I always came last in high school cross country running.
I’d walk the entire course, finish an hour after everyone else, and still be winded at the end.
As a teenager, I was severely underweight and would rather have a book in my hand than a basketball, dumbbell, or tennis racket.
Then one year I got image conscious and decided I needed to work out.
I went to the biggest bodybuilder in the gym and asked him to train me.
First workout we did, he had me do something like this:
- 10 min warm-up jog on treadmill
- Bent over barbell rows 3 x 10
- Squats with just the bar 3 x 10
- Slow-mo running in place with dumbbells (‘cos Stallone did it)
Doesn’t look like much, does it?
But I was skinnier than a string of piss.
By the end of the workout, I was huffing, puffing, and cursing that bodybuilder’s name.
Then I threw up in the locker room toilets.
Next day, with DOMS making me feel like I’d been hit by a truck, I returned to the gym for another gruelling workout.
The bodybuilder punished me again.
While I was curled up in a sweat-covered foetal position on the gym floor, the dude taught me all about how much protein, carbs, and fat I needed to eat each day.
The eating was harder that workouts.
Everything was hard.
I didn’t enjoy working out until maybe 6 months after I started.
Now exercising is my favourite part of the day.
Exercise is my…
- Alone time
- Meditation time
- Sort-through-the-bullshit-of-life time
Exercise makes me feel free and happy and human.
It took A LOT of work to get to that point.
Right now I have a positive addiction to exercise.
But there were a lot of times where I didn’t want to haul myself to the gym and I had a hundred decent sounding excuses for why I should give up.
In those moments, these are the things that pushed me through…
How to Form a Positive Addiction to Exercise
These are the things that might help YOU develop a positive addiction to exercise.
Struggling to lace up your gym shoes and walk out the door right now?
Pick ONE or TWO of these suggestions below and do them now.
Use YouTube as pre-workout motivation
Pick someone you wanna look like and find a video of them training on YouTube.
For me, Anthony Joshua training videos do nicely.
Dude looks aesthetic AF but you can also tell he is a top 1% athlete with incredible conditioning.
When I see the commitment someone like Joshua puts in, and when I see him struggling and still going at it, I get hella motivated and can’t help but haul my ass to the gym.
Give yourself rewards
We learn best through positive reinforcement.
That means:
You doing something tough = getting a reward.
Most people quit because this is how most people start working out:
- Go to gym.
- Go home.
No reward means no incentive to return.
So have your gym session, but have a treat scheduled, ready, waiting for you when you finish:
- A delicious protein shake (Muscle Milk isn’t the healthiest, but damn it tastes good)
- A tasty meal (Nando’s in the UK is a good go-to post-workout meal)
- A nice sauna and jacuzzi
- [Enter your own here]
Get a new supplement
When you’re a gym-junky, you’ve got an excuse to give yourself a present every now and then.
I love getting new stuff in the mail.
Feels like my birthday.
Look what just arrived today…
- Universal Nutrition liver tabs (check ’em out here)
- Vega Protein Powder with BCAAs and greens (here)
- Barlean’s Omega Fish Oil, Lemon Zest Flavour (here)
- Barlean’s Omega Flax Seed Oil, Strawberry-Banana Flavour (here)
- Plus a couple of bottles of Japanese vegetable juice crammed fully of goodies
A lot of people lack motivation to go to the gym because it doesn’t align with their lifestyles.
Exercise is something they do. Not something they are.
But when you buy shit to improve your exercise, exercise suddenly becomes more serious.
You start to identify with it more and treat it like a passionate hobby.
Seriously, order some of that Vega Protein Powder and you’ll find yourself learning all the cool nutritional material on the tub.
Then you’ll feel pretty good after drinking it.
And suddenly, you’ll be like: “GYM TIME, BABY!”
Make the gym = “ME” time
Stop seeing the gym as a gruelling torture den where your dreams go to die.
Instead see the gym, or your running route, or your local swimming pool, as “me time”.
Turn your phone off (how often do you do that?).
Take a deep breath.
Forget all the other crap in your life.
- Forget your work.
- Forget your family and friends.
- Forget that niggling sore on the side of your genitals.
Just be present and enjoy your alone time making yourself better.
