For a long time now, I've struggled with my body and self-image. To put it blunt, I'm not satisfied. One of the ways I've sought to improve this was by improving my body through exercise.
However, I've also struggled for a long time with giving myself the motivation or enacting the discipline to commit myself to any kind of fitness plan long-term.
Looking back at times in the past when I DID regularly exercise, it was mainly societal/external motivation that kept me going day-by-day. The specific examples were being in a team sport and feeling ashamed after being made fun of by a girl I liked (very effective!). I'm sure there is more to it, but external pressure seems to be the common denominator. Another reason I assume external motivation, is that whenever I try (and fail) to get back into exercising regularly, it comes from some sort of external motivation. To be clear, this does include internal motivation telling me to do so, and I have genuinely wanted to do so forever, but that which is most effective is external.
The conundrum I'm facing now is that I'm in a place far from any reliable friends or connections to motivate me, but even if I was close to friends I would prefer not to rely on external motivation.
So in the absence of external motivation, how can I find in myself the internal motivation to exercise?
I know this is a difficult question for internet strangers to answer, but I figure bouncing ideas off of other people never hurts :)
Here the thing. Unless you are getting paid to do it (and even if you are) pretty much everyone doesn't like excersize and needs something of a coach. Basically everyone I know who is really into working out is into it because of some social motivator, be it money, sex, or a sense of community.
I know there are some freaks who generally do like excersize, but they tend to be cardio people who are addicted to the dopamine rushes and runners highs, which is cool if you can get into that, but definitely isn't my deal.
Stopping isn't the issue, it's not starting again. You can always take a break as long as you get back to it eventually. Think about hiring a coach or taking classes in dance, boxing or even like yoga. Join a rec league. Lord knows I mostly workout to maintain weight and flexibility, as I have likely peaked for strength because I didn't work out when I was younger. That being said, I personally should be working on cardio, but I hate running so it'll probably be the stairmaster for me.
Also, don't worry about your body, hollywood is steroids and dehydration, and everybody else is also probably on gear, unless they are an Olympic athlete (and even then) If you want to try to get into gear, it's not that hard, but there are lots of long term side effects that make it pretty silly, and getting lean again is a pain in the ass from what I've heard.
Idk bud, you can just become a nerd about it too. Plenty of guys do that.
I skip rope for cardio it’s not too hard to learn and super efficient, you can do 30 seconds on 30 seconds off for 25 minutes and be wiped
Of all the external motivators, a sense of community sounds like the most ideal. Unfortunately I'm kind of in a very socially isolated point in my life for the next 3 months. When you say hiring a coach do you mean something like a trainer at a gym? I do running and basketball for cardio/mental health but not consistent enough for it to have much of an effect. I should clarify that looks aren't my main goal but moreso mental health, physical health and self-esteem. The I wrote down the looks part because times when I'd felt really insecure about my looks were when I had been able to stick to a routine somewhat.
A trainer at the gym. Costs some money but I promise you it's worth it for consistency, and to have someone watch and critique your form . You really only need like once a week.
For sure! The nearest gym that I would realistically go to has coupons in local newspapers every once in a while for 2 free trainer sessions so I would be able to try it out before committing :)