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Goals, maintenance and staying motivated, advice needed


Redbird

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So, five years or so ago at around 40 I took an active interest in my health and general condition for the first time in my life. Lost some weight, started strength training, was going to martial arts three time a week and dusted off my bicycle. I loved the progress and seeing the tangible results of my efforts. I played around with different workouts and diets and spent most of three years learning my body and how it reacts to various input- dietary, exercise of various forms and intensity, rest, carbs, fat, protein, supplements (creatine and the like, no HGH, steroids or anything close) and the timing of all of them. I became an expert on my own personal physiology.

By 42 I was literally in the best shape of my life, I would have walked all over myself in my 20's in just about every way. By 43 I was bored, mainly because I lacked the motivation, dedication and discipline to hit the next level, progress had stopped. My kids dropped martial arts for other interests and I dropped it not long after. I was in pretty good shape, but just staying there didn't seem worth all the effort. By 44 I fell completely off the wagon because my motivation was always progress, but there simply wasn't a lot more to be had without hitting that next level, my problems with which are listed above.

I spent most of 2014 going to shit. Put on 10 lbs. and lost a lot of hard earned muscle. Finally around last October I was in poor enough shape that I said fuck it, something needs to be done. Been back on it in a serious way since, made some good progress in short time. Muscle memory is a real thing, lucky for me. The progress is once again a bit intoxicating, but this time I know that wall is waiting for me. I'm close to meeting the goals I set back in October, but then what? If I set new goals, I may meet them, but I know I'll ultimately lack the dedication and disposable time to keep it up. I'm in decent shape now, is good enough good enough, and how to maintain that when progress has always been my main motivator?

So, for you long haul guys, how do you stay motivated when progress become either painfully slow or nonexistent? Right now I'm at a pace I can keep up indefinitely, even when I'm working more, but I know I'll be stagnant or close to it at some point not long from now. If I up the effort, I know I'll drop off when work once again starts demanding 12-14 hours a day. Where's the balance, and how do I find it?

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Couple of thoughts. I'm no fitness master. I have been lifting since I was 18..consistently. Like you..I've had ups and downs but I have never gained fat weight to any extent in my life. I have always kept my bf% reasonable with no swings up or down.

If you always meet your goals, your goals aren't high enough. My goals are things like this. Bench 315lbs, weigh no more than 205 and deadlift 400lbs. Suffice like that which can translate into a long term or short term goal depending on your time available to work out. (Btw..I've met the weight goal, bench press goal and I think I will reach the dead lift goal in 2 wks)

The main factor in my progress is my work schedule, just like you. I have not overcome this. If I'm working a 12 hr day, I'm not going to the gym..if I did, I'd not see my family at all that day. Not an option.

I'm a lean manufacturing manager. One of the most critical things I teach is making goals visible. I have a calendar at home that I use to track how many days I go to the gym. If I go on average 4 times per week, I will meet my fitness goals. If I go 3 times per week, I'm in mostly a sustain mode. I found that I would convince myself I had gone more times then I had. This is a way of keeping me honest.

Have you ever been to a company that was highly successful and hid their company goals on a notepad? You need to display them and track them visually to keep yourself accountable.

You may need to come to terms that you can't reach high fitness goals with an extended work schedule. It would be almost impossible for anyone to grow mass when working 14 hrs a day for an extended period. 8 hrs of sleep is very important.

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You may need to come to terms that you can't reach high fitness goals with an extended work schedule.

This is pretty much where I'm at, or at least where I know I will be once work picks up again. During winter it's easy, I've got a ton of free time and attention to put toward diet, exercise, etc. Summer rolls around and I'm lucky if I can sneak home for a quick workout 2-3 times a week, and it's difficult to put the effort needed into eating right.

The first couple years I did a decent job of simply maintaining over the busier months and then getting back to progressing in the slower months. Last year it just started seeming like a lot of effort for little to no progress, but I think you're on to something with long term goals. Looking years down the road years instead of weeks/months might be what it takes, but that will take a largish mental adjustment on my part.

