What has motivated me a lot lately is doing my workouts in the mornings. Getting the hardest thing I’m going to do all day out of the way — before I even head off to work — makes the rest of my day seem so easy and less stressful. Hardest thing is just fighting my snooze button for control!

I’m very much similar to Steve in the starting new things and losing interest in unfinished one sense. I’ve been doing muay thai for about 9 months now – probably the longest I’ve stuck with any single fitness thing in years, and I’m actually even more motivated to keep pushing myself at it now than when I started. Gotta agree with Freedom’s comment – I get up every weekday for a 6am class and find it much easier than trying to convince myself to go after a long day of work. The other thing I’ve found that keeps my interest up is the variety – we certainly repeat a lot of stuff in class, but from day to day and week to week it’s always different. I’m constantly surprising myself – i.e. after not doing squats in class for a couple weeks we’ll do them and they’re much easier than I remember because some other aspect of training has strengthened the same muscles without me being aware of it. Also I do it daily but go 4 weeks on, one week off, which helps break it down into conceptually easy chunks – this month I’ll focus on improving one aspect, then after a week’s break I’ll shift my focus to a different aspect – and it helps me to push myself harder knowing that I just need to get through another week or two before a break.

Muay Thai huh? Sounds freaking awesome. I’m actually going to start looking into taking a martial arts class once or twice a week when the summer rolls around and I can afford it. I’ll have to look into that one. Essentially I want to improve flexibility and have the ability to kick somebody’s ass should I end up in a situation where no other solution is possible.

I agree with the morning workout thing. After work it’s so much easier to blow it off because of a crap day at work, or a friend wants to go grab a drink because they got fired, etc. In the morning, it’s just you, and there is no excuse other than “i’m too tired.”

I’m excited for the future of nerd fitness when guys like us can all help push each other along.

-Steve

I definitely recommend muay thai specifically because it’s a ring sport – not a lot of focus on doing forms or routines, mostly just efficient power, speed, accuracy and flexibility. I’ve found sparring to be immensely valuable – especially if you’re interested in using a martial art for real self defense. Everything you’ve learned basically goes out the window the first time you get punched in the face – but over time you can train your mind & body to perform correctly despite the incoming blows (as well as learning how not to get hit in the first place!).

You’ve probably already seen Pavel Tsatsouline’s article at the 4-hour work week (http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/12/18/pavel-8020-powerlifting-and-how-to-add-110-pounds-to-your-lifts/). I think the part about competition also really applies to martial arts – I’ve done one exhibition fight (not scored, more like sparring at 80-90% intensity) so far. It really helped to push my training harder than I would have otherwise – there’s nothing like the prospect of getting beat up in front of a crowd to motivate you during a workout! It also gave me a much better perspective on exactly where I was in terms of skills and fitness, and how much farther I still have to go with it. Muay thai is more like boxing than other martial arts in that respect – the only belts are the ones you win in the ring, so all of your training is focused on practical application and competition – but since muay thai uses all 8 ‘limbs’ (hands, feet, elbows and knees) it provides a more comprehensive strengthening & flexibility workout than boxing does.