A New Vein of Life: Motivation!

It only took 7 months to get my motivation back in high gear.  Not bad after 6 years of straight training (not the hiatus of the 5 years prior to the 6).  But this is by far the longest dip I’ve ever had when it came to the wonderful world of my training.  I’m not one to lack or suffer through bouts of motivation.  I love training.  I love lifting weight.  I love being strong.  I love having an edge.  I love the adrenaline boost.  I love challenging myself and my body.  I love it!  So I have more than enough reasons to be motivated than not.  So, why this low dip?  Not sure.

With that out the way, earlier today I was mulling over how one of my Xanga blogs back in the day (I started back in 2003) paved the way for me to keep my motivation in check because I made it a point to ramble daily about my workouts and analyze what was new, what wasn’t working, how my mood was doing and everything else in between.  So since Xanga got rid of my site this past year, I now have created this blog for the sole purpose of posting regularly and maintaining this motivation of my Training Life.  Nothing BUT the real thoughts, ideas and personal bullshit will be expressed here.  So, you’re either with it or not.  I don’t give shit! 😉

My motivation has also jumped to high gear again thanks to the new (Astral Fitness) gym and new gym crews (both bodybuilders and powerlifters) and weight-lifting community to bring me back to where I should be:  Mighty!  Of course, I couldn’t have done it without the Fit Family online because everyone is there for me with endless support and they don’t want to see me fail.  I’m forever grateful for them too!  Thank you ALL for sticking with me and never letting me fall!

I’m also thankful for anyone who’s got my back when it comes to training.  I’ll forever be loyal to them because I’ve come so far with training and to be so in love with it and just to throw it all away would (in my opinion) be one of the stupidest things I could (or any person) could ever do.  So when one of the new gym boys tells me:  “I only saw you in action 3 times this week at the gym, what’s going on and we have to get you back in there.”  I respect that.  This is how it should be.  What they don’t realize however is I’m usually going over to another gym or I workout at home because you got to keep it moving.

So, how can I tell when my motivation is on fire? 

It’s when I walk into the gym powerfully like I own a piece of it with a Dragonball-Z yellowish aura that glows for all to see.  It’s when I wake up in the morning content about the total-body extreme muscle pain of what took place the night before.  It’s when sets are longer with tension, when volume is cut for quality of reps and movements are felt with a deeper sense of being.  It’s when I pump my protein shaker arrogantly despite my classmates poking fun of me about putting colorful mixtures in it.

It’s when I spread my fingers out for a stretch and in between the soreness speaks an affirmative hello from the Deadlifts three nights ago.  It’s when I research further for the mind, body and spirit through words, successful folks and enriching articles.  It’s when I remember the first time a friend of mine pointed out to me years ago before I even truly knew it myself, “The only time I see you smile and are fully happy is when you’re training.”  It’s when I switch up my groceries and buy the bland world of chicken breasts, yogurt and bags of voluminous frozen vegetables.

In the back of my mind, I’d be lying if I said I’m not fearful of my motivation dropping low again, just because this is something that’s NEW for me, losing my motivation in the first place.  This rarely happens to me and as a result I must take the time to analyze shit again.  But right now, I’m going to ride the wave and get high off my training sessions again.  There’s one guarantee to keep the high long and that is to lift as heavy as possible, the way I like, the way I know how, the way I used to in the beginning when I first started training.

The only drama lurking in the background is:  With overbearing lifting comes injuries waiting to happen.

-Penn Hall