Setting those goals will take some thought, as I no longer lift for max at all. 25 years in the trades and it'd be easier to list my good joints than bad. I've had setbacks related to knee, elbow and shoulder issues and have no urge to take anymore forced breaks. Since I got back into this last fall I've been focusing on flexibility, a lot of core stuff and the lifting is all in the 10-15 rep range. My goals lately are more about overall fitness rather than building mass or lifting as heavy as possible.

Thanks for the input, definitely food for thought.

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I struggle with the same thing, Tim, and the timing/experience is very similar...glad you posted the thread. I've always been in my best shape when I had something to be in shape for. I've never been able to motivate myself to work out just for the sake of it...not for very long, that is. As I hit my middle age, I started to become hypertensive and my doc wanted me on meds...what choice do you have in a decision like that? I prefer not to have a heart attack or cause any long-term damage from high blood pressure but then it put me on a mission to get off of the meds, and I did.

Well, fast forward though a couple of high-intensity career years and I have let the fitness part of my plan fall too far down the priority list. With mixed martial arts, I had a very good motivation to be fit. I also picked up significant injuries over those 24 months. I'm now contemplating going back to martial arts but this time with more art and less martial. Aikido will likely be my next adventure there.

I have conquered my diet for the most part. Took a long time to adopt the mindset that food is not always entertainment, it is sustenance 90% of the time. 10% of the time (1 or 2 meals a week, typically) it is for the flavor. That gets me an 'A' on diet each week and is the reason I'm not gaining weight.

A friend of mine put it this way, and I'm going to attempt to adopt this mindset too: Think of exercise like you do your diet or sleep. Would you plan to go a day without eating? Without sleep?

So, I'm now reflooring my basement (which is a workout all by itself!) with the intent of having a space where it is workout only. Make it convenient, right in my face, and always available. (Not unlike your man cave!)

I like the idea of putting the progress and workout tracking up front and center too. I think I'll move a whiteboard into the area too, great thought, tuffguy.

My last piece of my personal philosophy on being healthy is this: I don't have to get an 'A' on every workout. I don't need to hit any specific goal except to get some exercise. I am perfectly fine with getting a 'C' on days where I am pressed for time or not feeling 100%, as long as I do all of the workouts 6 days a week for cardio and 3 days a week for resistance training. Showing up is most of the battle for me.

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To get proper motivation, this may help. Take your age and divide it half. Round it up to the next whole number. If that number is below 18 add at least 3. If that number is less than your youngest child's age then add enough to bring it at least one year older (because equal or less would be creepy). Now find a hot girlfriend that age or no more than 3 years older. You will then be motivated to stay in shape and as additional bonus you will have little time, cash or energy left over for yourself to indulge in activities that will make you fat. If you're married the additional stress will also help melt away the extra pounds. The time you spend together should help with your cardio if you're doing it right. It's kind of expensive but you can't really put a price on your health now can you?

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To get proper motivation, this may help. Take your age and divide it half. Round it up to the next whole number. If that number is below 18 add at least 3. If that number is less than your youngest child's age then add enough to bring it at least one year older (because equal or less would be creepy). Now find a hot girlfriend that age or no more than 3 years older. You will then be motivated to stay in shape and as additional bonus you will have little time, cash or energy left over for yourself to indulge in activities that will make you fat. If you're married the additional stress will also help melt away the extra pounds. The time you spend together should help with your cardio if you're doing it right. It's kind of expensive but you can't really put a price on your health now can you?

I have a GF but she's a little older, lives in PA, has such a cute scruffy face and a huge schlong.

Love my guy.

