SAY IT OUT LOUD

This is the 2nd blog entry from our guest blogger Marcia Smith.  Read on for some tips on staying motivated at the gym…..

The other day on ESPN, there was a clip of one of the Broncos’ coaches, yelling at one of the really big players, right in the face.  Doesn’t this coach know that lecturing and yelling are lousy ways to change behavior and increase motivation?  I would say particularly so when the guy is twice your size.  I guess there just wasn’t time for a motivational dialog in the middle of a pre-season game.  It’s a documented scientific fact that attitudes and behavior are more likely to be affected during dialog than listening to a lecture.

I had a chance to experience this first hand just the other day at the gym.  I mentioned to Rob that I wasn’t making that much progress on my current goals.  He asked a simple question, are you being consistent?   I went home and pondered that.  Before this conversation, I would have said I have been pretty consistent.   But when I look at my workouts from the perspective of an athletic trainer, well, um, lets just say there’s room for improvement.

Bringing aspects of your training into the conversation during training sessions is a great way to increase motivation, and some topics are particularly helpful.  Simply talking about the benefits of exercise can be very effective.  There’s some pretty elaborate theory behind this, talking about benefits of exercise addresses something called cognitive dissonance, but it ultimately goes back to the idea that saying things out loud is a powerful motivator.   So try this next time you go to the gym:  tell Rob or Michelle what are the most important benefits of exercise for you.    Then just notice if you leave the gym more motivated than when you came in.  Let us know!

See you at the gym.

Marcia Smith, Ph.D.

Health psychologist and Momentum Fitness client