A Must Have Item For Your Home Gym!

Stay Motivated

How do you stay motivated working out at home? Aren’t there too many distractions? Spouse, kids, television, chores, home repairs, pets etc?

Here’s one of my distractions, my Chesapeake Bay Retriever, Jersey.

He keeps me company during my workouts at 5:00 a.m., but also wants to play tug-o-war with his towel. He’s also licked me across the face more than once while I was bench pressing! Now that’s a distraction!

What’s my main motivation? I need to see abs again. They’ve disappeared over the last 25 years.

I’m also cheap (or I prefer the word thrifty), so even though a home gym is less expensive than a commercial gym membership in the long run, it still costs a good buck. I’m using my equipment and not letting it turn into a very expensive clothes rack.

Set Goals

My main goal is to see my abs. Another small incentive for me is the fit plan we have at work. You get to set your goal, whether it’s weight loss, (or gain) or even adding inches to a body part (insert off color comment here). If you meet your goal over the course of twelve weeks the company provides a $50 gift certificate or merchandise from the company store (hats, shirts, jackets, etc.). Now this may sound like my company cares about my health, and they do, but they care more about keeping their health insurance premiums low.

The last twelve weeks my goal was to add an inch to my chest. According to the nurse who measured me, I added 1” to my chest (she measured wrong, it was actually 1.5”), and I also lost 7 pounds and lowered my body fat percentage by 1%. YES!!!

Take Photos

Take before photos and measurements. I have only one before photo, I wish I took more. Keep the photos on the refrigerator as a reminder. It also helps to have a photo of someone you would like to look like posted in a prominent place. Here’s my role model:

Damn….3.7% body fat! Granted, he doesn’t look like this every day. I’m sure he worked his a$$ off to get in shape for this photo shoot, and was probably in his best shape…ever.

Speaking of photos, you know those classic shots of former fat people holding up their fat pants?

Once you lose weight, keep your fat pants as a reminder of how big you were. A coworker has a three foot stack of oversized pants in his closet. He lost over seventy pounds by just eating less, trying to walk 10,000 steps a day and working out with only a bench and adjustable dumbbells.

Set the atmosphere

Buy a set of clothes and shoes just for working out. This is your uniform, and once you put it on you are doing nothing else but exercising.

Make your gym comfortable and somewhere you want to be. Listen to your favorite music or watch/listen to the TV.

Make your gym look like a real gym by adding mirrors. Mirrors aren’t just for admiring your hard earned muscle, but can help you maintain your form as well.

Have a change of scenery-workout in different rooms of your house or go outside. I workout in my gym ninety percent of the time, but when it gets warmer I either bike ride, walk or jump rope on the deck.

Vary your workouts

Change your workout routine every 4-6 weeks-(cycle your workouts). Nothing provides better motivation for me than a new routine. But when you find one that works really well, stick with it until your muscle gains come to a halt. This is where taking measurements comes in handy.

Take a week off every 6 weeks to recover and relax. A certain amount of down time helps to renew energy, clear the mind and heal the body. Give your body a break and let it rebuild itself. You’ll come back refreshed and stronger.

Buy new equipment

When you reach your goal reward yourself. Buy a new toy for your gym, or better yet, make a new piece of equipment. My home gym started out with a bench and dumbbells. After about a month I needed more variety to keep motivated, so I bought a power rack.

Buy new jeans that are too small. Right now I’m a 32” waist, so my next jean purchase will be a 30” waist. I haven’t seen this waist size since…….the 1980’s!

Psyche yourself out

Work out because someone says you can’t.

Visualize your new physique.

Imagine competing against somebody and wanting to beat them.

If you had to, could you do one more rep for a million bucks?

See that hot guy/girl? He/she will go out with you if you can do one more rep!

Do you need a swimsuit or a wet suit to hide that fat?

Each day we are given exactly 1,440 minutes. Can you spare 30 minutes for exercise?

If you start exercising on a daily basis, who will YOU inspire to do the same?

Motivational quotes

Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated.

Pain is weakness leaving the body.

Every workout is one step closer to your goal.

How am I to know what I can achieve if I quit?

It's about mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter.

Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.

Dream it, believe it and you can achieve it!

Be like Nike…..Just Do It.

The only way to truly fail is to quit trying.