What Motivates You!! What keeps you going?

[Mr Gastric]

Lately, I have been getting laxed on working out? Sometimes, I prefer to do cardio over lifting because its easier! What motivates you daily to keep lifting? What do you do when you dont feel like lifting?

J

[theprimehost]

These forums for one. In the end, you've got to set goals and finds out what motivates you.

[laxballer]

preparing for a contest that's a year way.

[Testosterone97]

Stupid jackoffs who disrespect you even though they know your big and could kill them. That is what motivates me. People that get in my way and try to stop me. People that think its a waiste you do what you do even though they cant man up and do it theirselves. Fuk em man!

[Doctor Deadlift]

Yeah, reading these forums keeps you motivated. You don't realize it at first, but when you're reading about bodybuilding every day, and seeing so many people try to get huge, it keeps you going. If I'm not motivated, sometimes I'll flip through Arnold's Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding, or throw on a video. Alot of times in the gym, I try to envision how hard Arnold or Ronnie have worked to get to where they are, and it works to myself realize that I am just being lazy.

[godjoey]

Try thinking about making a difference other than body size or more cuts, train for a greater purpose. A bigger goal than just adding an inch or cutting down to the bone. Train as if your life might depend on it or someone elses life might depend on you and your body strength / fitness. Those things may never happen but you will end up probably reaching and exceeding your fitness goals.

Hmm motivation... Think of 911 if that doesn't help, I don't know what will. I heard a song the other day that started off with a man calling his wife from within the towers leaving a message on her machine that he loved her. That doesn't raise a chill on you as a human being not just an american, I don't know what would motivate you. Alot of trauma in the world of course I'm leaving alot of other things out that can motivate you that goes on around the world.
This might not work unless you are empathetic towards any type of tragedy.

Song is tears in heaven 911 Tears In Heaven- WTC-
Political drama aside.

[chad12121]

survivor - eye of the tiger

Thinking about making my ex's really jealous

[TexasLift]

Stupid jackoffs who disrespect you even though they know your big and could kill them. That is what motivates me. People that get in my way and try to stop me. People that think its a waiste you do what you do even though they cant man up and do it theirselves. Fuk em man!

You have to give respect to earn respect, and ultimate power comes from true humility...and not from being a meat head...

[BigNorwegian]

survivor - eye of the tiger

Thinking about making my ex's really jealous

The ex thing works well for me

[FriendlyGiant]

i think about football and how much everybody needs you to be at your best on the field-by the way i don't even play football yet but i want to so bad!

[skelooth]

my problem is that i can't stop lifting.... it's an obsession. Everytime i look in the mirror i feel i have to lift.

[The Real Deal]

friendly competition btwn my friends keep me motivated. nothing better than outlifting ur friends especially when u have been lifting for a shorter amount of time.

[Mr Gastric]

Thanks everyone for the replies, I am going to look deep within and write down my motivation!!!!!!!!!!

J

[timberw0lf]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

[SeanDon]

My motivation is knowing that i can accomplish anything if i can accomplish my fitness goals.

Also imagining the looks on all my friends faces when i'm buffed up. A lot of girls are already being more open to me, and i'm still a heavy guy But i've lost weight and they're noticing, which is a definite motivational factor.

[itsyaboy]

in search of perfection motivates me...beauty also motivates...

[RoAR]

knowing that theres somebody out there that "I" wanna be big like. that makez me work hard cuz i shud b wat i wanna look like , especialy if its up to me to make it happen

[J.L.C.]

Knowing that the competition is only a couple months away.....and not wanting to look like an idiot in my posing trunks!! LOL

Girl attention is the opposite.....chicks don't like muscley guys....at all.

[ucrpatel]

man, just waking up at 430am is prue motivation, but is not easy, and the body is not always wanting, but what keeps me pushing it all the bull**** i've dealt with in my life and people, knowing taking one day at a time, will change everything, as long as i don't give up, and if you do feel like your losing it, its time to maybe change up your routine, times you hit up the gym, or excerise plan, become litte flexible.

