Perpetual Motivation is a Lie

In a world full of Internet memes featuring bubbly messages of perpetual fitness enthusiasm, magazine covers shoving "flat tummy tricks" and "booty sculpting in 6 minutes" down your throat, and infomercials extolling the simplicity and joy of cramming every vegetable under the sun into a glorified blender so you can smoothie your way to lower bodyfat by week's end, you'd think we would all be fitness model lean and more motivated than a cheerleader hopped up on amphetamines. 

But that's just not the case. Motivation ebbs and flows, and our relative state of fitness along with it. We all go through this cycle. Sometimes I love training hard heavy and often, sometimes everything hurts and I'm dying. Sometimes my eating habits are perfectly suited for my goals, and sometimes I get free t shirts from the village bake shop for being a frequent flyer. This is relatively normal. Nobody is at maximum nutritional compliance, totally injury free, and uber motivated ALL the time.

So what does this mean?

It means you try to ride the waves as evenly as possible. Try not to adopt an "all or nothing mentality" during the less than stellar times of year. Strive for balance wherever possible. Keep up with your training schedule even if every session isn't at an overwhelming intensity. Eat according to goals even if you're off schedule or just need a break for a piece of cake and a beer. Keep yourself reaching to improve in one capacity or another at all times, maybe not on every single front but try to make some sort of progress every session. 

And when the time comes, go ALL IN. Sometimes the stars align and you're ready to hit the gym hard, use discipline in the kitchen, and recover properly all at once. Use those times to dial up your intensity and make bigger leaps on progress.

Progress is never linear and motivation can come and go, but by staying the course and riding out the ebbs and flows of life, we can maintain and improve fitness levels year after year.

Steve Decker