His wife keeps getting in the way though :)

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To get proper motivation, this may help. Take your age and divide it half. Round it up to the next whole number. If that number is below 18 add at least 3. If that number is less than your youngest child's age then add enough to bring it at least one year older (because equal or less would be creepy). Now find a hot girlfriend that age or no more than 3 years older. You will then be motivated to stay in shape and as additional bonus you will have little time, cash or energy left over for yourself to indulge in activities that will make you fat. If you're married the additional stress will also help melt away the extra pounds. The time you spend together should help with your cardio if you're doing it right. It's kind of expensive but you can't really put a price on your health now can you?

I have a GF but she's a little older, lives in PA, has such a cute scruffy face and a huge schlong.

Love my guy.

His wife keeps getting in the way though :)

That's why you have to juice to lose weight. You're not following the program. Also I think she's on to us...she found your sexts on my phone. :o

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Throw out all your "fat" clothes. Once what you own starts getting snug...time to diet again. ;)

I don't own any fat clothes, as I've never really been fat. I was definitely overweight a few years ago, but I don't think many would have called me fat. Mine is typically an issue of condition more than weight.

I also don't believe in "dieting". ;)

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Interesting, why do you believe you need a "next goal"? I started seriously doing weight training back in 2006, which coincided with when I started doing track days. I quickly realized at my age then (49) that I had to do something to be able to continue this. I have continued to weight train and have added bicycling for better cardio ( I hate doing cardio on machines, boring). Now at 58 I continue to do this. This has proven out by my 1st physical exam in I do not know how many years last year. My doctor said I was one of the best in shape 57 year olds he has seen. My goal is to maintain my level of fitness, I do not have a "next goal". Not sure if that remotely makes any sense, but there it is.

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Throw out all your "fat" clothes. Once what you own starts getting snug...time to diet again. ;)

I don't own any fat clothes, as I've never really been fat. I was definitely overweight a few years ago, but I don't think many would have called me fat. Mine is typically an issue of condition more than weight.

I also don't believe in "dieting". ;)

Most people out to lose weight have "fat clothes." Getting rid of them is one way to burn a bridge behind you.

I tell people to learn that "diet" is what you do all the time. It's not about weight loss, it's about your lifestyle. Just getting stuff out of your daily consumption you shouldn't have and more of what you should have can produce great results.

That's why so many dieters fail. As I'm sure you know, if you eat to drop weight but not in a way you will live with for the rest of your life, as soon as you reach your goal, you go back to what made you overweight in the first place.

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Been eating perfect in anticipation for not eating perfect for the superbowl.

Doing 4 weeks of eating clean with 1 cheat day per week.

Edited by TuffguyF4i
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Interesting, why do you believe you need a "next goal"? I started seriously doing weight training back in 2006, which coincided with when I started doing track days. I quickly realized at my age then (49) that I had to do something to be able to continue this. I have continued to weight train and have added bicycling for better cardio ( I hate doing cardio on machines, boring). Now at 58 I continue to do this. This has proven out by my 1st physical exam in I do not know how many years last year. My doctor said I was one of the best in shape 57 year olds he has seen. My goal is to maintain my level of fitness, I do not have a "next goal". Not sure if that remotely makes any sense, but there it is.

It does make sense, and that's probably where I need to get my head. I have no real urge to be huge or bench 1.5 times my weight, nor do I have any aspirations of running a marathon, though I have a lot of respect for anyone who works toward and meets those goals. I just enjoy being relatively fit and strong, but my motivation to be that has traditionally been "progress". The real reward is not being a sloppy piece of shit, but that's never been my main motivation.

I suppose I need to set realistic long term goals of where I want to be, get there, then develop sustainable habits to simply keep me there.

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Tim,

Been meaning to reply to this several times but keep waiting until I have time to organize my thoughts. Since thats apparently never going to happen I'll just do the usual and toss some random fragments out here.

First look into Wendlers 5/3/1 program. Thats probably were I will be going soon. I do not know all the details but my high level understanding is that its geared toward slow sustainable progress. Its not the program for newbie lifters who can make huge jumps for a while and who will progress much faster using something else. Its for people who have been lifting for a while or who at least know their limits and don't want to constantly fight training related injuries. I may have that all completely wrong but thats the impression I have. Its a good solid well thought out program you can do for years.

