JSiau10 wrote: does anyone have any good tricks for keeping in the habit of going to the gym? I love going, and I mean to go twice a week, but I have trouble keeping to it.

Why do you have trouble keeping to doing something you love? 

1)  Scheduling it like an appointment for anything else--you don't break it.

2)  Having a plan of what to do, even if somewhat general.  Each workout doesn't have to be a balls-to-the-wall session.  Consistency is more important.

3)  I kind of hate being really sore, which is what any interruption of a week or more inevitably creates.  Consistency is what keeps that from happening. 

4)  Another way to keep up my energy expenditure so I can still enjoy eating somewhat while maintaining my weight.  You gentlemen probably don't worry as much about these things unless you're under 190-200 class.  But even WITH exercise, I get about 2000-2200 cals per day to maintain (not easy to do).  So I make sure I get my workout in so I get to EAT to match.

Being a person who falls into a somewhat middle "gray" zone of people who don't easily find training partners, I find I have to rely on myself for overcoming the internal/external barriers that would keep me from lifting.  I decided that I had to keep going for myself despite the availability of any possible training partners.

JSiau10 wrote: does anyone have any good tricks for keeping in the habit of going to the gym? I love going, and I mean to go twice a week, but I have trouble keeping to it.

Getting to the gym on a consistent basis requires having a reason/purpose for going.  If the only reason for going is to sling around a few weights because inner guilt says you should be going, then you are probably better srved by not going at all.  Having a prpose and a plan for not only what you are going to do but also why is the first step.

Secondly, going to the gym has to be an integral part of your day, like eating or going to work or taking your kid to school.  It is something that is just done as a matter of course.  It should be something that you just do.  Twice a week is more of a distraction than a regular part of the day.

I'm certainly not an authority by any means, but this is what works for me.  That, and as Craig noted, not wanting to be a skinny weakling (although I haven't yet accomplished NOT being a skinny weakling).    Fear can be a fantastic motivator.

celtuckian wrote: Secondly, going to the gym has to be an integral part of your day, like eating or going to work or taking your kid to school.  It is something that is just done as a matter of course.  It should be something that you just do.  Twice a week is more of a distraction than a regular part of the day.

+1!  Consistency: exercise is something you do every day, like brush teeth, eat, feed dog--whatever similar activities that you do.  Does not have to be the same kind of exercise each day; but exercise itself happens each day unless you're dead, unconscious, have an acute illness with symptoms below the neck, or are physically restrained (strapped to) in bed by a physician.  If none of those apply, then make it happen.

Some people can consistently work out 3 times a week and stay with it.  For many others, however, working out feels like some kind of "penance" (for the Christians/Catholics among the readers) and off days become some kind of reprieve from it.  Those people need to just make exercise a matter-of-fact part of the day.

The title of one research study I cited in my dissertation really summed it up: "Just Do It, Before You Talk Yourself Out of It".

I used to train 5 days a week in the gym. A HG pro told me to train like a thrower. That = throw a lot. So I dropped down to only 2 days/wk in the gym.

I want to pull my beard out if I have to push back one of those days. I despise missing workouts.

Youre really not committed I would say.

On a lighter note your work out maybe overly complex and you dread (or may not have recovered) your next work out so mentally you're not prepared or get exhausted just thinking about slinging weights for a couple of hours. 

I have switched to 4 days a week focusing on Squats, Deadlifts, Benchpress and Standing OH Press in the gym. 

The other two Wednesday (see below) I do other stuff whether it's throwing in the Back yard or something.  Sunday = Honey Due list.

If I do those I count it as a "W" for the week.  All the other stuff is fluff.  IMHO. I maybe in and out in 30 - 45 minutes.

I don't go on Wednesdays and Friday nights because that's when having teenagers dictate that I drive them everywhere and by the time I log a long week of work I just want to go home and veg-out on the couch. <- Sometimes you just need to do this.

So this is what my week looks like

MON  BP and other crap if time permits

Tuesday Squats and Single leg deadlifts and other crap if time permits

Wednesday Back yard, Kettlebell, running, Taking the kids too and from church.

Thursday OH Press and other stuff

Friday Not a dang thing

Saturday Deadlifts

Sunday Some assistance work, KB, Backyard stuff.

Not the most perfect training plan.  But it's evolving. 

If you aren't naturally motivated and need something to keep it up, I would say a partner is the worst thing in the world. Then you tie your motivation in on an external factor. No bueno.

What you need is a PLAN.

"I'm going to get up and go to the gym tomorrow!" is not a plan.

"Shit, if I don't get up tomorrow, I miss my week 3, day 2 squat session." is a plan.

I know some guys train "by feel" but I think the majority around here have a pretty freakin good idea what they would be training 4 weeks from now on a Thursday if they were asked.

Come up with an 8 week plan. Reps, sets, weights, cardio, stretching, you name it. Stick with that plan.

Once you get the habit formed and get some instincts, you can train a little looser. For now, keep your freedom limited. It's Boot Camp. Remove the thinking process from it all together. The Piece of Paper is your master now.

I have to go with Haakenson on this one. Throwing WILL make you stronger, and if you're just starting out then technique is way more important than strength anyway.

As far as motivation goes, you have to really enjoy training to stick with it.  You and Craigor are guys who love lifting weights and being strong - you're weightlifters who throw.  A lot of guys, including me, would never see the inside of a gym if we weren't doing the games. I'm a thrower who lifts, and I really want to clear 17' next year after I turn 40. So it's back to a winter of front squats and power cleans for me.