[Leonard4]

My best form of motivation has been my before pic (ugh) and all my progress pics, makes it feel worth while to see how bad I was, and how far i've come.

[riseboi]

My best form of motivation has been my before pic (ugh) and all my progress pics, makes it feel worth while to see how bad I was, and how far i've come.

Definately agree with that.

[Husmi3]

I been lifting since last august. During this time i have quit cause of lack of motivation for about 3 months. the past week i have started back up lifting. I de3cided no mater how down I feel or what lack of motivation is there, i got to keep lifting to get to where i want to be. So, during these hard times i set a time to do my working out. I stick with that time. If i miss a day, i pick up the day after where i left off as if i didn't miss a day. What else can i do? =D

[rockhard1]

Stupid jackoffs who disrespect you even though they know your big and could kill them. That is what motivates me. People that get in my way and try to stop me. People that think its a waiste you do what you do even though they cant man up and do it theirselves. Fuk em man!

Bump!!! Like my friends, they do it every now and then but I have a couple that lift all of the time, when I saw their results, I decided it was my turn to get big.

[ezkzak]

I find it easier to stay motivated by keeping a journal and setting out with a goal of 8 weeks with no missed workouts. Usually about 6 or so weeks into a cycle is the time people would feel like taking a break, but if you're looking at all the sets/reps you've done the last 6 weeks on paper, you aren't going to quit until the 8 weeks are gone. At least I'm not.

[unclejeff]

this story motivates me....which i have posted 3 times today for other reasons..........

This is a little motivational story that was posted on wannabebig.com that I read every now and then, I think you'll all enjoy it. It was originally from t-mag.

"So, what are you doing for a living these days?" Bob asked me. We're sitting on the couch at one of those tedious holiday get-togethers, you know, the ones where you're supposed to be nice to family members you never see except during major holidays and funerals. I think Bob is my wife's brother-in-law's second cousin or something.

"I'm the assistant editor and a writer for Testosterone magazine," I say. Bob looks at me with a blank expression on his face, as if I'd just told him I sell handmade testicle warmers beside the freeway and was looking to open franchises across the nation.

"It's a bodybuilding magazine," I say.

Blank expression. Deer caught in the headlights. Ronnie Coleman doing trigonometry.

"Oh," Bob finally says, "I heard you were, like, one of those bodybuilder guys or something. So, what's that like, you know, working out every day and stuff? I just don't have time to lift weights all day, but I have been meaning to get rid of this beer belly." He takes another sip of beer. "What do you suggest?" Sip.

At first I was a little offended. I wanted to grab him up and say, "You can't tell I'm a bodybuilder?! Look at my ass! Now, if that's not a nice round squat-built piece of sirloin, I don't know what is! You think that comes naturally? I can crack walnuts with this puppy! Wanna see? Huh, punk? Do ya? Do ya?"

Then I realize this just might cause a scene and could cost me several Christmas presents. I was planning on returning any presents I got and using the money to buy a power rack, so I didn't want to jeopardize this gift getting opportunity. I also realized that old Bob probably had a certain preconceived image of a bodybuilder and I just didn't fit that image. I'm not gorilla huge; I weigh about 205 at 5'11" right now. (When I first started lifting I was a pudgy 159, so that's not too shabby.) Also, I wasn't wearing clown pants, a fluorescent string tank top, a hanky on my head and one of those little fanny packs. And isn't that what real bodybuilders are supposed to wear?

Bob continued to sit there drinking his Natural Light, smoking a cigarette and waiting for an answer, oblivious to the fact that he'd come this close to seeing some serious walnut- crunching ass power. I tried to figure out how I could explain to the average guy what the typical T-Man does and why he does it. How could I get him to understand what it is we do, how we feel, how we live? So I took a deep breath and told him something like this:

"Well, Bob, I guess you could use the term bodybuilder if you really need a label for what it is we do. Most of us actually don't stand on stage and compete, though. We lift weights and manipulate our diets so that we'll look good naked. Sure, it's healthy too, and we'll probably live a longer and more productive life than the average guy, but mostly it's about the naked thing. Truthfully, it goes beyond even that.

