Mental Motivation

Motivation is an interesting thing. When you've got it, you feel like you can do ANYTHING. And when you don't, it's hard to even try.

A little over a week ago, I posted some progress pictures from my first three weeks of training with Jared. The response was crazy. We had over 200 people check out that post, overall blog traffic spiked, and while we didn't get many comments on the actual blog (why won't you people COMMENT?!), I did have several people come up and congratulate me when I ran into them over the holidays.

I was on top of the world.

But then the next week came and went, and Saturday morning I got up to take my progress pictures for the week. And when I compared them to the week before, I wasn't impressed. I hardly noticed anything different.

In retrospect, it shouldn't have been that big of a deal. It was one week, right? I mean, overall, I was still WAY ahead of where I started. I'm still getting compliments from friends, family, and coworkers. But for some reason, seeing those pictures took the wind out of my sails. My motivation was gone.

In times like that, a decision has to be made. I had to decide between three choices. First, I could quit the training altogether. This would be a little drastic, and I would lose my hundred bucks. Plus Jared would probably hunt me down and kill me, so that was out.

Second, I could keep going in my demotivated state, which makes progress next to impossible.

Or third, I could find a way to get motivated again.

I chose number three. I went back through and looked at my pictures and notes from the first month. Granted, the pictures from week 4 weren't much different from week 3... but they were DRASTICALLY different from week 1. And the progress I've made in terms of numbers has been pretty incredible, too. Before I started training, I don't think I had ever deadlifted in my life. Last week, Jared had me deadlift 300 lbs. And I did it. I've never lifted 300 lbs in my life. In any way.

And two days later, he had me squat 300.

None of this is impressive if you look at the other guys at STRONG, who can all curl about 1000 lbs with each arm. But for a guy like me, it's big time progress.

I gave myself a mental pep talk that day...Not the good kind, either...I gave myself the kind where the coach slaps you in the face and tells you to quit whining and get your head in the game. And the funny thing is, it worked. The next day I took a new set of pictures just because, and they looked a lot better.

Or maybe I was just bloated.

Three Weeks In

Well folks, it's time for an update.

Friday night I finished my third week of personal training with Jared, and the results have been pretty incredible.

When I started working out with Jared, I knew I was going to get results, but I don't think either of us expected that we'd see such a transformation so fast. When I showed Jared these progress pics, even HE said it was crazy.

Check it out. I took some pictures of myself the day before my first workout with Jared. I took another set of pictures after 2 weeks, and a third set this past Saturday morning. Here's how they stack up next to each other:

Front

Back

Profile

When my father-in-law saw these, he said "Wow. How did you find two other guys with the same tattoo as you?"

That's how I feel. Like a different person than I was three weeks ago. I'm stronger, I'm more confident, and I have to keep reminding myself that we've barely even started. If this is how far I've come in 3 weeks, where will I be at the end of 12?

Twelve Week Resolutions

Throughout the last two weeks, Jared & I have talked about a lot of things: technique, diet, percentages, supplements, you name it. But one thing that has come up again and again is the idea of goals.

We've talked about my goals for the program, Jared's goals for the program, my goals for the blog, Jared's goals for the gym... we've talked about weight goals for different lifts, goals for fat loss & muscle gain, & goals for just about everything else you can think of.

Since the whole point of the blog is to document my transformation, I figured it makes sense for me to post my goals here. 

The First Week is Always the Hardest... or is it?

Last Monday, I showed up for my first day of personal training with Jared.

I didn't know what to expect, but I had prepared myself for the possibility that I would be going home in an ambulance, curled in the fetal position, whimpering something about "never again... never again."

This is what I expected to ride home in.

It turns out, I didn't need to be worried.

The Unexpected Kindness of People Who Could Crush Me

Last week was my first week training with Jared at STRONG gym. And to be honest, it wasn't anything like what I expected.

I walked into the gym Monday about 15 minutes before my appointment, so Jared wasn't there yet. There were a couple of guys working out, and any one of them could've crushed my skull with one hand. The guys at STRONG are... well, they're strong. Really strong.

But this is where I got my first surprise. The guys that were working out were all....