Do what you love, and it'll never feel like work.

this thread title gives the presumption it will be about poo, meh, if you replace the a with an e.

disappointing.

In no way is this meant to put down Josh, but in this particular case he really needs to get in the weight room.  Working on technique and developing strength from throwing is very important but you have to at least have a bare minimum strength level to begin with in order to even get the weights moving.  From watching Josh throw a few times, he does not have that minimum strength level to receive much benefit from just practicing throwing.  My opinion would be that if he continues to throw and not develop a base strength level he will develop bad habits and his technique will struggle when he does finally develop that base strengh level. 

Josh - I don't believe you have any games coming up for quite some time.  Get in the weight room and develop some strength, put on some weight, and maybe throw once every 1-2 weeks, if that.  Again, this is not meant to be a put down to you but you have a lot of work to do as far as strength goes and spending more time throwing than lifting will not do you nearly as much good as lifting 4-5 times a week.  The other thing that would help you would be to put on some weight.  Your offseason should look like this:  EAT-LIFT-EAT-LIFT-EAT-EAT-EAT-LIFT-EAT!!!!

C. Smith wrote: Most of the time I would agree with this statement, but Josh's base strength is so low, that at a minimum throwing and lifting should be 50/50 imo.

Or I could have just read the entire thread more thoroughly and just said "this".

Going to the gym/throwing/picking up weird stuff in our yards is sort of who we are.  Even little old me.  I mean seriously, what else would I do or who else would want me? The basic answer is the trick to going twice a week is to actually go twice a week.  Just get through the door or on the field, the rest takes care of itself.

D. Haakenson wrote: Consider this as food for thought. There is a group of people that competed in highland games for generations without ever weight lifting in a gym. These throwers never touched a barbell or foam rolled. I refer, of course, to the highlanders who invented this sport and threw for hundreds of years before the concept of weight lifting came into being.

How would they fare in a competition against the throwers of our times.  Not just in 1 or 2 events but in the overall.  My guess is that they would likely get their a$$ handed to them. 

D. Haakenson wrote: The only thing I can say for certain is that all things being equal, you can't be too strong.

I'm not sure that's always true. wasn't someone on here saying something about too much upper body strength negatively affecting the hammer throw?

JSiau10 wrote: D. Haakenson wrote: The only thing I can say for certain is that all things being equal, you can't be too strong.  I'm not sure that's always true. wasn't someone on here saying something about too much upper body strength negatively affecting the hammer throw?

I have heard this too, but I think it is not accurate.  Dan McKim is probably the strongest upper body wise, and is consistently the best or 2nd best hammer thrower(Pockoski and him are fairly even).   There is some good stuff by Charles Poliquin, when he trained Jud Logan(American wire hammer champion).  Logan's throws went up when he increased his upper body strength, as well as improving his clean from 400 to 440, and using different types of squats and pulls every three weeks.  Before training with Poliquin, his upper back wasn't as strong as it needed to be to keep the hammer in a certain orbit, or at least this is my interpretation.  If strength can improve a lighter olympic event, it can most certainly improve the heavy events.  Chain yourself to a squat rack, Josh, and we'll see where you are in a year.

Soul Eater wrote: Pre pay 12 visits to a real expensive Personal trainer who won't refund your money. They will set a time and days for you to come in. That should do the trick about getting to the Gym and consistency issue's.

You would think that would work.  But I've had people (when I trained at club) who pre-paid for a boatload of sessions--hundreds of dollars--and then ended up blowing them off.  I always wanted to see people get the service they paid for, but it boggled my mind to see that they cared about it less than I did even after paying so much for it. 

Oh well . . . 

An interesting observation from the responses here is the number of people that said, simply "Just go."

I don't know about anyone else, but I find my wagons circling a little tighter every year in terms of people I "relate" to. I mean I have lots of folks I talk to, but in terms of people I can spend endless time with its family or athletes. And that's about it.

And I've had lots of "other" people ask me how I stay motivated for the gym and I honestly don't have an answer for them other than "I just do." Like my life doesn't compute in the possibility of "don't enjoy the gym".

Back to my original point, I think anyone wired for it naturally or who programs that wiring into themselves is set but not everyone makes that leap. The responses in this thread just show how many people around here ARE those people.

Sean wrote: An interesting observation from the responses here is the number of people that said, simply "Just go." I don't know about anyone else, but I find my wagons circling a little tighter every year in terms of people I "relate" to. I mean I have lots of folks I talk to, but in terms of people I can spend endless time with its family or athletes. And that's about it. And I've had lots of "other" people ask me how I stay motivated for the gym and I honestly don't have an answer for them other than "I just do." Like my life doesn't compute in the possibility of "don't enjoy the gym". Back to my original point, I think anyone wired for it naturally or who programs that wiring into themselves is set but not everyone makes that leap. The responses in this thread just show how many people around here ARE those people.

Very good point, Sean.   We all need direction and something to follow sometimes.  What brings someone back to the gym is results.  The best way to get results is to follow an outlined program by an expert.  I still write out my own program for at least 3 weeks.  It's hard to "just go" to the gym and get stronger.  Most of us have are programs already worked out in our head and the numbers we want to hit.

My motivation comes from setting goals for next year in what marks I want to throw.  This was my first year throwing, and I am hooked now.  Before competing I was a pathetic potato chip eating coach troll for about 8 years.  Throwing has woke up the sleeping monster inside me.  My wife is now giving me the, "you're going to the gym again" look.

Yes i am dear, yes i am...

C. Smith wrote: If you want to be a better thrower/athlete, then you will do the things required to make you one.  Period.

thats really the bottom line