"Let's be honest here. We do it because of people like you, Bob. We look at you sitting there with your gut hanging over your belt and we watch you grunt and groan just getting out of a chair. Guys like you are our inspiration, Bob. You're better than Anthony Robbins, Bill Phillips, Deepak Chopra, and Zig ****ing Ziglar all wrapped up into one. We love it when guys like you talk about not having time to exercise. Every time we see you munching on a bag of potato chips, you inspire us. You're my shot in the arm, Bob, my living and breathing wake-up call, my own personal success coach.

"You want to know what it is we do? We overcome. We're too busy to train, too, but we overcome. We're too busy to prepare healthy meals and eat them five or six times a day, but we overcome. We can't always afford supplements, our genetics aren't perfect, and we don't always feel like going to the gym. Some of us used to be just like you, Bob, but guess what? We've overcome.

"We like to watch 'normal' people like you tell us about how they can't get in shape. We smile and nod sympathetically like we feel your pain, but actually, we're thinking that you're a pathetic piece of **** that needs to grow a spine and join a gym. You smile sheepishly and say that you just can't stay motivated and just can't stand that feeling of being sore. (For some reason you think that admitting your weaknesses somehow justifies them.) We listen to you ***** and moan. We watch you look for the easy way out. Because of people like you, Bob, we never miss a workout.

"You ask us for advice about diet and training and usually we politely offer some guidance, but deep inside we know you won't take our advice. You know that too. We smile and say, 'Hope that helps. Good luck,' but actually we're thinking, 'Boy, it would suck to be you.' We know that 99% of people won't listen to us. Once they hear that it takes hard work, sacrifice and discipline, they stop listening and tune us out.

"We know they wanted us to say that building a great body is easy, but it just isn't. This did not take five minutes a day on a TorsoTrack. We did not get this way in 12 short weeks using a Bowflex and the Suzanne Somers' 'Get Skinny' diet. A good body does not cost five easy payments of $39.95.

"We like it that while you're eating a candy bar and drinking Mountain Dew, we're sucking down a protein shake. You see, that makes it taste even better to us. While you're asleep we're either getting up early or staying up late, hitting the iron, pushing ourselves, learning, succeeding and failing and rising above the norm with every rep. Can you feel that, Bob? Can you relate? No? Good. This wouldn't be half as fun if you could.

"We do it because we absolutely and totally get off on it. We do it because people like you, Bob, either can't or won't. We do it because what we do in the gym transfers over into the rest of our lives and changes us, physically, mentally, maybe even spiritually. We do it because it beats watching fishing and golf on TV. By the way, do you know what it's like to turn the head of a beautiful woman because of the way you're built? It feels good, Bob. Damned good.

"When we're in the gym, we're in this indescribable euphoria zone. It's a feeling of being on, of being completely alive and aware. If you haven't been there, then it's like trying to describe color to a person who's been blind since birth. Within this haze of pleasure and pain, there's knowledge and power, self-discipline and self-reliance. If you do it long enough, Bob, there's even enlightenment. Sometimes, the answers to questions you didn't even know you had are sitting there on those rubber mats, wrapped up in a neat package of iron plates and bars.

"Want to lose that beer belly, Bob? I have a nutty idea. Put down the ****ing beer. I'll tell you what, Bob. Christmas morning I'm getting up real early and hitting the iron. I want to watch my daughter open her presents and spend the whole day with her, so this is the only time I have to train. The gym will be closed, so I'm going out in my garage to workout. You be at my house at six in the morning, okay? I'll be glad to help you get started on a weight training program. It'll be colder than Hillary Clinton's coochie in there, so dress warm.

"But let me tell you something, Bob. If you don't show up, don't bother asking me again. And don't you ever sit there and let me hear you ***** about your beer belly again. This is your chance, your big opportunity to break out of that rut. If you don't show up, Bob, you've learned a very important lesson about yourself, haven't you? You won't like that lesson.