As for motivation/goals. I think goals are important and they should be relatively specific. "Get in shape" is not specific. I have short/med/long term goals but I don't always stick to them or rather sometimes I lose track of them despite the fact that I try to write them down vs just keeping them in my head. You should write down what you want to accomplish and then figure out how to get it.

Examples for me are weight and bodyfat% goals. Weight is a more medium range goal since its somewhat arbitrary. The real measure is bodyfat. I have a couple of bf goals. Medium/long term and then ultimate long term bf% where I will just go into a maint mode or even go up in bf in the short term in order to put on muscle. Get a accumeasure or whatever brand it is caliper to get a decent idea of what your bf% is. I also have waist size goals which are a specific way to track the fact that I want to lose the love handles and gut.

Other goals I have are weight amounts that I want to be able to hit for certain lifts. Since I have a gimpy back I wind up having to take it pretty slow on some of these but I try to be consistent. That is another goal. Try to lift 3-4 times a week depending on the program I am doing.

For motivation a lot of times it just comes down to vanity. I definitely want to be healthy and stronger but I also want to look good. We do a lot of summer pool type activities and we also do a lot of carribean vacations so I use events like vacations as sort of deadlines so I have something concrete to shoot for. Hitting goal x in 3 or 6 months is a lot easier to work toward than just I dont want to be fat one of these days. Though one of my favorite things to say is, "When we go on vacation I don't want to look like a sock full of oatmeal." Thats a bit negative but it amuses me.

I am rambling and probably leaving out half the shit I intended to say. One thing you might do well with is rewarding yourself for achieving a goal. Big goal = new gun or some bad ass multiday shooting class. Small goal = track day or some such. If you don't make the goal don't cheat and get it anyway. Figure out some system that works for you. A goal can be something like lift no less than 3x a week for 30 days and do cardio no less than 2/3/5x a week for 30 days. 30 day goals are typically easy.

If none of that works for you finding some sort of competitive organization that you might enjoy and jump in. The only issue there is that can lead to higher rate of injury IMO.

OK done rambing for now.

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Thanks, Brett, some good stuff there. I looked into the 5/3/1 program and the only problem for me is going up to the 85%-95% range. I've learned the hard way that's dangerous territory for me to be visiting regularly. I ain't old, but I'm beginning to realize I ain't young anymore, either.

I had set concrete goals back in October, relating to strength, flexibility, balance, stamina and a tape measure. They were nothing too lofty, just what I thought it would take for me to qualify as being back in "decent" shape. So an abstract idea translated into concrete measurements and goals. ~14 weeks later I've met or am close to meeting all those goals.

I think I'll set some short term goals for the next 6-8 weeks, at which point I'll be going back to working more. With another 6-8 weeks under my belt, I think the realistic longer term goal will be to maintain over the course of the summer. If I can get to next October/November in as good or better shape than I am right now, that would honestly be doing pretty good for me.

Oh, and I just ordered a body fat caliper. I'm sick of guessing on that one, and that's a priority over the scale for me as well. The heaviest I've been in the last five years was also when I was in the best shape.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Brett pretty much hit it, like others on here. The key to long term is to work out with a purpose in mind.

I'm getting a little too old to be chasing 1 rep max like I used to, so I've kinda shifted my lifts to something I can maintain long term. I can't do the 90%+ stuff either, so I keep my ranges sub maximal and just increment them every so many weeks. Contrary to popular belief, you can get strong as hell without ever lifting 100% or spending 4 hours at a time in the gym. I'm closing up one such cycle now, and instead of maxxing out, I'm just upping my numbers by 15 lbs and repeating. I'm the strongest I've ever been by a long shot, my joints don't hurt, and I'm never in the gym more than 1.5hrs. If you (or anybody) PM's me an e-mail address to send it to, I have a spreadsheet you can look over to see if it makes any sense for you.

