subject: With Weight Training, As In Life, We Must Walk Before We Can Run [print this page] Weight training routines and fitness routines in general are often started in earnest and with the intention of making it a permanent and positive life change. Unfortunately the majority of these routines dont last and the person that started the weight training program winds up feeling defeated and even worse than when they started the routine in the first place. I think this happens for a lot of reasons but at the end of the day it usually just comes down to the person no longer having the motivation. Why this motivation is lost is what I am concerned with and what I hope to help people with that are struggling to find their own motivation to start or to continue their own routines. I think one of the biggest saboteurs of motivation is the classic case of overdoing it.
Overdoing it seems to be a problem I see lots of times with people. They want to completely revamp their diet, quit smoking, and go to the gym 6 days a week. All of this is wonderful if the person can stick with it but useless if its too much of a shock to the system and just ends up being too much and too abrupt a life change for the person to handle all at once. Again, if you can make a complete and positive life change like that and immediately and forever stick to it by all means do so but its not practical for most. Some might find it easier to try and walk before they can run. For example, instead of saying Im going to quit smoking, completely change my diet and hit the gym 6 days a week why not compromise and ease into your new healthy lifestyle instead of just jumping in the deep end. Allow yourself half of whatever you smoke a day now, schedule 4 days to hit the gym and give yourself a cheat meal a day. Try that for a month and youll be astonished not only at how youre able to stick with it but how much easier it will be after a month to go completely cold turkey off of cigarettes and add an additional day at the gym per week. Baby steps is my point here, folks. On this note, once you get in gear and start weight training remember that an injury now will absolutely derail you. The chances of a newcomer returning to the gym after an injury are far less than someone that has already been doing it for some time and has already started seeing and feeling the results. So start off safely and with low weight. Get the feel for the weights first and practice your form before increasing the weight.
Lastly, if you do falter in your routine try not to be too hard on yourself. Keep your chin up and get back at those weights and in time I promise it will just become a part of your DNA. A weightlifter will just be what and who you are (or at least a part of what and who you are). If you need inspiration were always here for you!
