Long-term serious lifters: how much do you struggle with motivation, if at all?

[EliKoehn]

Lifting is one of the joys of my life and I sincerely relish it, but there are occasional windows of time where I lose a lot of eagerness for about a month, before it goes back to where it was. I don't stop training, but it's with less enthusiasm and intensity.

I've been lifting multiple times a week consistently for about 8 years now, and I can tell these windows of losing interest are getting a bit more frequent... While I don't think I will ever stop training in my able-bodied life, I hope not to lose the "spark" for it.

To those of you who have lifted seriously and consistently for several years, how much or often does this affect you, and is there something which keeps your desire to train alive and well?

[air2fakie]

I struggle more with motivation to brush my teeth before bed, and I still do that every night.

[Silencespeaks]

Never

I love lifting and look forward to it always.

I don’t lift heavy though because I think that is bad for your body. I just lift light or moderate weight for reps and focus on consistency instead.

[EiFit91]

Been at it for 7 years consistently (8-9 if I count my late teens before I quit and picked it up again in my mid 20s)

I am less obsessive about it as gains are super slow now but I still genuinely look forward to lifting almost every time. I struggle with motivation on lots of other stuff, just not this (so far)

For an additional motivation boost it also helps to look back on old pics of me in my early 20s with far worse posture and worse body composition at the same weight.

[Olympia2018]

Usually takes me 30 mins from parking lot to walk in every day. But I do it for my health/body and never regret it, only regret not working out

[TAWS6]

The good thing is once you max out hypertrophy (about 30 lbs of muscle natty for a male) you can get lean and switch to power lifting.

[MyEgoProblem]

Motivation is a bull**** metric here.
Far too many dips to rely on it to be consistent.

Discipline and just doing it when you don't want to is key.

Everyone goes thru stages of loving it, hating it and just punching the clock.

Process vs goal orientation is a big factor too

[coachcalande]

This is why instinctive training and auto regulated workouts are so daggone important.

Training a bit more holistically allows for DECADES of enjoyment.

There was a time that you could not have paid me to train over 8 reps. Every set had to be heavy duty and intense. I was also convinced that 2-3 hours a night in the gym was “the sacrifice that had to be made”- absolute bull#@$&!

Training every other day, a min of 30 min to a max of about 90-120 min on a high volume day …with another rest day after…allows life balance and recovery.

Everyone wants to push this “no days off” bs…burn out city! Pick a program you can stick with through high stress, busy times in life or you will be just another “used to lift” bro.

Bodybuilding, powerlifting, power building, cross fit, Olympic lifting, BW training…whatever you need to stay motivated…and read, watch YouTube, and get off this echo chamber forum now and again!

[MyEgoProblem]

This is why instinctive training and auto regulated workouts are so daggone important.

read, watch YouTube, and get off this echo chamber forum now and again!

Boom!

Rpe based or any autoregulation you favour is the future!
Flexible holistic programming is the way for most people past noobie beginner status (so long as they track their **** and aren't an idiot with no clue at all)

No One here who isn't pushing records or champions
Really needs an. Ultra strutured setup, unless that is what works for their consistency or have a meet/comp they care about.

Read (or watch)
Learn new things!
Relax!
Widen your horizons!
👌

[coachcalande]

The good thing is once you max out hypertrophy (about 30 lbs of muscle natty for a male) you can get lean and switch to power lifting.

30 pounds? Lol, gotta disagree hard here- I probably put 30 pounds of muscle on just one leg.

Even my back…your number is way low here.

Thinking back to being 5-7 and 97 lbs…now I’m 5-9 and 275. There are obviously skeletal mass and bone density changes as well as significant gains in both body fat and muscle tissue …certainly a helluva lot more than 30 pounds of natty muscle gained over the last 40 plus years.

Heck my own son is about 230 now and was in the 160s when he started lifting.

