Maintaining Bodybuilding Motivation: Find Your Inspiration and Gain

In the ever-growing world of bodybuilding, inspiration and motivation are certainly key aspects. But they are often the things that are hard to maintain.

I see it time after time in the gym. There's always a colossal herd of #fitnessfreaks who are ready to get it done in the gym. This occurs typically within the first few months of the year- a time period where the gym is rife with "new year, new me" enthusiasts or alternatively, the flocks usually rush into the gym eight weeks prior to the summer period.

More often than not, most, if not all of those faces, disappear by the time it hits April. Or, for the so-called summer shredders, by the time it hits winter. Everyone seems to lack drive, they lack passion, they lack discipline.

Why? You may ask. Well it essentially all boils down to one thing: a massive lack of inspiration. Or more so, the right form of it.

The Super-Motivated Bodybuilder and Fitness Fanatic

Let's break this down. Inspiration comes in many forms. The average gym-goer is usually inspired by their want for a healthier lifestyle and the ability to feel comfortable in their own bodies. To that I say fair enough - this is someone who is self-motivated for all the right things and those types of people usually train fairly regularly and intensely.

Next we have the competitive - and not-so-competitive - bodybuilders. This group of individuals is quite obviously motivated by their love and passion for bodybuilding, and their desire to take the sport as far as their genetics allow them to venture.

It goes without saying that these groups of athletes train hard, diet hard and do their best to expedite greatness. They have reached the point in their training lives where bodybuilding is no longer just a hobby or something which they force themselves to do for the betterment of their physical appearance or wellbeing, it is now a lifestyle.

It is their everyday routine and it will remain this way until the day comes when they are physically incapable of carrying on. And even then they'll try their best to do so.

The "Not So Motivated" Texter and Talker

Now, we've discussed two different types of gym-goers and their inspiration for setting foot into the gym and training their butts off. And now it's time to discuss the types of people who I briefly talked about at the start of this article. The types of people who are inspired by all the wrong things and this ultimately leads to a lack of discipline, consistency and well, anything remotely similar to the previous types of trainers I have mentioned.

They can often be seen in the gym working their thumbs and mouths more than the actual muscle group they're supposedly training. And their physiques are indicative of their training and nutrition.

These people are motivated by things like the summer coming up, or because it's the New Year, or even because they want to look good in the night club when they go out on a weekend. This is their personal inspiration.

Don't get me wrong though, I'm all for doing what makes you happy and if that's how you choose to live your life then so be it. As long as it's something which you enjoy.


The main thing about these people that really grinds on me though: when they take to social media to tell everyone how much they just "crushed their workout," or how they are "dieting like a beast and training like a beast," and all of that palaver. This is when it becomes annoying.

It's quite obviously untrue, and one can tell by simply looking at their physiques, the way they train, and by listening in on their conversations regarding training and nutrition. They enjoy the social label which comes with claiming that they are a bodybuilder and that they go to the gym.

It's nothing but irritating. Now I have a problem with these people.

The funniest thing about them is that in their heads, they are training like a beast and eating like a champion. In their minds they are doing exactly what the competitive bodybuilders in the gym are doing and pretty soon they'll be bigger than them or they'll be just like them.

And then, the inevitable happens.

They realize that it doesn't work how they think it works. They realize that you don't just hop on the juice and turn into Dorian Yates overnight. They actually learn that it takes time and hard work to build muscle and to achieve the look which they so confidently proclaim they are striving for.

When they realize how hard it actually is to make significant visible changes in their physiques, they give up. Any hope and drive they had dwindles away into nothingness. Why? Because they realise that they aren't cut out to be what they want to be. And because they are inspired by the wrong things.

Be Your Own Inspiration

The key to making progress in bodybuilding and fitness is to be your own inspiration. Find it within yourself, channel into it and use it to get you through every workout, every meal, every cardio session. Use it to take small steps each day which bring you closer to your goals.

If you rely on external sources to provide you with inspiration then chances are you aren't going to get far in this sport. Inspiration cannot be supplemented, external sources may add to your levels of it, but your main source of it should stem from within.

Somewhere deep within yourself, an area which may be undiscovered, but the day you'll find it will be the day when you make that jump from mediocrity to greatness. A leap which takes many years and it is the realisation of this which makes the majority of people quit, but you aren't the majority, you're great. You just need to realize that for yourself.

Leave mediocrity behind and strive for greatness.