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Do you ever have those days that you wake up and you feel something within yourself that is off. You just don’t feel entirely like yourself; your motivation just isn’t where you want it to be. You start looking up reasons why and you’ll see articles talking about “the dangers of over training, burn out, lack of sleep, stress, etc.” You see those things and you tell yourself, “I should really take today off”, but deep inside your soul know you should train. Today, I am going to share with you my favorite tips to get over that training hump.

First things first, take a couple of minutes to really think about how you are feeling in general. Are you tired? Did you sleep well? Have you eaten? Go for a walk, get some sun, do some meditation, or do something that makes you feel good to get you in that mindset of training. Why do you train? Do you like it? Is it for your health? These are all good questions to ask yourself. When I used to swim, right before any practices or meets, and I wasn’t really feeling it, or really in my head about it; I would take a second to visualize myself in the water, how the water felt, how many strokes it took me to reach the wall, and the tempo of my breathing. I always felt relieved afterwards because it reminded me that I know exactly what I’m doing and what I need to do to perform my best. I know this sounds like some Karate Kid b.s but visualizing yourself doing your training and understanding why you’re doing it, will really help.

Another way to help yourself get into the training mindset is to give yourself a good, thoughtful warm up. I know it might sound incredibly obvious but a great warm up will get your mind and your body connected as one. Start by doing some simple cardio or hop on a bike, go on a walk, focus on getting your heart rate up just a little. Follow that with some mobility based on what you are doing that day. Finally, hit some exercises that will prepare you for the main movement and do 2-3 sets. To put it simply; get moving, focus on each movement, and make sure you breathe deeply.

Lastly, I believe pacing yourself is always a good idea when you’re not feeling 100 percent like yourself. As you are warming up for your main lift, assess how your body feels. Do a single rep of your set weight and if it feels like your body is not all there, decrease the weight a little – there is never any shame in decreasing your weight. As your sets progress, your mind and your body will reach that synergy.

My fellow coach and friend has said it best himself – “Motivation is temporary. To be your best, discipline must be permanent” – Curtis Miller

-Dahveed Jorge