[TAWS6]

30 pounds? Lol, gotta disagree hard here- I probably put 30 pounds of muscle on just one leg.

Even my back…your number is way low here.

Thinking back to being 5-7 and 97 lbs…now I’m 5-9 and 275. There are obviously skeletal mass and bone density changes as well as significant gains in both body fat and muscle tissue …certainly a helluva lot more than 30 pounds of natty muscle gained over the last 40 plus years.

Heck my own son is about 230 now and was in the 160s when he started lifting.

If you have good genetics obviously you can gain more. Once you diet down to 10-12 percent you realize that you don’t have as much muscle as you think. That was my rude awakening when I bulked over 200 as a natural.

[coachcalande]

If you have good genetics obviously you can gain more. Once you diet down to 10-12 percent you realize that you don’t have as much muscle as you think. That was my rude awakening when I bulked over 200 as a natural.

I agree dieting down is going to mean giving up BOTH lean muscle tissue and body fat.

I won’t do it. Too much went into building size and strength and I’ll never willingly go back to having to take my shirt off to show “look, see I lift”…nah, bear mode, better gym performance, bigger real life strength and presence.

I mean I looked damned good at 155-185 as a hs/ college kid, 8% body fat around 200 lbs my Junior n Senior year of college, better , thicker as a young adult 215- 238, that stage of development in my 20s…got fat in my 40s with coaching, kids,, moving, missing workouts and a ****e diet…but I got stronger at some things in my 40s /50s too. The weight isn’t all bad.

The point is, if a natty is willing to hold onto body fat, you also can build a lot more than 30lbs of muscle. If it’s just lean and having abs….yeah, might as well just lift alittle, play a lot of basketball and kid stuff…stay lean.

[TAWS6]

I can get to 10% now without losing muscle but I’ve had a lot of practice lol. Natural bodybuilding is really sad and depressing tbh. Look at all the best naturals. They compete in the 160s at 5-7 percent bf. When you see them in normal clothing they don’t even look like they lift.

[MyEgoProblem]

Gotta say...
I agree with both above 100%!

My feelings are, having to take your kit off to look like you lift id great if youre a kid and spent your time in places it suits.

Done that - was fun for a couple of months a few decades ago... Then started to hate it fast

I'd much rather fill the L/XL tshirt and cast an imposing shadow. (still got some kilos to drop right now tho)

[air2fakie]

Natural bodybuilding is really sad and depressing tbh.

Nice, 6-pack achieved. Wait, where'd my arms go, wtf?!?!

[coachcalande]

Gotta say...
I agree with both above 100%!

My feelings are, having to take your kit off to look like you lift id great if youre a kid and spent your time in places it suits.

Done that - was fun for a couple of months a few decades ago... Then started to hate it fast

I'd much rather fill the L/XL tshirt and cast an imposing shadow. (still got some kilos to drop right now tho)

I don’t know if you guys are on Twitter but I posted two photos, no pump, just me in a tee shirt, it’s a XXL and Im Stretching the sleeves pretty nice. I’m gaining again after losing 40 lbs (lost some strength with that!) but it’s going on nice, especially on my legs.


Guys spend all their years trying to stay ripped and never actually GET BIG…My wife is a freaking 10 so don’t think you gotta be all ripped to meet the girl of your dreams, she feeds me well! My wife calls me her “Viking” and says she feels safer with a bigger man. Think about it fellas. She certainly could have found some ripped up 165 lb guy, but she married me when I was at 265.

[TAWS6]

Nice, 6-pack achieved. Wait, where'd my arms go, wtf?!?!

Oops

Dick don’t work no mo lol

[EliKoehn]

I feel pretty good at 250 right now. Just pulled 405 x 8 yesterday and am ready to train again tonight. My body comp is notably better than it was the last time I weighed this much, and my strength has continued to climb, but there's no denying that much of this weight is fat and I could easily lose 10-15 pounds of pure fat which certainly exists and is currently doing me no favors. Easy to entertain the illusion that most of the size and weight is muscle, bone mass or whatever else, but that's really not true.

