Piggybacking off last week’s ‘gym vs. at home’ workouts, comes another timely question:

When will I start wanting to go to the gym?

According to this person, they've been exercising (somewhat consistently) five days per week  for the last few months and they HATE it. 

Reminds me of when an aspiring content creator asked for advice from a well-known podcaster. He described having made videos for four months and barely seeing any results. 

The podcaster replied:

“4 months! That’s it!? You aren’t even out the door yet!”

If you’ve only been working out for a few months, you aren’t out the door either (heck, you probably don't have your shoes on yet). 

Two months may feel like an eternity, and while we've all heard it takes 30 days to build a habit, there's research showing it can take up to 254 days! That's 8x longer to lay down the neurological wiring to make it automatic. So it's no surprise you haven't found a fulfilling relationship with exercise at this caterpillar stage. 

You’ve barely started.

Putting that fact aside...

Here are five motivation-blockers that could be getting in the way: 

1. Your training volume may be too high – especially if you just started. You might find a better, more enjoyable (and sustainable rhythm) downgrading to three days per week. Maybe even two (like the weekend only workout program). Then upgrade once you psychologically manage that.
2. Your intensity may be too high – and so you are creating a negative association to working out and stepping into the gym in general. 
3. Your mindset. You can want to enjoy it all you want, but if you are silently telling yourself, this sucks… I hate this… why is this so hard… so you’re dousing any spark of enjoyment with your downpour of negative thoughts.
4. You might have unclear goals or a murky fitness vision that doesn’t inspire you and so you feel like you’re "going through the motions". 
5. You might have unreasonable expectations about how long it takes to reach your goals. You might believe you can just go beast-mode for a few months and then “be fit”. This is a rude awakening for anyone who’s tried. It’s not the path to any sort of lasting transformation.

 
One last thought:

Some people expect that they should love exercise and should want to do it and if they don’t they believe something is wrong.

Let that relationship naturally evolve.

It doesn’t just happen. It requires honesty, observation and self-reflection to find out what cadence and type of exercise works for you. You may despise the dreadmill and feel more at home with lifting free weights… holding planks in your living room...  or group exercise classes.

I don’t know.

But part of it is a discovery process.

Not forcing yourself to enjoy something, and when it's not, believing something is wrong or your aren't a "workout person". 

Kelan Ern
Elite Fitness Coaching 

​Here’s one of my all-time favorite questions:

Why is going to the gym easier than working out at home?

While in college in rural Iowa, I had a grizzled psychology professor who gave riveting lectures which sparked ideas of applying psychology to workouts. I started to ask myself: 

• How can I wipe out negative associations attached to exercise? 
• How can I create positive associations to exercise where people want to keep doing it?

One light-bulb moment was realizing the difference between gym workouts and at-home workouts.

With at-home workouts, you have a "lower barrier to entry" since you don't have to  drive anywhere... change in a sweaty locker room... wait your turn for the leg press machine... or endure grunting gym rates. You just find a small corner in the living room, unroll your yoga mat and get after it. ​

One reason is associations. 

Think about the emotional associations attached to your living room. Most people associate relaxing... hanging out with family... and Netflix and chillin' in this space. So every time you step foot into that room, those associations flood your mind. 

What emotions drive working out? 

Usually the opposite. Usually higher-energy emotions such a determination and drive and focus to attack the weights and give it your best. So when you try to work out in a space such as a living room, you are mixing associations. 

It's not impossible but it confuses the brain. 

It's similar to why sleep experts say, "Don't work on your laptop in bed" or go on your eye-phone. That's because you are mixing the associations of work and sleep. And it messes with your brain as to which one you are doing. Compare that to... 

Whether it's a local YMCA or 24/7 box gym, it serves one purpose:

Working out. 

So a gym can become a powerful association for nothing else but intensely lifting weights... doing light cardio... or getting your sweat on. 

(Unless you just go to flex in the mirror and take selfies...) 

More consistent workouts build more powerful associations to that space until your mind naturally 'switches gear' and shifts into those higher-intensity emotions whenever you are there. Plus, once you get yourself to the gym there are fewer distractions to pull you away from working out. 

If you really hate crowds (or meat heads) and prefer to skip the gym, here's how to get the best of both worlds... ​

A home gym can crush it on both fronts: convenience and consistency 

Here's a personal example: 

A few years ago, I canceled my gym membership and exercised in my office instead. I bought some heavy resistance bands and a push-up plus (a more comfortable form of band push-ups) and worked out in the evenings. This worked for a season but once the 'new toy feeling' wore off then I noticed workouts becoming a drag and required a lot of push motivation to follow through. 

When I built a garage gym, this all changed. 

Suddenly I had a designated space for working out where I could escape and get away from my home office. It became a sanctuary of sorts where just being in that space was conducive to attacking the weights... working hard... and focusing on the present moment. 
​
So whether it's a local gym or home gym the key is: 

Create a designated space for working out

See what it does for helping you get into a routine, become more consistent and get more traction on your fitness goals 

Kelan Ern
Elite Fitness Coaching