Hello,
Does anyone have any good motivational tricks or methods that gets them on the trainer without procrastinating for hours…?!
Cheers!
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the sooner you get done your session the sooner you can eat!
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Make it part of your routine. Even if you don’t feel like you will be half changed before you know it. Also don’t sit down before you are supposed to be on the trainer.
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No tricks. But if you’re procrastinating about it, how much pleasure does it bring you? Find a way to make it something you look forward to.
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Making it part of your routine is good advice. I do my weekday workouts in the morning before work. While I don’t have a hard time I have to get to work most days, the desire to not show up late gets me on the trainer in time. On weekends, I rely on my remote family. I have a 3 hour time difference with my 3 immediate family members and try and talk with each of them on the phone every weekend. I usually end up scheduling my calls the morning of, which helps you get a workout in. For example, I’ll tell my brother at 9am “call me at 11am.” If I have a 1 hour workout, then I know I need to do it before my brother calls. It’s easy to get something done on time when you have a deadline for it (and enough time!)
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Hard to call it pleasure. I mean it’s type two fun at it’s finest; I feel amazing after the workout is over. But despite that knowledge, say if I’m facing threshold intervals that day, I’m not exactly racing to get my bib shorts on! Hence why I’m posting on the TR forum instead of just getting on the trainer…
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Procrastinating as I type. I like to look at the scale and shame myself, remind myself that I have yet to set foot on a podium that mattered, remind myself that I’m shameful and unworthy of respect as a cat-4, remind myself of how comically slow I/we cat-4s look in races and use all of that as a bargaining chip to coax myself into turning myself inside out on the trainer.
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There are several open Motivation threads to review with lots of discussion.
https://www.trainerroad.com/forumsearch?q=motivation
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This is one of the highlights of my day. Without it I feel lethargic and cranky. I also am not a fan of rest days although I usually force myself to take them.
Full disclosure. Ive been injured and off work for 16 months. Not a lot of things I could do other than ride. Ive been transitioning back to work after surgery for 2 weeks. We will see in 3 or 4 weeks if I still feel the same.
But without the trainer and riding I would have gone to a dark place.
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have a look at this.
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This concept runs through my head over and over again… if I don’t have motivation (daily or seasonal) I tell myself that discipline will pay off, it usually does.
Edit: And anything posted by the VeganCyclist is worthwhile.
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Motivation sometimes can be hard. I suggest to vary your workouts inside and out. TR has both outside and inside workout options. I was training inside and i found myself dreading spending time on the trainer, despite Netflix. I took to outside workouts. After a week or so, i found that my outside workout were not as productive as inside - all of a sudden I started to appreciate the trainer.
Motivation is easy when you can see improvements. When you are in the middle of a training plan, its easy to lose sight of your goals - ultimately to get faster. Last few days, while on, my commute to work, i had to stop to re calibrate my power meter because I didn’t believe the numbers. I was putting out more watts. I expected to be suffering but wasnt…seeing results. I am even more excited to keep training. Keep at it…
The other part to think about, life in general can cause stress and fatigue and have an impact on your motivation. You just might need a few days rest.
Lastly, I found that i respond really well with “acute” training load, followed by a few days of rest. For example, i am doing SSB1 ATM…i would do my workouts closer together, within 4 days (schedule permitting), followed by 3 days rest. Typically my training days are Wednesday (60m), Thursday (90m) and Saturday (90m). The rest Sunday Monday and Tuesday. So try moving your workouts around…
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I’ve heard the two hardest bits about training indoors is
- to get on the trainer, and
- to stay on it.
If you usually feel amazing afterwards, then concentrate on that. Motivation is very personal, the trick is to work out what works for you.
In terms of motivation, for me it helps to get everything ready sometime before your training session (like last thing at night if you train in the morning), so you don’t have to faff, which might seem an extra hurdle and put you off.
And last, if you really can’t bring yourself to do it, you might just need rest. Your body might be telling you something.
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It’s the same with my ice bath every day. I fill the tub with cold water and then dump the contents of the ice maker in the water. I dread getting into it and then once im in after 45 seconds it feels great. After 7 minutes an alarm goes off and I start washing up. After that I get out even though I don’t really want to. My wife calls my riding an addiction. Im ok with it.
Hit it first thing in the morning. I find the later in the day i try to squeeze in workouts, the easier it is to find excuses from other life priorities not to get my workout in. Plus getting that early morning workout in, will keep me energized and motivated for the rest of the day.
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Everyone is different but I have found that it works well to “bargain” or “trick” myself into starting a workout.
It basically goes like this:
“Ok, I’m gonna put my bibs on but I don’t have to workout”
“Alright, well as long as I have my bibs on I might as well ride for a few minutes. How about just 5 minutes and then I’m done?”
“Might as well do a little warm up now too”
“I’ll start this first interval and see how it feels. Maybe I’ll bail early if I don’t feel good”
“That wasn’t so bad! Bet I can beat my power on this one.”
By that point you’re well into the workout 
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zwift?
Have been going for about five weeks now and really enjoying the sessions and the noticable results. This week though I have been coming up against the brain trying to make me stay in bed and skip today or why are you doing this for it’s not going to make you any better. This morning I hit the snooze button and nearly decided to give it a miss. I always feel better after I have done it which is what keeps me going but it’s just been harder this week more than ever
I get up at 4:45 so I can get it over before work and it is very cold these last few days. I know I could miss a day for some extra rest but as I am sure most people would agree you feel terrible/grumpy all day for not doing anything. Even though in the grand scheme it’s not that bad it can make me feel like I have wrecked everything.
Any tips on how to win the brain battle
Thanks
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When discipline has let me down this old motivational video has worked for me
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