I was lean as a teenager, but I don't think I would trade being big and strong for that ever. Never understood the fixation on true leanness beyond simply being at a healthy weight and having some basic separation. Going the other way and being complacent with clear obesity is not something I ever want to do, either.

[coachcalande]

I feel pretty good at 250 right now. Just pulled 405 x 8 yesterday and am ready to train again tonight. My body comp is notably better than it was the last time I weighed this much, and my strength has continued to climb, but there's no denying that much of this weight is fat and I could easily lose 10-15 pounds of pure fat which certainly exists and is currently doing me no favors. Easy to entertain the illusion that most of the size and weight is muscle, bone mass or whatever else, but that's really not true.

I was lean as a teenager, but I don't think I would trade being big and strong for that ever. Never understood the fixation on true leanness beyond simply being at a healthy weight and having some basic separation. Going the other way and being complacent with clear obesity is not something I ever want to do, either.

Good that you put on some weight for powerlifting mode anyways. Like you said, you don’t have to go “morbid obese” with it, but carrying a spare tire, smoother muscles…to reach some new PRS…totally worth it if you keep a basic lifters shape and appearance.

Dropping down to 195 or whatever will probably mean you lose quite a bit of strength for that V taper and definition.

[TAWS6]

Anyone follow Sean Nale? This is basically what happen to me. Lol.


https://youtu.be/keTQitodU2g

[MyEgoProblem]

Anyone follow Sean Nale? This is basically what happen to me. Lol.


https://youtu.be/keTQitodU2g

Followed years ago...
But Much like steve shaw and all the others..
Sooo boring and boxed in to his own ideas, product and bs.

Dirty bulk is funny tho

[jademonkey]

I guess I'm in the opposite camp as a lot of y'all. I've never had any desire to be big. It always just confuses me when guys wanna be big. That's my bro and he's compensating for being a scrawny kid.

Of course there's also the fact that I grew up around gymnastics and always wanted to do cool ****, never thought about getting big once, and most people I was around including the girls and myself were ripped and lean. I guess it just stuck with me. I also think at 5'-10" I'm the perfect height, but some guys seem to wish they were tall. Also at 5'-10" I'm never gonna be big and imposing. I'll never be over 200 lbs without a lot of fat. My bro is 6 ft and in the low 200s, and if he cut down I bet he'd be under 200.

[coachcalande]

I guess I'm in the opposite camp as a lot of y'all. I've never had any desire to be big. It always just confuses me when guys wanna be big. That's my bro and he's compensating for being a scrawny kid.

Of course there's also the fact that I grew up around gymnastics and always wanted to do cool ****, never thought about getting big once, and most people I was around including the girls and myself were ripped and lean. I guess it just stuck with me. I also think at 5'-10" I'm the perfect height, but some guys seem to wish they were tall. Also at 5'-10" I'm never gonna be big and imposing. I'll never be over 200 lbs without a lot of fat. My bro is 6 ft and in the low 200s, and if he cut down I bet he'd be under 200.

Well, for me, I grew up thinking that guys like Tom Platz, Franco Columbu , Sergio Oliva and Arnold were ideal physiques…I always wanted to be huge, like Ronnie Coleman huge…learned soon enough what a lean natty looked like vs the natty strong men…they had guts but still very impressive size and shape. In fact I recall a conversation in my senior year of college with a few powerlifter guys that also did bodybuilding movements- they were the first to really impress upon me the values of the 4-6 rep range. As a natty, it made me grow better than the 8-12 stuff.

