It continues to amaze me what a disconnect there is between what your mind thinks that you can do and what you actually can do.
I had a stressful couple of days and I also didn't eat as much as I normally do. I also hadn't had much sleep. Yesterday the whole day I was just beat and thought several times "How in the hell am I going to go to the gym tonight?" To top it off I wasn't able to get to the gym until around 1am, which is late even for me. As I was walking up to the door I thought "WTF am I doing here? There's no way I can get a good workout in this condition."
I then went inside and proceeded to have an amazing workout. I actually did better with dumbbell benching than I've ever done since I started training. I felt strong and energized the whole time. If I would have actually acted on what I was thinking before I hit the gym I would have missed out and would have been none the wiser.
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09-15-2010, 08:47 PM #1
Going to the gym when you REALLY don't want to go to the gym
There will come a day when I tire of listening to 80's music. That day is not today.
I Really Miss The Old BodySpace
-O35 5'8" Crew- -Karl_Hungus Crew-
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09-15-2010, 10:18 PM #2
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09-15-2010, 10:28 PM #3
- Join Date: Oct 2008
- Location: San Francisco, California, United States
- Posts: 8,845
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i've pulled out some of the best workouts in tired, stressed out and underfed days. then in the alternative some days when i'm full of piss and vinegar and think i'm gonna pwn the iron, my workout drowns in mediocrity. however, i always feel better leaving the gym than i do entering, and that is full of win.
A successful woman is one who can build a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at her
my metabolic repair/bulking-training journal: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=134394501
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09-15-2010, 10:28 PM #4
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09-15-2010, 10:57 PM #5
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09-15-2010, 11:31 PM #6
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09-16-2010, 12:42 AM #7
- Join Date: Oct 2007
- Location: California, United States
- Age: 56
- Posts: 597
- Rep Power: 265
We talk about this at the gym all the time. But, i've had the best sessions when I don't feel like going to the gym. After the first few sets, im all good to go.
" Strive for the impossible to be the possible. " - Roger Serafin
" Using no way as way " & " Having no limitation as limitation " - Bruce Lee
The World is Watching. Stay Strong.
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09-16-2010, 02:03 AM #8
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09-16-2010, 05:46 AM #9
- Join Date: Mar 2009
- Location: Haddonfield, New Jersey, United States
- Age: 51
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Yes I force myself because any kind of workout is better than no workout
"even if your down there for an hour..your down there" -name that movielife is hard, kid. you gotta be harder. you gotta take it on and fight for it and be a f***ing man about how you live it. if you're too much of a pussy to do that, then maybe you should leave, 'cause you're dead already
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09-16-2010, 05:51 AM #10
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09-16-2010, 05:52 AM #11
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09-16-2010, 05:56 AM #12
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09-16-2010, 06:09 AM #13
- Join Date: Oct 2006
- Location: Alexandria, Virginia, United States
- Age: 53
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There are times when I am absolutely bored and tired at work that I look even more forward to going to the gym so I feel like I accomplished something for the day. Tired or not, by the time I throw my stuff in the gym locker I am already pumped for my workout.
Eric
"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."
"Thin skinned? Now that sounds like a way I could get more shredded....by having thinner skin." - Brackneyc
Failure is only the opportunity to begin again, this time more wisely.
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09-16-2010, 06:35 AM #14
This scenario has been repeated many times for every person who's ever set foot in a gym; you feel tired/unmotivated, and would just rather lie down on the couch. "I might as well blow-off my training; I feel "lousy."
But you go anyway, and after a couple of warm-up sets, the fog lifts, the sun comes out, and it's on.
Don't allow your "feelings" to interfere with your training. Sometimes, the hardest "rep" is just pushing the door open as you walk into the gym.No brain, no gain.
"The fitness and nutrition world is a breeding ground for obsessive-compulsive behavior. The irony is that many of the things people worry about have no impact on results either way, and therefore aren't worth an ounce of concern."--Alan Aragon
Where the mind goes, the body follows.
Ironwill Gym:
https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showpost.php?p=629719403&postcount=3388
Ironwill2008 Journal:
https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=157459343&p=1145168733
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09-16-2010, 06:41 AM #15
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09-16-2010, 07:05 AM #16
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09-16-2010, 07:13 AM #17
Don't get me wrong, when I'm tired I go to the gym. This was an unusual situation because I had been beaten up so spectacularly by the past couple of days. I was wiped and really thought that I was in no shape to get a good workout done. I was wrong.
Oh yes, I've had those mediocre days when I thought I was gonna kill it.
The couch is like a venus flytrap on days like that.
LOL
Hey, you changed your name. Was the other one too hard for people to spell?Last edited by StressMonkey; 09-16-2010 at 07:25 AM.
There will come a day when I tire of listening to 80's music. That day is not today.
I Really Miss The Old BodySpace
-O35 5'8" Crew- -Karl_Hungus Crew-
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09-16-2010, 07:22 AM #18
It is very difficult sometimes, but I do not get the guilt I used to. It something isn't right, I move to something else. However, I have to test it first. There have been many times where my warm-ups did not feel strong leading to my work sets, only to add a rep or two despite that.
