve this goal. 

I choose to play the long game rather than losing weight to make this goal easier.

Question 2

Who has or had a body type that is similar to mine and achieved this goal?

Finding people that have similar body types to you who have achieved the goal that you want to achieve serves three purposes:

1. It gives you a shortcut/blueprint to the goal you want to achieve.
   • Take time to research the steps and progressions people have taken to meet their goals.
2. It lets you know how realistic your goal is.
   • Take note of the struggles that they had to face to reach the goals you want to reach.
3. It helps you find people who will inspire you when you feel down and out
   • Make the social media post, videos, and / or pictures of them achieving the goal you want easy to access (You’ll need this motivation, at times!)

Keep in mind that Question 2 may be a hard question for you to ask yourself. 

For some goals, you may find that there has never been anyone with your body type who has achieved that goal. 

This may mean that goal is very hard to achieve. 

You can choose to either adjust your goal or try anyway.

Example:

Who has or had a body type that is similar to mine and achieved this goal?

My body type is tall and skinny in my upper body, but thicker in my lower body. (6’6, 240 lbs)

To achieve my goal I’m inspired by:

• Tom Merrick (6’3, 200 lbs)

 

• Ievgen Shcherbyna (6’5, 180 lbs)

• Ike Catcher (6’9, 270 lbs)

 

Due to the fact that 2/3 of these men are 200 lbs or less, this tells me that to achieve my goal I am most likely going to need to improve my body composition by becoming lighter and maintaining my strength. 

Note: Ike Catcher might be able to do handstand push-ups at 270 lb, but he is most likely an outlier genetics wise. 

Question 3

What steps can I take this year to reach that goal?

Now, it’s time to decide what steps you can take within a year’s time. 

Keep in mind that a focused year’s work towards a single goal can lead to massive results. 

A year’s time is enough to achieve many fitness goals.

Now, it’s time to figure out what steps are between you and your goal. 

For some people, answering Question 3 may lead them to hire coaches/experts. 

It can be difficult to learn the progressions between your current fitness level and your goal fitness level. 

Keep in mind that whatever progression you find, be conservative in your approach. 

This means to take the appropriate time with the most fundamental progressions/ make small weight increases rather than continuously trying more difficult progressions/ make huge weight increases.

That can be a recipe for disappointment and worse, injury.

Example:

What steps can I take this year to reach that goal?

To achieve my goal of completing handstand pushup on a wall, I need to:

• Get comfortable upside down 
  • By the end of the year, I want to be able to spend 30 seconds to a minute every workout in a handstand on the wall

and 

• Build my shoulder strength with easier, but similar movements aka the pike pushup

• • By the end of year, I need to be able to do elevated pike pushups for 3 sets of 20 repetitions

Question 4

What steps can I take in the next 3 months to reach that goal?

To answer this question, I imagine where I would be in 3 months if I work towards my goal every day.

This doesn’t mean you actively have to exercise everyday. 

What this means is that the goal will guide some of your decisions everyday. 

Example:

What steps can I take in the next 3 months to reach that goal?

After three months of working towards my goal every day, my shoulders will be stronger and doing eight pike push-ups will be a piece of cake.

By the end of the next three months, I want to be able to do 3 sets of 10 Pike push ups because that will build my shoulder strength. 

I may not be exercising everyday, but I will prioritize sleeping 6 to 10 hours a night in order to maximize the effectiveness of my workouts. 

Question 5

What steps can I take in the next month?

To answer this question, I imagine where I would be in 30 days if I worked towards my goal every day.

When I’m framing this process within a month’s time, I really want to start to focus on the habits that I build during the next 30 days that are preventing me from taking these steps. 

These habits can include sleep, nutrition, workout consistency, staying injury-free, etc.

I’m really focused on developing my consistency more than anything.

Example:

What steps can I take in the next month?

After 30 days of working towards my goal everyday, my shoulders will be stronger and doing five pike push-ups will be a piece of cake. 

I’m going to focus on training my shoulders with pike pushups at least twice a week because in the past, I trained them only when I felt like it (once every 2 weeks).

Question 6

What steps can I take in the next week?

To answer this question, I imagine where I would be in 7 days if I worked towards my goal everyday.

I ask myself, “What do I do on a weekly basis to help me achieve my goals?”

Once again, focus on habits by setting small weekly goals that will help you during your journey.

Example:

What steps can I take in the next week?

I normally eat a lot of junk food on the weekend, while sleeping only 4 hours. 

This causes my Monday workouts to go poorly. 

I will stop eating after 8 and go to bed by 10, so I feel great for Monday’s pike pushups.

Question 7

What steps can I take in my next workout?

To answer this question, I imagine what a successful workout towards this goal would look like.

Focus on structuring your workout for success by prioritizing your goal first in the workout when you feel the freshest.

I ask myself, “How should my workouts be structured to reach this goal?”

Example:

What steps can I take in my next workout?

I can only do one pike pushup at a time. 

For my next workout, I will perform 5 sets of 1 pike pushup as the first exercise that I do. I know that if I do regular pushups first, they will make my shoulders too tired. 

5 sets of 1 pike pushup for a total of 5 pike pushups may not seem like a lot, but it is more than I have done at once. 

Additionally, I’ll do one pike pushup everyday, whether I’m working out or not to build my technique daily.

Question 8

What can I do between now and my next workout? 

Remember that this is arguably the most important step!

You need to gain momentum towards your goal in order to achieve it.

During this last question, I focus on what I can do to make my next workout an amazing experience.

Example:

What steps can I take to get me to my next workout?

I can make a video playlist of the athletes that inspired me to pump myself up for my next workout. 

 Wrap-up 

Staying motivated to exercise is no easy task, but asking yourself these questions can help you set yourself on the path to be motivated to crush every workout!

Never forget that these basic questions can take you from the couch all the way to your goal!

Did you enjoy this article on staying motivated? Make sure to let me know any questions that you have about this article down below! I would also love to hear you all stay motivated for your workout goals!

Peace!