need help mentally!!!

[dan34]

I'm 34 and been training on and off since 16, but seriously for the last five years. For about the last 2-3 months I can't seem to get motivated in the gym, and I even leave some times after only doing my warmup sets, or completely skip working out. I used to work out 4-5 times a week with no problem, but I seem to have lost the spark. Any ideas to help?

[Beelzebub]

could be ovetrained, could be time to change workouts. lots of possibilities. elaborate on everything to include diet, training, sleep, supplements, etc.

[wranglergirl]

Anything going on personally( you dont have to share) but take a long look and think, usually when we stop and think, it hits us!!! Good luck

[kelsey]

need some heavy metal, maybe a pre WO jolt of some sort. i put linement in my nose, that helps get me pissed and ready to kill somethin...

girl problems? that has done it to me in the past.

do you feel like you are making progress? (not seeing the "fruits of your labor" so-to-speak) if not, then diet training may need adjusting,,,, just thinking of answers for ya man.

[houseman]

It's interesting.

I went for about 2 months where my workouts were horrible. I was truly unmotivated and I couldn't figure out why.

It was about this time when I decided I was going to pursue a new direction career wise. Something more to my liking. Something I hadn't fallen out of interest with. A passion if you will. Or rather, more of a passion than what I currently was doing.

I got to thinking about it and realized that a reason why I was no longer completely motivated in the gym was because I was no longer angry. I was no longer angry with my job and with my clients. I knew I was going in a new and better direction. I felt at peace. It sounds weird but it's the only thing that makes sense for me. I had definitely been very angry, annoyed and frustrated with what I was doing (still am) which when I got tot he gym at night... I took it out on the weights.

Take that anger and aggression away and I was no longer motivated. I had to learn to get motivated on a different level and I am now

This also rings true for my youth. My anger is what fueled my progress and motivation in the gym and sports. It was my outlets for all the crap in my life while growing up that was wrong.

Just something to think about.

Good luck.

[unikfreak]

Just like everyone else said it could be a number of things diet,girl problems training routine gets old.Sit back evaluate the situation,focus whatever negative energy you have into positive.For some reason when I am down and I focus the energy into the gym I am stronger and more intense than ever. Good look bro .

[chasec]

i reccommend cocaine, its a "helluva drug!"

j/k. in all seriousness it's probably too much stress whether it's mental, physical, emotional, ect. Stress is stress and your body can't cope with it for long without some problems arising

[wranglergirl]

Could also be the "holidays" that are coming...it's a hard time for some.....lean on friends/family and know that it wont last forever.....

[prld2gr8ns]

Check your sleep pattern Dan, for me getting 8+hrs of sleep a day really helps in getting a intense workout.
To capitalize on what wrangler girl said, it could also be the holidays or just the fall weather, with the leaves changing and everything dying.... tends to damper alot of people's spirits. Just hang in there bro, and remember that the key to success in the gym is to get there...... and then go back.

[coofoostu]

I have gone through these workout slumps too, and I have found when I begin to get depressed and am having trouble getting a good workout in I do these steps:

1) Watch Pumping Iron. I never really knew what bodybuilding was, but the first time I watched pumping iron on dvd I knew that bodybuilding was what I wanted to do with my life. This DVD gets me pumped up every time and makes me want to get in the Gym. Every time im in the squat rack and Im just about to give up I think of Arnold saying "Two more Eddie, I wanna see two more, no matta what." Others say they like a video like Colman's where they can see a guy move a lot of weight. I suggest you find a video to use as motivation.

2) Get a Supplement and soak up its placebo effects (try not to use prohormones/steroids). Get a supplement that makes ridiculous claims, such as some type of creatine or NO2 and milk it for its placebo effects. If im having trouble with my workout program, I'll pick up a supplement and read all its label and magazine claims. I will think to myself, "This stuff is making me bigger and stronger; because I am on this, I can do two extra reps." By the time the first bottle of the stuff runs out I'm usually back into workout mode and dont need to use it anymore. During that transition time I usually tell myself how false the manufacture's claims were and how I can do just as well without it and this usually ends up acting as a reverse placebo effect. I say try not to use ph/steroids because I have a friend who imo has become dependent on them for lifting. He will go without lifting for months and on his binge drinking diet and then come back to the gym and start up a prohormone and lift. He says he likes it because it helps him to see results fast and keeps him in the gym, but then it seems that once he goes off of the prohormone he goes back to his binge drinking and not lifting.

3) As others have said, temporarily change your diet and training. I usually find that I have been overtraining so I try to move to a 3 day a week split doing basic compound movements, training like a powerlifter instead of a bodybuilder. However, sometimes I will change my routine up by doing a ton of cardio, to loose extra pounds. I also do a lot of "healthy" cheat meals. If I'm with friends and we go to get pizza, I get bbq wings. If we go to get burgers, I prefer to get two burgers and water instead of the burger, fries and a coke/beer like most people eat. Its not the most healthy diet, and im sure some on here will rip me a new one for suggesting this, but I have always found that if you keep your diet in moderation all the time, you generally stay lean.

4) Take a vacation if you can and dont train at all. I have always found that when I go on vacation and dont do anything while I'm there, I feel like absolute **** by the time I get back and the first thing I always have to do is a full body workout in the gym. And if i wasn't very into my workouts before the vacation, I find Im always giving 110% after it.

[TheUsual]

Judging by your second post, I would say you have hit a "comfort zone" and thus lost alot of your previous motivation. The same thing happens to me... when stuff is going really well in my life and I have a great new gf, etc. then I just say screw lifting weights, I don't need it. Just try to find some other motivation I guess, some great ideas posted here.

[dan34]

Thanks everybody for all the ideas, they were all kind and thoughtful and I appreciate them!! I've been on a 4 week cycle of m1t, and that could be some of my problem, but I think it really goes further than that. Problems at home, job, money, etc. I really feel I have to rediscover the joy of working out like I used to have. It used to be a reward in itself, but not now. But all of your suggestions have given me a place to start. I'm 5'11 at around 220# about 18-19% bodyfat. I wanted to hit 230 by January, but I think I will probably take a short break and try to start fresh over Christmas vacation. Thanks again, your kind words were appreciated.

[Bean]

dude, a 4 week cycle of M1t? that **** will bring ANYONE down... TRUST ME

come off that stuff with good PCT and you'll be fine... M1T makes you sleepy; its almost a depressant really over time...

[kelsey]

4 weeker m1t,
my buddy is emotionally bankrupt(never expresses much emotion to me except temper)

he did a 6 weeker when the grammys were on...... I saw him crying when a certain song was playing!!!!! no joke!!!!!

it'll play with your head man