How to regain motivation in training, in 5 steps

A series of actions and guidelines to regain that enthusiasm that made you start training.

You have been training for some time, you have achieved some of the goals you had set, but today you suddenly start to feel the effects of demotivation. You don't even know where to start.

You look at your cell phone: 12 messages and 3 videos on WhatsApp. You read, visualize and answer. You go on Facebook, the same thing, followed by Twitter, Instagram, email... you almost feel like opening your Google+. You turn off your cell phone, keep wandering....

You end up giving up and going to the Elliptical. You plug in your headphones and "train". You've lost connection with your purpose, and if you keep this up, you're close to giving up.

Does this situation sound familiar? I hope it doesn't. But if you think it describes you, you've already come to the conclusion that something is missing: the necessary motivation to train when it comes to doing sport.

What is it that 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 bit of theory always comes in handy to help us get our bearings. Let's start with the basics.

What is motivation?

According to the RAE, motivation is the "set of internal or external factors that determine in part the actions of a person". Motivation is having reasons, not desire, 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-Satisfaction TheoriesContent-Satisfaction Theories: based on the study of aspects such as Needs, Aspirations and their level of satisfaction. (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 put the focus, we obtain the different types of motivation. Personally, I find the distinction between Intrinsic Motivation and Extrinsic Motivation very clarifying. If you want to know all the types of motivation read: "Types of motivation: the 8 motivational sources", although here you can find a very brief summary:

Extrinsic Motivation

Arises from the hope of obtaining a benefit external to the action itself. The motives that make the person act are external to the action itself, materialized as money, promotion, commitments... Example: I have joined the gym because my doctor has told me that if I don't lower my cholesterol he will have to give me a treatment with very strong medicines.

Intrinsic Motivation

It arises from the deepest part of our being and is linked to our values and life purposes. and is linked to our values and life purposes.. 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 keep in mind about what motivates us...

• Not everyone is motivated by the same thing.
• Motivations vary over time and with a person's different environments.
• Feeling useful and capable is one of the greatest motivators.
• Satisfaction for what is well done is in itself a great motivator.
• If what we want is to motivate another person we must know their needs and manage to align them to an important objective for them.

When we reach the point of psychic exhaustion in which the activities and sports that we used to feel like doing, now we don't even feel like starting? Stop! Become aware of what is happening and ask yourself what has changed? Or better yet, what has changed in me, so that now I am no longer attracted to exercise?

What keeps you motivated for longer?

Before you ask yourself, what motivates you or why you have lost motivation, perhaps you should look for the answer to some 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 you had to choose one sport out of all the sports out there, which one would you choose?
• Which athlete inspires you? And what does he/she do to inspire you?

As you know, the benefits of exercise are multiple and among them I would like to highlight, the improvement of self-esteemI would also like to highlight 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 only have to answer one more question... Does practicing your chosen activity is getting you closer to the person you want to become?

You need to invest time in becoming aware of and bringing to light what is important to you and what you believe is worth striving for. That is a great motivator!

Feeling ownership of our actions

As I mentioned before, there is nothing more motivating than stopping to think about what was the original trigger that got you going. If, in addition to looking for that deep motivation, you want to go a little further and you are encouraged to achieve a challenging goal for youI recommend you to follow these steps with examples of people I have worked with throughout my career:

1. Don't look for motivation; create it.

Look for a goal that every time you remember it, it makes your eyes sparkle.. Example: to be able to hold my grandchildren in my arms again.

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

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

3. Know what your strengths are

This will help you reach your goals. Example: I can only train two days but when I start something I do not give it up (Tenacious), I am sure that for 6 months in addition to controlling my diet (Conscious) I will train 2 hours to lose 7 kg. (Responsible).

4. Action plan

Example: put on a piece of paper a timeline that goes from today until the day you are going to achieve your goal (Lose 5kg in 2 months). Put two or three milestones along the way so that you feel that you are achieving small results (Milestone 1: Check my fridge-pantry. Milestone 2: Read 3 articles a month about food. Milestone 3: Lose my first kg). Last action: break down each timeline until you break each milestone into small steps, so small that it's easy for you to get to the next small step. This is how you achieve big goals.

5. Evaluation and readjustment

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

Regaining enthusiasm for training

In short, if feeling agile, autonomous, energetic, strong... makes it easier for you and brings you closer to your purpose, then don't worry, the motivation will come. Be clear about what you want to achieve. Know exactly the way to get there. And make sure that achieving it makes you better.

I hope I have helped you and above all I hope that the next time you look at your cell phone in your training it will be to choose your favorite song.