You reach for a goal, you stumble some, then you improve your accessory work and put in the volume on your primary lifts. Before long, you're a lot stronger than when you started, and in the end that's all that matters; Be the strongest version of yourself.

BTW, I'm a numbers chaser, so that keeps me going. in the beginning I wanted to be stronger than whatever, then it was 2 plate this and 3 plate that, now I'm just chasing numbers. If I can just get 3 reps at XXXlbs... That goal keeps moving, so I'm never really satisfied.

Edited by DeaconXX
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  • 1 year later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Here's a response from a little different perspective--that of an old fart. Yeah, I'm old, a little on the south side of 70, and I've learned a few things. Bottom line--it's all about health. I've been pumping iron since my teens, but even that was subject to phases. For example, did the (non-competitive) body building bit for a while, until the needle set became so pervasive (wasn't my thing, so lost some degree of interest but still dabbled with free weights). By middle age (40-50?) it became obvious that just staying healthy and in good shape took more effort and dedication, but the overall rewards were still just as sweet. To age may be an inevitable process (if one is lucky) but it need not be debilitating--that is largely up to you. If you don't find living a long and healthy life sufficient motivation to do something about it (every day) than you may have far more serious problems that may merit immediate attention.

 

Humans are subject to trauma and disease, stuff you can't always avoid; but the healthier you are when such slings and arrows of outrageous fortune cross your path, the better your chances of survival.

 

Here's the crux of the matter: your lifestyle will dictate your health and quality of life. Diet and exercise are integral. People are individuals, so no one program works for everybody. Find what works for you, stick to it, and modify/customize it as deemed necessary. The key is Do Something Every Day. Start small if necessary, but do something for yourself every day. No one else can do it for you--your health is your responsibility.

 

My routine has simplified over the years; having a room at home designated as my gym helps. In a typical week I'll hit free weights every other day (modest weights, more focus on reps & form); on off days I'll do push-ups (510 in sets of 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 60, 50, & 50). I'll usually take one day out of seven as a rest day. Yeah, I know the whole routine doesn't sound like much, but it works for me. And I gotta admit it was nice to hear my primary care physician comment when I went for my usual annual physical after qualifying for Medicare at 65 (now called a wellness visit . . . go figure), "You're in excellent condition for your age."  I kinda winced at the "...for your age" part, but I've come to realize that's one of the nicest things you can hear at any age.

 

Now get up, do something, and live your life.

Edited by ironmike
damned typos . . . need my glasses changed, too . . .
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Thank you Mke,

 

Very well written and accurate read, regardless of your age!

 

I will be 61 this year and lifted my first weight at age 45. Was always the small skinny kid at 135lbs. At the age of 45 with encouragement from a roommate, I started working out 3 days a week at Bally's Fitness Center. Did that for a year until my roommate got married and moved out. never went back to the gym or participated in any exercise until about 3 months ago. I received news from my doctor after my annual physical that for the first time in my life I had rapidly declining numbers. My cholesterol was up to 241, always below 200 previously. My blood sugar was borderline diabetic. It surprised me (woke me up) as every year the physical results are always the same. The doctor always told me that I am very lucky and am in good health.

I was sent to a nutritionist for recommendations. I changed my diet to greatly reduce my sugar and complex carb intake and now work out 6 days a week.

My workout are pretty basic with 60 minutes of aerobic (mixed Bicycle, Treadmill, Elliptical) and followed up with about 15-20 minutes of weight training on machines. Alternating the focus of different muscle groups daily. I go back and run blood work again in July to see what results I get from the lifestyle change. I feel really good and am definitely stronger than I have ever been in my life. 

I hope to hear the words, "You're in excellent condition for your age" in July

 

Thank you for the post

 

Good stuff here!

 

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6 hours ago, ironmike said:

I kinda winced at the "...for your age"

 

You can ignore the qualifier. Not many out there can knock out 500+ pushups in a day, regardless of age. Doing it while knocking on the door of 70?

 

Respect.

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