Picture Jillian Michaels - Biggest Loser trainer goddess - screaming her lungs out at you.
Hey, don’t knock it… It’s totally working for me, especially on the treadmill.
What other uh unconcentional (or more conventional) tips do you have to share?
Just realized I posted this in MP instead of IMHO. Could someone kindly report? Thanks!
I love going to the gym! Seriously, I weigh 300 lbs and until I get to the gym I just do not move.
But I see the gym as a giant playground for grown-ups. It’s FUN to work my body on those machines and ride the bicycles and THEN I get to watch TV while I’m walking (one day I shall run!). Not just TV but the big fancy channels we don’t have at home. I watched someone get an operation last time I was there! How can that NOT be fun?
Of course this excitement may wear off eventually. I just joined a month ago, but if I could, I’d be there every day (hoping I will when we get our car fixed). Maybe I’m not working myself hard enough. I don’t do anything until I’m in tears or agony. I don’t see the point. I know when my body feels more toned and I have more energy that I’m doing just fine. There’s no way in hell I’d do better with someone screaming at me.
[quote=“Rushgeekgirl, post:3, topic:569511”]
I love going to the gym! Seriously, I weigh 300 lbs and until I get to the gym I just do not move.
But I see the gym as a giant playground for grown-ups. It’s FUN to work my body on those machines and ride the bicycles and THEN I get to watch TV while I’m walking (one day I shall run!). Not just TV but the big fancy channels we don’t have at home. I watched someone get an operation last time I was there! How can that NOT be fun?
/QUOTE]
Your post made my day! (Now I wish it was a workout day). I know what you mean, and I miss working out in a public gym - no people watching. There’s a certain satisfaction to the pain of it all and it won’t go away; you’ll just find yourself looking for greater challenges, which is, after all, the point of the whole thing anyway. You’ll be peeking into the dumbbell room soon enough (I assume from your post you don’t use it-yet).
And you didn’t mention this point but real “gym rats” respect anyone who is obviously working out seriously as you are, regardless of their weight or physical condition. I mention that for the benefit of anyone else reading.
For my own motivation, I would sometimes envision someone behind me on the squat rack with a great big whip!
When I run and listen to music (sometimes), I have a little mini-me that dances to the music in my head. She is a terrific dancer, and as long as she keeps going, so can I.
When I am inside, running on the hamstermill at the gym, I race. I pickout someone likely, either beside me or across the room from me and the RACE is ON! Either I run faster, harder or for a longer time than they do. I can’t cheat either, it has to be someone close to my abilities, I can’t pick the person that is barely walking.
It’s silly, and petty, but it keeps me going. :). The worst is when the person I am ‘racing’ kicks my ass. 
When I am strength training, I think of how incredibly awful it is when I (as an officer) have not been able to keep up, or lift something or anything like that.
It inspires me to get those last few squat jumps, or push-ups done.
after watching “The Biggest Loser” I had a little self-realization: I am not well motivated internally. Left to my own devices I do 20 minutes on the cardio and 10 sit ups and GTFO, ie the bare minimum to punch my card. Instead of fighting it I just decided to accept it, and find a form of exercise that comes with someone ordering me around.
So, I started taking karate classes. What they tell me to do, I do (to the best of my ability). They tell me to do a hell of a lot more than I’d do on my own. It’s that simple.
I love love love strength training but tend to hate cardio. It’s boring and repetitious. That’s why I started trying to run again.
Hello Again, I totally get the whole internal motivation thing. The last time I tried the treadmill I quickly let the little voice of doubt in my head take over. So I replaced it with Jillian Michaels screaming just like she does to the contestants.
“You can do this!! Keep on going, another 30 seconds. Come on woman!! Being lazy got you here and running your butt off will get you where you really want to be!” Stuff like that. It’s not abusive stuff, just louder than that voice of doubt.
I imagine her climbing on to the front of the treadmill or on to the one next to me, again, just like she does on TBL. She always wears gym gear - yoga pants and a little sports bra. It’s my dream to feel that confident to be able to wear stuff like that in public. These visualizations have literally transformed my training in a matter of days.
Once I’ve gotten started, I can usually keep myself going. It’s the getting-started part that I need help with. For that, I always think of the Obamas. With everything on their plate, they still get up early and hit the gym. If they can find the time and motivation, so can I.
This is probably quite conventional, really.
Having realized that I only go to the gym if I can do so at 6am, I’ve bought a rowing machine, set it up so I can row with mindless entertainment on (Phantom of the Opera, music DVDs), and the idea is to use it every day “even if it’s five minutes”. The unconventional part is that if I find myself slacking, I will ask my WoW guildmates to ask me “have you exercised today?” when they see me on. For now, “not wanting to ask my friends to kick my butt into gear” has been motivation enough, but it’s been a short time.
The last gym I did go to was in a separate building within my apartment complex: the same building the laundry room was in. I used the laundry to time my workouts.
This may sound terribly geeky, but I do math when working out. Specifically, I try to figure out the number of seconds I have left on whichever hated torture device I’m on, and try to remember what happened in that year. E.g. 26:58 to go, equals 1618 seconds, which is when the Defenestration of Prague happened. (wiki mentions 2; I never knew before that there were two of them.)
Thinking about anything other than the exercise seems to make the time go by faster. Around the end of the Roman Empire, I catch my second wind, because I know the workout’s just about over.
Trying to hit specific mileage/calorie goals on the electronic counter is fun too.
My karate school is on the second floor and has large windows facing the street. Across the street is a gym, also with large windows facing the street. Sometimes when we are holding a deep squat technique and I am like “OMG when will this torture end” I look across and think, “At least I’m not at that gym. All those people look like they want to commit suicide.”
Quite possibly the people at the gym are thinking the same of me. 
I have to avoid thinking of women like Jillian Michaels while I’m at the gym. I work out in somewhat loose shorts…