I worked as a trainer in two gyms when I graduated college, there were two clear camps, nattys and the roids guys. Losing my best friend to a complete personality change showed me just how much I wanted to stay natty. He grew crazy on roids but he was no longer all that much fun to be around. I stayed natty my whole life and I was still standing in the locker room flexing like everyone else looking jacked at a high of 238 lbs, doing dips with 135 lbs hanging from my waist and doing chins with a 45 plate hanging for 8 reps. I think I squatted 315x12 or something like that back then before knee surgery. Not a crazy strong number but I literally had no ACL so I was good with it. I ate whatever the heck I could eat btw…

Went through a bunch of moves and job changes in my coaching career and many times had long periods where my weights were in storage and I didn’t have a gym membership…trained on occasion at the schools…got fat….blubber…not just smooth abs…fat.

Worked off alot of that in the last couple years of hard core 100% focused training.

My diet is really clean nowadays…no booze, no beer, no pizza, no fries…egg whites, chicken, tuna, turkey…rice, oats, potatoes, veggies, fruit…pretty basic….but I can still build muscle.

No interest in losing a lifetime of gains to shred…but willing to give up some strength to stay healthy…at my age I can lift heavy, just not as often for sure…I can just tell…

[MyEgoProblem]

I guess I'm in the opposite camp as a lot of y'all. I've never had any desire to be big. It always just confuses me when guys wanna be big. That's my bro and he's compensating for being a scrawny kid.

Of course there's also the fact that I grew up around gymnastics and always wanted to do cool ****, never thought about getting big once, and most people I was around including the girls and myself were ripped and lean. I guess it just stuck with me. I also think at 5'-10" I'm the perfect height, but some guys seem to wish they were tall. Also at 5'-10" I'm never gonna be big and imposing. I'll never be over 200 lbs without a lot of fat. My bro is 6 ft and in the low 200s, and if he cut down I bet he'd be under 200.

Your friends are all built small frame then bro.

Not hating, can be a great look if youre into that!
100% guarantee you're all more 'aesthetic' than me 😂
Easily.

At 5'10" your already 3* above the national average for most places.. You can be legit biiiig and not be fat.

Lean =/= stage ready

Not my goals tho but i 101% want you to reach yours

[TAWS6]

I like the middle ground. 12-15%. Still lean and athletic. Still looking jacked in clothing and at the beach. Good strength levels ect. I don’t like super lean or the dad bod 20+ percent soft look.

[air2fakie]

Studies show that visual body composition preferences of experienced lifters tend to be however they look at any given moment in time.

[coachcalande]

I like the middle ground. 12-15%. Still lean and athletic. Still looking jacked in clothing and at the beach. Good strength levels ect. I don’t like super lean or the dad bod 20+ percent soft look.

Yeah I never wanted any body fat at all…in fact I ran and played sports well into my late thirties….I tried to run, skate, bike … In my 40s bone spurs and arthritis in my knees made me give up my treadmill…that actually helped my squats, dead and bench though it was cruel to my belly …staying in shape as 20-30 something was a breeze….even with a @#$&* diet.

[EiFit91]

I agree dieting down is going to mean giving up BOTH lean muscle tissue and body fat.

I won’t do it. Too much went into building size and strength and I’ll never willingly go back to having to take my shirt off to show “look, see I lift”…nah, bear mode, better gym performance, bigger real life strength and presence.

I mean I looked damned good at 155-185 as a hs/ college kid, 8% body fat around 200 lbs my Junior n Senior year of college, better , thicker as a young adult 215- 238, that stage of development in my 20s…got fat in my 40s with coaching, kids,, moving, missing workouts and a ****e diet…but I got stronger at some things in my 40s /50s too. The weight isn’t all bad.

The point is, if a natty is willing to hold onto body fat, you also can build a lot more than 30lbs of muscle. If it’s just lean and having abs….yeah, might as well just lift alittle, play a lot of basketball and kid stuff…stay lean.

brb using imagination since no pics

[coachcalande]

brb using imagination since no pics

Yeah sorry bro, we didn’t all have cameras with us in the 80s.

[air2fakie]

Yeah sorry bro, we didn’t all have cameras with us in the 80s.

<------- or today.