"You won't like that feeling in the pit of your stomach either or that taste in your mouth. It will taste worse than defeat, Bob. Defeat tastes pretty goddamned nasty, but what you'll be experiencing will be much worse. It will be the knowledge that you're weak, mentally and physically. What's worse is that you'll have accepted that feeling. The feeling will always be with you. In the happiest moments of your life, it'll be there, lying under the surface like a malignant tumor. Ignore it at your own peril, Bob.

"Don't look at me like that either. This just may be the best Christmas present you'll get this year. Next Christmas, Bob, when I see you again, I'm going to be a little bigger, a little stronger, and a little leaner. What will you be? Will you still be making excuses? This is a gift, Bob, from me to you. I'm giving you the chance to look fate in those pretty eyes of hers and say, 'Step off, *****. This is my party and you're not invited.' What do you say, Bob? Monday, Christmas morning, 6am, my house. The ball's in your court."

Okay, so maybe that's not the exact words I used with Bob, but you get the picture. Will Bob show up Monday? I don't know, but I kind of doubt it. In fact, Bob will probably take me off his Christmas card list. He probably thinks I've got "too much Testosterone," like that's a bad thing. I think Bob is just stuck in a rut, and as the saying goes, the only difference between a rut and a grave is depth

[highintensity]

I motivate me

[Big_Boi]

lol unclejeff, that story gets better every time i read it

[Trapzillaoo7]

Losing or falling short of a goal. It inspires me to go after it even harder.

Trapz

[Trapzillaoo7]

This also motivates the hell out of me. I posted it on universal-muscle last month.

Subject: Henry Rollins on working out...

Here's a quote from an Interview:


I believe that the definition of definition is
reinvention. To not be like you parents. To not be like
your friends. To be yourself. Completely. When I was
young I had no sense of myself. All I was, was a product
of all the fear and humiliation I suffered. Fear of my
parents. The humiliation of teachers calling me "garbage
can" and telling me I'd be mowing lawns for a living.
And the very real terror of my fellow students. I was
threatened and beaten up for the color of my skin and my
size. I was skinny and clumsy, and when others would
tease me I didn't run home crying, wondering why. I knew
all too well. I was there to be antagonized. In sports I
was laughed at. A spaz. I was pretty good at boxing but
only because the rage that filled my every waking moment
made me wild and unpredictable. I fought with some
strange fury. The other boys thought I was crazy. I
hated myself all the time. As stupid at it seems now, I
wanted to talk like them, dress like them, carry myself
with the ease of knowing that I wasn't going to get
pounded in the hallway between classes. Years passed and
I learned to keep it all inside. I only talked to a few
boys in my grade. Other losers. Some of them are to this
day the greatest people I have ever known. Hang out with
a guy who has had his head flushed down a toilet a few
times, treat him with respect, and you'll find a
faithful friend forever. But even with friends, school
sucked. Teachers gave me hard time. I didn't think much
of them either. Then came Mr. Pepperman, my adviser. He
was a powerfully built Vietnam veteran, and he was
scary. No one ever talked out of turn in his class. Once
one kid did and Mr. P. lifted him off the ground and
pinned him to the blackboard. Mr. P. could see that I
was in bad shape, and one Friday in October he asked me
if I had ever worked out with weights. I told him no. He
told me that I was going to take some of the money that
I had saved and buy a hundred-pound set of weights at
Sears. As I left his office, I started to think of
things I would say to him on Monday when he asked about
the weights that I was not going to buy. Still, it made
me feel special. My father never really got that close
to caring. On Saturday I bought the weights, but I
couldn't even drag them to my mom's car. An attendant
laughed at me as he put them on a dolly.

Monday came and I was called into Mr. P.'s office after
school. He said that he was going to show me how to work
out. He was going to put me on a program and start
hitting me in the solar plexus in the hallway when I
wasn't looking. When I could take the punch we would
know that we were getting somewhere. At no time was I to
look at myself in the mirror or tell anyone at school
what I was doing. In the gym he showed me ten basic
exercises. I paid more attention than I ever did in any
of my classes. I didn't want to blow it. I went home
that night and started right in. Weeks passed, and every
once in a while Mr. P. would give me a shot and drop me
in the hallway, sending my books flying. The other
students didn't know what to think.

