Building Motivation - Training

At this time of year some Fluid athletes are just commencing a big preparation to an ironman or restarting after a break from a Big Worlds A.Race. When starting back into a training routine motivation can often be a bit lower than normal, and that’s expected and completely OK!

You can’t force motivation and you can’t always be 100% focussed and committed all year. Allow the motivation to come and build training around that. Here are some tips to help you find and fuel your motivation.       

Don’t Force It – When recommencing training you can’t expect to be as highly motivated as you were a few months back when you were weeks from a goal race and in great shape. You are likely to be a little less fit so reset your expectations for sessions and how you will expect to feel to suit your current fitness levels. 

Concentrate on the main sessions – Your training program should be prioritised into core swim, bike and run workouts and secondary more optional sessions such as easy training or strength and con. Early on it’s ok not to do every workout if you aren’t motivated to, just complete the core training as the priority.  

Gradually build the routine – The best way to build your consistency is to get into a routine that suits your motivation levels, generally stick to it and build it as you go. It can be rough jumping back into a routine when it was broken during a post season break. Each day you follow it, it gets that little bit easier. 

Just start and see how you go – If you feel a little tired or mentally off and you are lying in bed or standing at the start of a session thinking should I, my advice is just start and see how you go. Once your heart rate lifts and you commence the set many times you find you feel better than you thought you would and you complete a killer set. Other times you were right, in that case just complete the session easily to time or cut your losses and stop. At least you tried.

Athletes that have to manage their own training during these early periods where motivation is lower often can overdo things, giving into the ‘more is better’ mantra. This is where having a coach who is able to step back and thoughtfully set a program to suit the athlete’s current motivation levels comes in handy.

If you would like to know more about Fluids training programs or would like to get in touch with Coach Sean Foster for a free no obligation chat about the effectiveness of your current training email sean@fluidmovements.com. 

Coach Foz