working out

i have been working out on a steady pace for a while now, and i have a pretty muscular body, and im losing my motivation to work out...

i figure hey! when i get all my muscles maybe i should just stop..but there is a problem with this, you have to keep working out to keep your muscles!

what could i do to motivate myself to work out more???
none of that "imagine the hot girl on the beach" stuff works for me

i am working out to look good, i dont play any sports or do any athletic activities. i want to look good for the ladies!!!! but this isnt enough motivation for me apparently. when i start doing sports i dont get into it and i dont like sports that much anyway, i think they are BORING.
i am more of an artistic type of person who enjoys listening to music and drawing and writing.
i guess i dont enjoy working out that much. but i enjoy looking muscular...

[Tone]

I enjoy it so I keep going. At first I would skip days too when I didn't "feel like it" but now I can't remember last time I missed a day. But I have a lot of free time too so it's easy for me to make time for working out. If you want to have a good body you have to work for it.

I want to be healthy / look good - that's my only real motivation.

[Frasbee]

I hate sports.

But I love Ultimate Frisbee.

tone-i prolly dont enjoy it as much as you do but im glad you are motivated, when i look up to people like you who work out a lot, it sorta motivates me to do it more too! i did get up and workout this morning but not very much, more like a warmup type of thing, then i ate breakfast..

frasbee-im glad you enjoy frisbee, i enjoy it for the fun...however i suck at frisbee...lol.

[Tone]

Put yourself on a schedule. It's what helped me... like at first I would say "Okay I'm gonna work out 3 days this week" and then each day I'd find an excuse to not work out and before you know it "Oh I only worked out one day last week... oops."

Now I have a schedule that I stick to. I workout when I get off work on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. So now I schedule things around my workout. One thing that really helped me too and is really important is getting enough sleep. Don't underestimate how much energy can be drained from you if you're not getting enough sleep at night. Also eating healthy and eating enough to keep up with your metabolism is important. Once you start seeing results you'll want to keep going with it too - that's how it was for me. Once I started seeing results I was really motivated to not only keep what I had, but improve on it as well.

ok ill try the schedule. do you use like a calendar or something? or jsut like a piece of paper that says what to do and when?

and the "ok im gonna workout 3 times this week, then pulling off an excuse" is exactly what i do most of the time.
im not seeing very much results either, i should work harder. however im naturally muscular(just limited to my 6 pack etc)
the usual result for me is after i work out, when i move my arms you can see the muscle bulging out(biceps mainly)...this only lasts for about an hour...then the next day you can barely even notice it...i work out for about 45 minutes a day...maybe thats it!

[Tone]

I have a pretty simple schedule. I just know the first 2 days a week I workout(Mon&Tues), a day break(Wednesday), and the last 2 days(Thurs&Fri). And just memorize what routines I do... how many reps to do when I bench press, how many curls, etc etc. I also did a lot of research online for what excercises to do and how many sets I should be doing, etc. And you won't really notice your results until after awhile. If you're always lookin at your muscles and expectin them to get bigger you won't really notice when they actually do. But after awhile you'll start to notice - and so will other people. Usually takes 3-6 weeks of dedicated work to start to see results.

And I read somewhere that while you workout you should constantly stretch and flex your muscles between sets, it will help build definition.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tone

I have a pretty simple schedule. I just know the first 2 days a week I workout(Mon&Tues), a day break(Wednesday), and the last 2 days(Thurs&Fri). And just memorize what routines I do... how many reps to do when I bench press, how many curls, etc etc. I also did a lot of research online for what excercises to do and how many sets I should be doing, etc. And you won't really notice your results until after awhile. If you're always lookin at your muscles and expectin them to get bigger you won't really notice when they actually do. But after awhile you'll start to notice - and so will other people. Usually takes 3-6 weeks of dedicated work to start to see results.

And I read somewhere that while you workout you should constantly stretch and flex your muscles between sets, it will help build definition.

ohhhhhhh i see...what keywords did you use for research?? id love to know what i should be doing.
also i have the benchpress bar with a total of 85 removable weight plates. and 2 freeweight dumbells(with readjustable weight) but i have no benchpressing bench lol, so i do pushups...will this affect anything?? or should i be benching instead? or whats healthier, do you know? i cant do very many pushups, probably a max of 40-50 if i wasnt tired.

[Tone]

I just searched for like "Weight lifting" or somethin on google and went to a few sites. It was awhile ago so - can't really remember what I searched for. And just get a bench! They are pretty cheap.

I don't do pushups really. I do reverse pushups to help my triceps, pretty happy with my results from them ^_^

But I think pushups are fine, I like benching better and think you get better results from it. What you can do in the meantime while you wait to get a bench is use the bar you have to do some bicep curls. But don't just focus on your biceps, gotta work your triceps too or else you're muscles will be one-sided!

yea i do pushups/curling/bridges/situps/all that good stuff i can do with the stuff i have now..im not focusing on my bicepts although they are about the size of baseballs lol.

what is a reverse pushup? i have never heard of them...i'd give em a shot if i knew what they were.

[Tone]

I use my bench, but you can use a chair or even like stairs.. anything that gives you an incline. Just put your back to the chair, put your hands down behind you on the chair, and then extend your feet out, away from the chair, as far as your body will let you, drop down until your elbows are at a 90 degree angle, then come back up. Hope that made sense.. I suck at explaining things X(

Do 2-3 sets, with 10-15 reps in each set. Another general tip is you don't want to wait long in between sets when you work out. If you're new to a routine I would say don't wait longer than 30seconds to 1 minute in between each set.

ok i know what you mean by reverse pushup, ill give it a shot.

yea generally i wait like a minute after a few reps but i guess thats too much.

[Late_vamp]

hey same thing happened to me ... i stopped working out at 14 because ppl used to say i was to muscular for my age and i wouldnt grow anymore if i keept doing it ( i was able to lift about 200 pounds max on benchpress at that age ) ... so i stopped (except for GYM class ,and once in a while workout = once every 3 weeks of so ) after 4 years ... let me tell you , i dont look as built as i used to be ( i dont look weak , just slim ) my arms went down about 30 - 40 % ( IMO)

anyways , i just recently restarted ( just broke up , got free time) so i use a punching bag , i have a benchpress and the actual bench ... thats it ... i dunno if i should subscribe to a GYM and go there oftenly or just kick it home made.

BTW i estimate my MAX of lifting right now is about 120 pds , i want to reach 200 by chrismas at most ( it took me 14 months to get to 200 pounds and i was turning 13 when i started at first)

About motivation ... VERY crutial , without it you wont get far . I used to workout EVERY night ... now a days its when i * feel like it * mainly because i had a GF and she loved the way i looked , she used to say that men that are TOO built are unattractive . but now that its over between us ...HERE I COME MUSCLES!!!

[shh!]

Just try to avoid that gorilla look, boys. Muscles are nice, but don't over-do it...

[Late_vamp]

just like the lady said . ... thats what i hear from lots of them.