Motivation is a Funny Thing

I know it's better for my joints to skip Tuesday and Thursday workouts just to let my elbows rest. It's also nice not to be dead tired when I accompany my son to his Scout meeting. I find myself fighting the urge to scamper off to the gym, while it's incredibly hard to stay motivated doing things like studying grammar. And being a sort of nerd, I actually enjoy reading about spelling, punctuation, and grammatical structures. Of course, then I wondered what it was that made going to the gym so easy and sitting at a desk not easy at all.

For a lot of people, myself included, being in motion is much easier and more comfortable than sitting still. Running to the gym or just plain running errands takes you outside yourself. You focus on the external world and react to it. When chores are done, there's a mild sense of relief. When a workout routine is finished, there's not only the extremely pleasant endorphins, some mildly relaxing exhaustion and again, a sense of accomplishment.

Compare that to sitting at a desk in front of a laptop where my feet and hands routinely go numb or ice cold, and I'm looking for any excuse to get up and walk around. Because I'm sitting still, I'm excruciatingly conscious of being hungry, thirsty, cold and that my clothes are starting to chafe me at the seams, especially my socks. Ugh. Being hungry and or thirsty means I'm going to make myself food or a beverage, preferably hot. More distractions. More time wasted.

There's scientific research into motivation and how it's enacted in our brains, because like everything we do, there's a lot of neurochemistry going on. One online article gives credit to the neurotransmitter dopamine and how "incremental progress" enhances the reward system in our brains. Hence the power and beauty of making a checklist and actually crossing things off. Scientific American goes as far as to list three specific factors that it considers critical to sustained motivation: autonomy, value, and competence. I apply each element to my own situation to better understand the premise.

Autonomy: I plan and choose my routines and adapt them when necessary. (It's probably why I don't like or take exercise classes.) I'm choosing to take days off in order to focus on my studies, but since this comes less easily, it's harder to stay on track at my desk. I can choose not to do this, but that's not going to get me anywhere. I just need to persevere until I feel competent (see item three below).

Value: I not only derive great physical satisfaction from accomplishing my exercise routines, but the added bonuses of lower blood pressure, less body fat, better strength and flexibility, and a potentially healthier aging process. With my studies, I know this will pay off eventually, but right now it's an act of sheer faith that I'm doing the right thing.

Competence: I've been a gym rat for so long that the gym is my second home. I feel extremely comfortable and knowledgeable. Studying the coursework I've undertaken makes me realize how little I know about grammar and I'm actually a bit intimidated. I tend to put my head down and push on (like a plowhorse) but slowly. I like to read and do my research before plunging into anything. Unfortunately, this need for prep can also be a form of procrastination, like someone who does endless warmup sets, but never manages to make any progress because they've avoided the actual workout.

Well, at least I'm aware of all these issues. I'm taking baby steps to address them, like discontinuing my newspaper delivery because there's nothing more distracting than standing in the kitchen perusing the NY Times. And cutting back my workouts, although today I mused about just doing 20 minutes of cardio on Tuesdays and Thursdays as a type of active rest. Yep, my mind will customize all sorts of scenarios to get me out of the house and into the gym.

To change things up, I actually didn't do HIIT cardio today. Instead, I selected Program 1 on the elliptical and pedaled for 35 minutes. I've missed the backward pedaling that comes with the fitness programs on the Precor machines. After pull-ups, pushups and core work, I see that Loud Goatee is at the Smith.

I think of benching as a warmup for the smaller muscles so I don't really want to do my routine much out of order. I grab some DBs and do a few sets of Incline Presses. Then I do a few sets of the DB superset for shoulders. Loud Goatee has been at the Smith for a long time, mostly because he spends half his rest between sets kibbutzing with M and Lazy Pedals.

When he's finally done, I'm able to use the Incline Bench there for a few sets of presses. But I cut the sets short since my right side joints aren't quite right from the inside thumb palm to the inner elbow to the shoulder. I'm not going to risk injury but I do finish my routine with Rip Skulls. Even these are hard on my elbows. But the presses are what initially aggravated them. Well, that and those pesky pull-ups earlier.

Friday is still a Cardio Plus day--I'm hoping the elbow feels better so I can knock out my sets of pull-ups and pushups. The Danskin "sailor" pants worked well today. They're actually, probably crop pants but I'm short enough that they just look like what was known in my day as floods, or highwaters. You know, the pants you outgrew only in length so your socks showed in a very uncool way.

May 1 Push

30 Elliptical + 5cd
Program 1
Calories 341
Miles 3.00
HR 152-205 (87)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 23

Push Ups 60
Crunches 30/50
Scissors 50
Bicycles 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

DB Incline Press
(60-degree)
20 lbs each x 12
25 x 12
30 x 12

DB Laterals s/s Rev Incl Flyes
20 lbs x 12/15 reps
25 x 8/12, 10/15, 10/15

Smith Incline Press (60-degree incline)
Bar x12
50 x 12
70 x 13
90 x 12
65 x 25

Rip Skulls
40 lbs x 12, 12, 12