More weeks passed, and I was steadily adding new weights
to the bar. I could sense the power inside my body
growing. I could feel it.

Right before Christmas break I was walking to class, and
from out of nowhere Mr. Pepperman appeared and gave me a
shot in the chest. I laughed and kept going. He said I
could look at myself now.

I got home and ran to the bathroom and pulled off my
shirt. I saw a body, not just the shell that housed my
stomach and my heart. My biceps bulged. My chest had
definition. I felt strong. It was the first time I can
remember having a sense of myself. I had done something
and no one could ever take it away. You couldn't say
**** to me.

It took me years to fully appreciate the value of the
lessons I have learned from the Iron. I used to think
that it was my adversary, that I was trying to lift that
which does not want to be lifted. I was wrong.

When the Iron doesn't want to come off the mat, it's the
kindest thing it can do for you. If it flew up and went
through the ceiling, it wouldn't teach you anything.
That's the way the Iron talks to you. It tells you that
the material you work with is that which you will come
to resemble. That which you work against will always
work against you.

It wasn't until my late twenties that I learned that by
working out I had given myself a great gift. I learned
that nothing good comes without work and a ceratin
amount of pain. When I finish a set that leaves me
shaking, I know more about myself. When something gets
bad, I know it can't be as bad as that workout.

I used to fight the pain, but recently this became clear
to me: pain is not my enemy; it is my call to greatness.
But when dealing with the Iron, one must be careful to
interpret the pain correctly.

Most injuries involving the Iron come from ego. I once
spent a few weeks lifting weight that my body wasn't
ready for and spent a few months not picking up anything
heavier than a fork. Try to lift what you're not
prepared to and the Iron will teach you a little lesson
in restraint and self-control.

I have never met a truly strong person who didn't have
self-respect. I think a lot of inwardly and outwardly
directed contempt passes itself off as self-respect: the
idea of raising yourself by stepping on someone's
shoulders instead of doing it yourself.

When I see guys working out for cosmetic reasons, I see
vanity exposing them in the worst way, as cartoon
characters, billboards for imbalance and insecurity.
Strength reveals itself through character. It is the
difference between bouncers who get off strong-arming
people and Mr.Pepperman.

Muscle mass does not always equal strength. Strength is
kindness and sensitivity. Strength is understanding that
your power is both physical and emotional. That it comes
from the body and the mind. And the heart.

Yukio Mishima said that he could not entertain the idea
of romance if he was not strong. Romance is such a
strong and overwhelming passion, a weakened body cannot
sustain it for long.

I have some of my most romantic thoughts when I am with
the Iron. Once I was in love with a woman. I thought
about her the most when the pain from a workout was
racing through my body. Everything in me wanted her. So
much so that sex was only a fraction of my total desire.
It was the single most intense love I have ever felt,
but she lived far away and I didn't see her very often.
Working out was a healthy way of dealing with the
loneliness. To this day, when I work out I usually
listen to ballads.

I prefer to work out alone. It enables me to concentrate
on the lessons that the Iron has for me. Learning about
what you're made of is always time well spent, and I
have found no better teacher. The Iron had taught me how
to live. Life is capable of driving you out of your
mind. The way it all comes down these days, it's some
kind of miracle if you're not insane. People have become
separated from their bodies. They are no longer whole. I
see them move from their offices to their cars and on to
their suburban homes. They stress out constantly, they
lose sleep, they eat badly. And they behave badly. Their
egos run wild; they become motivated by that which will
eventually give them a massive stroke. They need theIron
mind.

Through the years, I have combined meditation, action,
and the Iron into a single strength. I believe that when
the body is strong, the mind thinks strong thoughts.
Time spent away from the Iron makes my mind degenerate.
I wallow in a thick depression. My body shuts down my
mind. The Iron is the best antidepressant I have ever
found. There is no better way to fight weakness than
with strength. Once the mind and body have been awakened
to their true potential, it's impossible to turnback.

The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and
listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you're a god
or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the
real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the
all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a
beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be
my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never
runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is
always two hundred pounds.

[kingcarlos]

he is the reason for my motivations