Expect Nothing
Never Be Disappointed
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09-16-2010, 07:23 AM #19
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09-16-2010, 07:32 AM #20
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09-16-2010, 07:33 AM #21
- Join Date: Jul 2008
- Location: Missouri, United States
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It's purely psychological. When I was in the midst of losing my fat, I would be on the treadmill huffing and puffing and wanting to quit. I would look down at the timer and think, "Ok, 1 more minute and I'm done." When that minute was about to end, I would internally yell at myself for being a fat, lazy f**k and speed up the treadmill. I was damned if I was going to let my mind dictate what my body could and could not do. If my thoughts wanted to betray me, I was going to make my body suffer for it. My weak-ass mind was what got me into my mess in the first place. It's always a constant battle between what my body knows is good for it and the weakness of my mind trying to derail my progress. Now, my will is strong enough that when I start feeling the laziness kicking in, I just force it aside and do what needs to be done. I ALWAYS feel better for doing the right thing and exerting self-control.
If you argue with a madman, it is extremely probable that you will get the worst of it; for in many ways his mind moves all the quicker for not being delayed by the things that go with good judgment. He is not hampered by a sense of humor or by charity, or by the dumb certainties of experience. He is the more logical for losing sane affections. The madman is not the man who has lost his reason. The madman is the man who has lost everything except his reason. -- G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
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09-16-2010, 08:21 AM #22
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09-16-2010, 09:11 AM #23
- Join Date: Jan 2009
- Location: Saint Charles, Missouri, United States
- Posts: 372
- Rep Power: 418
Deep Throat?
Today, was one of those days when I just didn't want to go. I've felt a head cold coming on (which, I think is just a stress related response to something rather large I have going on right now). Yesterday, thank goodness, was on "off" day. And it was a good thing. Today, however, I still sort of feel as though I have been hit by a truck. But, I told myself to at least go and try...the whole "guilt" thing, you know. Once I got there and got a few warm-up sets behind me, I was good. Except one side of my headphones decided to stop working. Pink Floyd in just one ear is...well...not good.Is that a real poncho, or a Sears poncho?
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09-16-2010, 09:43 AM #24
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09-16-2010, 09:49 AM #25
I will tell you something, I never feel this way. I suffer more stress if I have to miss a workout. I say this and I work two full time jobs, am putting three kids through college, taking care of the house and making sure my wife gets the attention she deserves.
The key is making working out a priority. To do this you have to eat right, sleep right, work right, and play right. If you find yourself trying to talk yourself out of a workout, check your discipline, your goals, and workout. If you get those things in order, you will start looking forward to your next workout the moment after your complete your current workout.
RayBeware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven... so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. Matt. 6: 1-4
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09-16-2010, 09:56 AM #26
- Join Date: Jan 2004
- Location: Connecticut, United States
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STRESS: I feel what you are saying, but I have to add that having a home gym reduces that an awful lot, as , it is just so easy to get started, there are less impediments to getting the damn thing going, where, as the blood flows, you always do better than you thought you would.
for myself, if I had to physically travel to a gym, it would definitely discourage me on many a night.
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09-16-2010, 09:12 PM #27
I love lifting and it's an important part of my life, but I don't think it's realistic (at least for me) to think that there's never going to be a scenario where you don't want to go. If my discipline wasn't in check I wouldn't have been at the gym at 1am already dead tired before I started.
I hear you. Some of you guys have amazing home gyms. I'm one of the nuts that actually likes going to the gym. Hell, when I go I usually have the place almost to myself.There will come a day when I tire of listening to 80's music. That day is not today.
I Really Miss The Old BodySpace
-O35 5'8" Crew- -Karl_Hungus Crew-
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09-22-2010, 10:40 AM #28
I hear you. Some of you guys have amazing home gyms. I'm one of the nuts that actually likes going to the gym. Hell, when I go I usually have the place almost to myself.[/QUOTE]
I'm there with you. I'd rather go to a gym. For some reason the idea of getting up and going somewhere is more motivating. I also thrive on other people being there, especially people who are bigger and/or in better shape. It helps drive me to push harder.
I think the whole "I feel better once I start working out" thing has a lot to do with endorphans and other cheminal reactions in or bodies. Our bodies are amaxing machines, they want to move and perform, it's what they were designed to do. When you are fueling it properly it will respond when giving the challenge of lifting weight. I can't think of anything that helps me relieve stress more than going to the gym, well almost anything!***Co-Founder DIVERGENT NUTRTION**
"The Worst you can be is like everyone else..."
~Arnold Schwarzeneggar
divergentnutrition.com
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09-22-2010, 10:54 AM #29
If I had some reps to hand out, you get some. I started intermittent fasting two months ago, and since I train in the morning, I train in a fasted state. That hasn't stopped me from making steady gains on my program. With the baby I've been hitting the gym with 3-4 hours of sleep, and still my gains are coming at the outlined pace.
The point I'm trying to make is you can do so much more than you're aware, and all the studies, anecdotal evidence, math, and science you can muster doesn't compare to what you can accomplish when you put your mind to it.
Well done!"Blessed be the Lord my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle." - Psalm 144:1
Also, taxation is theft.
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09-22-2010, 11:00 AM #30
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