motivation
Live Big
On Living Well
Fear less, hope more, eat less, chew more, whine less, breathe more, talk less, say more, hate less, love more, and good things will be yours.
Swedish Proverb
Motivation
When It Hurts So Good
"The masochist in me likes to hurt. Likes to know I am pushing myself to the limit, and maybe even over it. Because in racing, I know that when the hurt hits, I have already conquered it...But most of all, I am motivated by that little something inside. That seed that won't rest until I know I have fulfilled my potential and been the best that I can be. I think deep down we all have that seed, that little voice. I just think some people are scared to listen to it, scared to try, scared of failure."
— triathlete Chrissie Wellington, who broke the Ironman world record for women in Roth, Germany, in July, explaining what motivates her.
Motivation
Music Makes You Embrace the Effort
We all know good music and good workouts go hand in hand (check out some of our favorite playlists if you need to refresh your iPod). But how exactly does the music-exericse connection work? Today's New York Times takes a close look at a number of studies that attempt to explain what's up. One cool one: College students given music to listen to while biking biked faster and harder when the music tempo increased, no surprise there. But here's the surprise — after the fact, they didn't report finding the workout any easier. It was just that with the rockin' music, in the words of the researchers, "the participants chose to accept, and even prefer, a greater degree of effort." And just like that, I think I have my new motto for the week: Embrace the effort!
Workout
Back to Square One...yet Determined!!
M. Didn't time it, but around about 30-minute workout. Forgot my Tai Chi warm up. That's what happens when you're out of practice.
SW Labs
Motivation Through Technology
If I could have sex with anything in my gym bag it would be a little doohicky I attach to my sneaker. I have never in my life before owned anything by Nike (because I apparently live under a rock) but the Nike+iPod gizmo is by far the most motivating fitness fad I've succumbed to. Best $30 I have ever spent and here's why:
More...Online & Video
Fight or Flight
Training for the Zombie Apocalypse
There are trainers who motivate with threats of psycho killers. Then there are whole training courses dedicated to preparing you to successfully flee the undead. At Zombiefit in St. Charles, Illinois, two nights a week a gymnastics studio transforms into a Zombie-escape boot camp. Participants run, jump, vault, and do drills to build-up zombie-evasion muscles. Rich Gatz, the trainer who founded Zombiefit, doesn't dress up like a zombie or anything, but if you, say, miss a landing on a vault, which is supposed to mimic jumping from rooftop to rooftop as you flee the rampaging undead, he'll inform you that you've fallen into zombie hands and are now being devoured. If you're not actually worried about the zombie apocalypse, why would you go to Zombiefit, you might ask. "If you're ready for the zombie apocalypse," Gatz explains, "you're ready for anything." Like the werewolf invasion, of course!
Your Inner Motivator
Ask, Don't Tell, and You'll Do Better
Need to motivate yourself? New research shows that if you ask yourself whether you'll do something, you'll do a better job than if you tell yourself you'll do it. The study, at the University of Illinois, tested people on anagrams, instructing one group to spend a minute prior to the task thinking about whether or not they'd complete it, and instructing a second group to tell themselves they'd complete it. On the subsequent challenge, the askers did much better than the tellers. Anagrams and workouts, not exactly the same, but test out a little "will I run up that hill?" and see what happens.
Workout
Wrist Sweat
I'm not sure when it started, or why, but I choose to judge a good workout by whether or not my wrists and forearms get sweaty. So, today's ride on the stationary bike was a good ride. I varied the level of resistance and increased my time by a few minutes.
The P90X Factor
Inspired by the Million Minute challenge and my college graduation being exactly one month away, I have become very serious about MAKING time to workout...
No more complaining, no more procrastinating... I'm jumping in.
More...Other Places
Spirit Guides
Getting Psyched for Pushups 101
[Wherein Feralicious Spirit Guide Ariane Hundt, creator of our fave Brooklyn Bridge Bootcamp, offers you her advice for getting off the couch when you really don't want to. ~The Eds.]
You know deep down you have it in you to do the Feralicious Challenge's 1000 pushups (and everything else). But maybe you're feeling lazy (who doesn’t sometimes?) or would rather watch American Idol than get your butt to the gym. Here’s how you can stop the excuses and get your workout mojo up and running again:
More...