Track & log your progress
Every time I stop logging my workouts, my exercise seems to stall.
The moment I get myself a nice new notebook and start logging each workout in the gym, I suddenly feel more motivated to keep going back.
Tracking your workouts makes your exercise hold meaning.
When you’re trying to beat your previous workouts and you can see your progress over the weeks, months, and years, you have no doubt that what you’re doing has a meaning.
Track your workouts however works best for you:
- Pen and paper
- Fitness apps
- Photos
Want more pics like this? Add me on Grindr.
Numbers are motivating (weight lifted, distance ran, etc.) but a picture speaks 1,000 words.
Comparing how you look from month-to-month is extremely motivating.
Get a bunch of audio goodies
Doing long cardio sessions actually became FUN when I started loading up on cool audiobooks.
Nothing passes the time like a good book.
If you haven’t already signed up to Audible, you need to get on that now (Try Audible and Get Two Free Audiobooks
When it comes to lifting weights, you NEED some killer tunes on your iPod.
Get one of those streaming apps (Amazon Music, iTunes Music, Spotify, whatever) and make a bunch of motivating playlists.
I’m using Amazon Music at the moment and loving it (Try Amazon Music Unlimited Free Trial
If it wasn’t for Five Finger Death Punch, Babymetal, and Slayer, I wouldn’t be able to get through my deadlifts, squats, and pull-ups.
If it wasn’t for Kenneth Branagh’s narration of Murder On the Orient Express, I wouldn’t be able to stay on the elliptical machine for 30+ minutes.
Have a goal
Right now I’m busting my nuts in the gym.
I actually pushed myself too far and threw out my lower back (so don’t listen to everything I say).
The reason?
My wedding is exactly one year away.
I wanna look boss in my tailored suit.
Then I wanna look like a walking porn mag (for girls) when I’m beachside in Okinawa for my honeymoon.
I wanna look disgusting. I’m talking bulging veins and organs poking out through my skin.
Having a goal can be supremely motivating.
Schedule a marathon, photoshoot, or something else that’s special to you and I’m sure you’ll make it to the gym more frequently.
Brainwash yourself
Here are some of the things I tell myself when I’m “not feeling exercising today”:
- You’re more productive on gym days.
- You always leave the gym feeling better than when you went in.
- Doing something – anything – even something small – is better than nothing.
- You need a break from work – get out of the house and get those endorphins pumping.
- You’re making yourself stronger, faster, more athletic, and more attractive with every workout.
Reframe how you see exercise.
I’ll even bribe myself sometimes.
I’ll talk to myself like this:
Dude, just jump rope for 10 mins and you can enjoy playing Zelda later tonight.
It works.
Make a game out of it
There’s this great game on the Nintendo Switch.
It’s called Just Dance.
This game is freaking awesome because it gets you covered in sweat without you even knowing it.
If I really can’t be bothered to go to the gym, I throw this game on and have myself a little dance party.
I’m having so much fun trying to improve and following the dancers on the screen that I don’t even realised I’m exercising.
Find the gym for YOU
Since becoming addicted to working out, I’ve been to A LOT of gyms.
My motivation to exercise has always been constant.
But I’ve noticed that some gyms made me want to work out more than others.
I personally love meathead gyms.
I love seeing dudes three times my size growling and lifting big ass weight.
It motivates the hell out of me.
But I freaking hate “fitness gyms” where the clientele are using their sissy shake weight in the squat rack.
You have to find a gym that works for you.
Whether it’s a fitness center, a meathead gym, or even just a bunch of dumbbells and barbells in your garage.
Make the environment fit your personality.
Make small commitments
Nobody becomes Arnold Schwarzenegger, Michael Phelps, or Serena Williams overnight.
And having way too high expectations is a recipe for becoming disheartened.
I personally only have one, sometimes two, goals when it comes to exercise:
- Show up.
- Improve.
Don’t complicate it any further than that.
Try a new exercise. Push yourself without killing yourself. And show up every day (or every other day).
The rest will fall into place.
Any questions about exercise/motivation? Let me know!
I’m here 24/7, folks. If you have a question, I’ll be more than happy to answer it. Now go hit the gym!