Friday morning, on my way to work (which is where I do my morning workout), I was just not feeling it. In my mind, there was
NO
WAY
IN
HELL
I was going to be able to do a workout. I figured that if I even went to the gym, I would be shamming it. You know those workouts. Lift something here, move something there, not a lot of pain, but you can say that you worked out today. I was thinking about skipping the workout that day.
Unfortunately, as part of my plan to hit the gym early, I wore my workout clothing in. Just changing into a suit without doing anything would seem silly. Also, I hadn’t showered, so that would need to be taken care of, and I would have created dirty clothes for nothing. Ultimately, I did end up going working out, and I worked out pretty hard. I may have even pushed a few limits. Lifting on a day where you feel like crap (without legitimately being injured or sick) really takes some willpower.
Unfortunately, some people, especially early lifters, don’t have that drive to push through the sucky days. At that point, they skip a lift. Then two. And then they aren’t working out for long periods of time. It’s a very easy slump to fall in, and I’ve had it happen when work becomes overwhelming.
This is why I recommend having a training partner. Back when I was at West Point, I had a guy that I worked out with regularly. It was great because it was very rare that we both felt like not lifting. As long as one of us was good to go, the other person was basically guilted into attending.
Another perk of a partner is that you can make a lot of gains in the gym, for a number of reasons. First off, you can remove some limits, thanks to an added level of safety. There were weights that I never would have tried bench pressing if there wasn’t someone there to act as a spotter if (and when) i failed to lift it. Having a spotter allowed me to take those chances.
Second, there is a sense of competition or mentor-ship that goes on there. If both individuals are in the same level of fitness, they will each attempt to push themselves to work harder (again, the safety of having a spotter comes into play). If one is in significantly better shape than the other, the weaker person will push to not be weak and try to do well. Meanwhile, the stronger person will work hard to not show any weakness to the partner. For those in the military, imagine the PL or PSG at PT.
Lastly, a partner can help you move through sticking points. Just a tiny bit of help can go a long way.
Lifters who are just starting out may have an easier time finding a partner than those who are already far along in fitness. Experienced people may have a workout that’s intimidating, or that they do not want to adapt (especially if you have very specific goals), so convincing another experienced person to come over to your way is hard, changing your way might be hard, and a newbie will just run away. Inexperienced people, on the other hand, can generally find someone who also wants “to get in shape for spring break,” or can approach an experienced person to work with them, doing anything the experienced person says.
When I was in Afghanistan, Mike approached me because he hadn’t done weight training before. He jumped onto my program, which, at the time, was hard and did a lot of strength development. He did well with it (30 lbs of muscle in 3 months) and stuck with it. When he was moved to a separate base, he had a hard time finding a partner. They kept quitting. Hell, his platoon Sergeant worked out with him once, and vowed never to work out with him again.
Working out alone takes a different level of dedication. For me, it borders on schizophrenia or auditory hallucination. It’s like there is a second voice in my head that takes the place of the partner. Unfortunately, this voice tends to call me “bitch,” “scum,” and “pussy,” and tells me to “keep going,” a lot more than any partner ever has (it does other things in other situations). Maybe I’ll talk more on lifting with anger in another post.
The only other helpful advice that I can give someone who has to train alone is this: just start the workout. When I left the military, my running fell off, and when I went to start up again, I dreaded running. However, I found that if I got dressed and stepped out the door, I would HAVE TO run since I was already outside. Just like the story earlier, I’m already in the clothes, I might as well just go. If you are standing in front of the weights, there is no reason not to start lifting them. Starting is the hardest part, but an object in motion stays in motion.