Motivation versus RPE (Perceived Exertion) Part 2 of 3

The next three points we're discussing about motivation factors will be:

3) Intangible benefits (Health, Hot Bod, Race Edge, Bragging Rights)

4) Confidence

5) Goal(s)

Firstly, let's talk about...
Intangible benefits (Health, Hot Bod, Race Edge, Bragging Rights)

Very honestly speaking, I work out firstly for the benefits of health and fitness because I once was a boy who couldn't see the front of my shoes because they're covered by my bulging tummy. And following right after that reason is that I hope to one day become an inspirational person who can motivate people who are feeling down about their physical body to go out and start doing something about it.

So, when I look at a training and it goes something like 20x100 Alt Swim and Kick or 5x5x400m on 3mins I'd definitely first look at the ego factor to motivate myself. Seriously, not many of the people will go and do 20x100 (maybe except vince) or 5x5x400 (and Andy) and say "it's just a normal routine...".. Thus when you complete it, and post it in facebook, you'd get all kind of weird "WAHHH.. " or "CRAZY AR?!".. or "you're MAD." kind of ego boosting compliments.

As shallow as that sounds, this factor DOES motivate me and I'm sure also many of you out there who are hiding right now, to go out again and again to do such breakthrough workouts that touches the limits of your body. And often times, especially for men, it is through such motivation that we get to go beyond what we can endure on our own especially in the late late stages of races.

Example of such race edge happening will be during the last 800m sprint of the 10km run in Singapore Biathlon, you're probably feeling a lot of pain and like you're breathing sand into your lungs already.. then someone on the side goes like "Wah.. this guy in black 2xu underwear can run like mountain goat sia even though he looks so bulky!".. and you glance around to find that you're the only one who is wearing 2XU and that guy's referring to you.. What usually follows after that is you clocking a PB for the 800m dash despite having done the swim and 9.2KM run in Race Pace.

Another example of bragging rights being a motivation factor is how I convince my bro KH to pick up training, imagine him going to Sec 1 and when people are doing inclined flex arm hangs and barely meeting the mark, you're doing 12 x pull ups with perfect form at the effort of eating fishball noodles? Yes, he did that. The pull ups, not the noodles. I'll give you a minute to go "-_-... what did you do to your bro..."..

Ok, a minutes up.

Other than bragging rights, some of us simply enjoys the fitness benefits that the training gives. We can clearly see Lawrence gets puffed up Breasts (as mentioned by christine, his wife) and vincent getting leaner and meaner as each training goes by.. We can obviously see Marianne and Sam slimming down a lot and getting toned up by the days.. I've personally built up quite a physique while losing a little bit of fats weight..

Basically, by knowing that working out often gives you an "upgrade to the hardwares" on your body and when people notice the changes to the physique, you'll feel good. And when the lifts occasionally breaks down just for fun, you'll notice that you don't pant as much while climbing stairs, you'll then feel even better than being noticed by the others. =)

The last part of this article will be on both Confidence and Goal(s).


Confidence is something that has to ooze out from within, just like motivation. And to breed Confidence, one has to experience success. As the saying goes, success breeds confidence and confidence breeds success. It is kind of a chicken and egg topic but you get the drift. We'll first talk about success, what is it about.

Success in fitness world is largely defined by tangible qualities of life such as Fat percentage drops, KGs of muscles gained, KGs of body weight lost, a drop in swim/bike/run timing in seconds or milliseconds and the list goes on.

I find that if you set the point of success as the final goal without small ones, you'd be looking all stressed up each and every single day because chances are you'll be comparing numbers every time you can. I know of folks who get on the weighing machine 6 times in the morning to get the mean figure, stand in different foot step directions on the machine to make sure its accurate and then finish the lunch and dinner with another 6-10 stands on the weighing machine to only get disappointed because of the weight gained from the food and drink you just put into your stomach. LiKe SeRioUslY???

Sometimes, you'll get rare folks who truly (and i mean the straight from the heart kind..) observe and appreciate success as small bits of life that has gone well or better. Usually you call these kind of people perfectionists, or in chinese they are called Mr Xiao. Xiao "On" because they enjoy celebrating every little bit of success and they know that its these small little parts of success that will form a big picture of a successful person.

What makes the latter trait more likable is that when you break down the big goal into smaller ones, you'd shift your focus on the smaller goals of the big plan that you've set.. you're more likely to be happier every day because the small parts or goals are so much easier to achieve.. and by achieving in such a manner, you experience success and that will motivate you to work towards the other smaller goals and in no time, you'll see that your biggest goal will seem to be getting closer or even smaller.

I felt that confidence in doing some specific sets of workout will give you the motivation to go to a tough workout just because you know in your heart that you've "been there done that" and thus you'll definitely be able to do it again with ample mental preparation.

For example, many men don't like to do pull ups.. and just going under the pull up bar with the thought of doing 1 will sound or feel like 1 too many. However, if you can mix and match motivations to help you get across that mental barrier of doing that first pull up. When you finally go up, you'll notice that you can do more than just 1 or have lesser fear of the pull up bar when you stand under it next time.

You can try asking someone who can support you and are equally keen on performing the pull ups. Nothing beats the feeling of accomplishing a near impossible feat (as defined by your own brain) with a partner and giving each other a big bang fist bump and a good laugh following the accomplishment. The next time you come under the bar, you'll know you've done it yourself before and you'll definitely be able to jump up without hesitation even if you can only just do 1.. this time around, it'll be 1 too little. =)

Now......--------

What if you don't care about success AND failures? Some of the clients I coach tell me "I just want to do only.. I don't need to do so well or so perfect one...".. Now, seriously, I don't know how to coach imperfect strokes or forms in the gym leh.. but that's another story for another day.

With regards to gaining confidence for these kind of learners is by getting them educated. And by knowing what you're doing is right for YOU and YOU ONLY will help a lot. Do NOT just follow the universal standard even if it is practiced by the greatest without finding out if the training is applicable to you. Some greatest may have just 1 ball and you have 2,  you're special in your own way and thus training methods have to be uniquely for you too.

I don't know if you have ever come across people who used to shy away from gym but I've known AUNTIES and UNCLES in their 40s to 50s going to gym after they were educated of what is right and what is beneficial if trained properly in whichever ways. Some of them even corrected my form when I used to do very heavy sets and shown some weakness in my left hand side.

Such beautiful scenario is the display of having different source of motivations for the uncles and aunties that I knew of to go back to the gym in their free time again and again. They went back to workout the right way (Confidence), they knew that if done correctly and progressively, it'll help them incredibly in gaining bone density and functional strength in daily life. Fulfilling those small Goals of fitness will eventually equate to more play time with grandsons and daughters (Intangible benefits), they went to gym to show their peers that they are still peaking in their age (Bragging rights) and initially it is the peer influence that brings them there (Affiliation) for the chatters and laughters (Fun).

Hope you guys have a better grasp on how motivation factors can work with each other to push even the laziest of you and shy-iest of you to go out and start working out! Next up: 6) Believes !

Cheers
KK