Embarking on a fitness journey sounds like a great idea at first to a lot of people. Chances are very probable that you the reader can relate to this, or you would likely be reading a different type of article. As a longtime Austin personal trainer and gym owner, I too was bit by the fitness bug many years ago, and professionally, I see it happening to people all the time. Maybe they won’t take it as far as becoming a personal trainer or founding a gym, but if they stick with it, they surely stand a good chance of making some progress, so long as they can provide themselves with adequate motivation. This could be said for anybody, doing absolutely anything. Since we’re talking about fitness here, this begs the question of what motivates you to workout?
As a personal trainer to a lot of professional athletes, physicians, weekend warriors, and everyday worriers, I have a special, behind the scenes, if you will, insight as to how a lot of people from vastly different demographics find the motivation to workout. For some, a multi million dollar contract provides all the stimuli one would need, whilst for others, it may not be so lucrative… on the surface anyhow. What about getting bad news from your doctor to the extent that you are at a very high risk for cardiac disease or stroke in the next few years if you don’t make some serious life changes? What if you have been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer that has metastasized to your lungs, as well as your bones? This is the all too real scenario for a client of mine who said to me that the bleak reality of her mortality keeps her up at night with the worry of the impending doom, along with the question of who will care for her teenage son when the seemingly inevitable happens? In spite of all that, she wants me to help fix her knees so she can win one blue ribbon as an equestrian. On the flip side, there are also plenty of people that have said to me that their goal is to look better naked, or to strike fear in the hearts of their fellow man with the size of their bulging muscles, but professionally speaking as well as a humanitarian, I would have to say that by far the most professionally rewarding of all scenarios, is when you help someone who deems themselves helpless, and guide them to victory. Whether that victory is that lady’s blue ribbon for jumping horses, or a gentleman who’s been long out of shape and simply wants to become more functional so he can enjoy activities with his wife and children, they’re all valid.
If you now might be thinking that your goals and aspirations in the health and fitness world are less than noble, especially comparatively speaking to what I just wrote about my client, you might be surprised to hear, especially from me, who just wrote all that, that you would be mistaken. We are all human and most all of us continually strive to be better in one form or another. There is absolutely no room for judgement, and that’s exactly why I set out to be a trainer over two decades ago. To help people.
As a personal trainer, I often see writings or posts on social media about how others in my field are here to inspire and/or motivate people to workout. I personally find this ludicrous. A personal trainer is not a cheerleader, nor a workout buddy. A real personal trainer is someone with an outstanding comprehension of physiology, kinesiology, nutrition, anatomy, and so on. Wearing a tight shirt thus showing off one’s physique in an attempt to inspire others to fitness is worthless. Motivation must come from within. To illustrate that point, think back about whomever you idolized as a youngster, or whenever you embarked on your fitness journey. Do you still look at their poster? Do you still say ” this set’s for you Arnold”? I doubt you do.
So what motivates you to workout? Not you as in a generalized, this should apply to everyone sweeping statement, but rather you personally. One of the greatest challenges we all face, is maintaining motivation in the face of adversity. How does one pull oneself off the couch after being out of the gym for several months with a torn pectoral muscle from a bench press gone awry? How does one put down the comfort food and find the inner resolve to make a sustained and concentrated effort to eat good foods for the sake of their appearance, but far more importantly, the sake of their health?
Some guys love to bang heavy weights around so others will hopefully get the message that they’re strong alpha males to be feared. Whether or not the rest of the room get’s that message as intended is debatable, but that seems to be a common one in some weight rooms. Another source of motivation that I see frequently is people releasing their inner frustrations, fears, and insecurities. They lift angrily as opposed for a sense of self betterment, preservation, and longevity. Maybe you’re the person who makes sure the weights settling back on the rack don’t make a sound that would disturb even the lightest of sleepers as you find your inner peace fulfilled with the push and pull of the contracting muscles and how it makes you feel empowered mentally as well as physically.
The best part of the whole thing about whatever it is that motivates you to workout, is that it will evolve, just as we all do as human beings. What once was a motivating factor, is now a sentence from a chapter that was read long ago. That’s one of the beautiful things about life. Things change, and so do we. That may sound all hunky dory and all, but that still begs the question then of what will motivate you to workout, especially as we age and can experience life in a much more reflective state that only comes with age. Will you still feel the need to be the big guy in the room? Will you still need to be the alpha male at the weight pile when you’re 70 years old? Perhaps rather you will you find the motivation within yourself to make your life complete from both a mental as well as physical perspective that can only come from engaging one’s mind as well as one’s body? Whatever the source of your motivation, make it work for you. If you question it too often, then it may be time to reconsider your approach. Anger, peacefulness, determination, the satisfaction from accomplishment, and so on, are all valid feelings and emotions that can drive us to do whatever we set our minds to do. It’s just up to you to look inward and find whatever is going to inspire you to continue onward with your fitness journey.
My name is Andy Bruchey and I have been a personal trainer in Austin, TX to the pros and the Joes for over 20 years now. I founded the Austin Fitness Center gym back in 2007 and live with my wife of 20 years Aleksandra and our 2 children Ana and Luka.
http://www.completefitnessdesign.com/
