How to recover motivation in training, in 5 steps

April 25, 2024

You have been training for some time, you have achieved some of the goals that you had set for yourself, but today suddenly you start to notice the effects of demotivation. You do not even know where to start.

You watch the mobile: 12 messages and 3 videos on WhatsApp. You read, visualize and respond. You enter Facebook, the same and this is followed by Twitter, Instagram, mail ... you almost want to open up your Google+. You turn off the phone, you keep wandering ...

You end up giving up and going to the Elliptical. Connect your headphones and "train". You have lost the connection with your purpose, and if you continue like this, you have little left to abandon.

Does this situation sound like? I hope not. But if you think it describes your case, you have already come to the conclusion that something is missing: the motivation necessary to train when doing sports .

Related article: "The 10 keys to motivate oneself"

What really motivates you to train?

Nothing motivates more than remembering what you train for. I am convinced that with this article you will remember the reasons that led you to practice your favorite sport.

Now, a little theory is always good to locate. Let's start with the basics.

What is motivation?

According to the RAE, the motivation is the "set of internal or external factors that determine in part the actions of a person". Motivation is having motives, that you do not win, to perform an action.

Now, there are many theories that try to explain what motivates us and we can mainly divide them into two currents:

Content Theories-Satisfaction : based on the study of aspects such as Needs, Aspirations and the level of satisfaction of the same. (Maslow, Mc. Gregor, Herzberg, Alderfer, McClelland).
Process Theories : focus their study on the thought process by which the person is motivated. (Vroom, Adams, Skinner).

Likewise, depending on where you want to focus, we obtain different types of motivation. Personally, the distinction between Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation is very clear to me. If you want to know all the types of motivation, read: "Types of motivation: the 8 motivational sources", although here you can find a brief summary:

Extrinsic Motivation

It arises from the hope of obtaining a benefit external to that of the action itself . The reasons that make the person act are alien to the action itself, materialized as money, promotion, commitments ... Example: I signed up for the gym because my doctor told me that if I do not lower my cholesterol I will have to get a treatment with very powerful.

Intrinsic motivation

It comes from the deepest part of our being and is linked to our values and purposes of life . It is a driver of action without the need for external incentives. Example: I exercise to feel agile and autonomous so I can play with my grandchildren.

To take into account what motivates us ...

Not everyone is motivated by the same thing.
The motivations vary with time and with the different environments of the person.
Feeling useful and capable is one of the greatest motivators.
The satisfaction for the well done is in itself a great motivator.
If what we want is to motivate another person we must know their needs and get them aligned to an important goal for them.

When we come to psychic exhaustion in which the activities and sports that we wanted to do before, now we do not want to start ... For! Become aware of what is happening and ask yourself What has changed? or better yet, what has changed in me, so that now I no longer like to exercise?

What keeps you motivated for more time?

Before asking yourself, what motivates you or why have you lost your motivation, maybe you should find the answer to any of these questions :

What activity do you enjoy as a child?
If you could choose, what would you like to improve in yourself?
Who would you like to train with?
If of all the sports that there are, you had to choose one, which one would you choose?
What athlete inspires you? And what does it do to inspire you?

As you know, the benefits of exercise are multiple and among them I want to highlight, the improvement of self-esteem , the reduction of stress levels and the possibility of making you feel more agile and autonomous, improving your self-image and self-concept.

So if after answering the questions you have found something similar to your motivating activity, you just have to answer one more question ... Practice the activity you have chosen Does it bring you closer to the person you want to become?

It is necessary that you invest time in becoming aware and bringing to light all that is Important for you and for what you think is worth the effort. That's a great motivator!

Feel ownership of our actions

As I mentioned before, there is nothing more motivating than stopping to think about what was the original trigger that set you off. If in addition to looking for that deep motivation you want to specify a little more and you encourage yourself to achieve a challenging goal for yourself , I recommend you follow these steps with examples of people with whom I have worked throughout my career:

1. Do not look for motivation; create it

Find an objective with which every time you remember it, it makes your eyes shine . Example: to be able to take my grandchildren in my arms.

2. Know in what physical and / or emotional situation I am

Example: perform an assessment (bioimpedance) to know exactly the body proportions of fat-muscle and thus know how much fat I want to lose.

3. Know what your strengths are

This will help you achieve your goals . Example: I can only train two days but when I start something I do not leave it (Tenacious), I am sure that for 6 months besides controlling my diet (Conscious) I will train 2 hours to get 7 kg. (Responsable).

4. Action plan

Example: put on a piece of paper a line of time that goes from today to the day you are going to achieve your goal (Get 5kg in 2 months). Put two or three milestones on the way so that you feel that you are getting small results (Milestone 1: Check my fridge-storehouse Milestone 2: Read 3 articles a month on food Milestone 3: Download my first Kg). Last action: divide each time line until you get to divide each milestone in small steps, so small that it is easy for you to get to the next step. This is how great goals are achieved.

5. Evaluation and readjustment

Example: check how your evolution is going or ask someone you trust to help you review, without attachment, the results obtained and readjust, if necessary, your path.

Recovering the illusion by training

In short, if you feel agile, autonomous, energetic, strong ... it facilitates you and brings you closer to your purpose, then do not worry, the motivation will arise. Be clear about what you want to achieve . Know exactly the way to get there. And make sure that doing it makes you better.

I hope I have helped you and above all I hope that the next time you look at the mobile in your training is to choose your favorite song.