Will power is not the best friend to lean on. It lets you down as you need it most and doesn’t even show up at times. And that’s just not for those that lack discipline. Anyone, at least on occasion forfeits to what’s easy rather than what they should do.
With that in mind, although self discipline and control are very positive character traits, will power should not be relied upon entirely to achieve your aims. Of course, the decision to build muscle and gain weight is will power in itself, but that’s as far as you should need and want to take it.
- Craft your environment. Will surrounding yourself with video games, televisions and comfy chairs encourage you to train? Of course not. That’s not to say any of those items are inherently “bad” but if something isn’t conducive to your aims, place them out of sight so you have to consciously go to them rather than being sucked in simply because of their presence. Place your weights and fridge in areas where you spend most of your time. You want your environment to exude your desire to no longer be skinny.
- Have snacks nearby. You need to eat more to gain weight and the act of consuming food is rarely the difficult part as an ectomorph, it’s the lack of desire for food or the laziness in your lack of interest in preparing it. Instead of preparing 3 big meals per day, break your food consumption into 5-6 smaller snacks, and leave it nearby so you’re ready to consume it at the first feeling of hunger. Mixed nuts and a glass of milk are simple snacks that you can always have beside you as you’re working or watching TV.
- Instill habits progressively. Lumping “training” into one big habit to stick to can be overwhelming and just not a very fun prospect. Instead, construct your training sessions like Lego blocks. Start with doing a single exercise 3 days per week. Once that habit is formed add another exercise, and so on and so forth. Smaller habits are easier to form and you’ll be less likely to proclaim that “it’s all too hard” and go back to watching Two and a Half Men (I just felt a chill run down my spine in disgust).
- Work with a buddy (or make your progress public). Either find yourself a fellow ectomorph to train with, as to have someone to keep you accountable for your actions and progress, or make a public log (as I’m doing with this blog) so the whole world will know if you fail to stick to the achievement your desires. Putting my thoughts about fitness and muscle building out to the world instills a sense of responsibility that I must continually strive towards my aims without fail and even without seeking an audience you can do the same. As an offset, it’s beneficial to regularly reflect on your progress and actions.
- Write it down. Getting out the ol’ pen and paper, sitting down and writing what it is you want to achieve and follow through with is a surprisingly powerful technique to eliminate the need for will power. Don’t question the awesomeness. Just write down the plan you’re setting up for yourself and it’ll be subconsciously planted into your brain bank.
- Block yourself from distractions. Offer yourself no alternatives to doing what needs to be done. This is similar to crafting your environment, but operates at a deeper level. You are likely distracted right now by thousands of little irritants and unfinished activities. Stop wasting thought energy on these distractions by going through them (after prioritizing them) and taking immediate action or just letting go of your obsessiveness to seek perfection.
- Challenge yourself. Make a game out of muscle building. Make it fun. Set small goals for yourself like beating your previous number of pull ups or eating one extra meal per day. When a goal is framed as a personal challenge it becomes more exciting to complete, much like the satisfaction from beating your high score in a video game.
- Be noncommittal. Commitments are scary. Don’t set a goal like “train 3 days per week for 2 years.” That will be the cause of fear and overwhelm, paralyzing your progress before you even begin. Focus on small, digestible goals, such as maintaining a training routine for a week or two. Find your groove before making big decisions.
- Set an inevitability statement. This is after you’ve found your groove, once commitment is a less terrifying prospect. Write down what you think you’d have to do to guarantee success with your training – what exercises you’d have to do, the food you’d have to eat etc. Once this information is identified you create a sense of certainty and with that certainty a vague goal becomes a crystal clear destiny that simply requires you to go through the motions. Going through the motions doesn’t require will power.
- Simplify your process. I can’t remember who originally said it, but if an exercise makes you look stupid then it’s not worth doing. And what I really think that idea encapsulates is simplicity: don’t try to reinvent the wheel, latch onto a new buzz-wordy technique or rely on pseudo-scientific theories. Not only are these ineffective roads to take they’re complexity makes it considerably more difficult to achieve even the most modest of aims. Stick with proven, time-tested approaches to training and consuming calories and nothing more. Keep it simple.
- Eliminate the unnecessary. It’s likely that there’s plenty of fuzz in your life – negative people, mindless TV consumption, waiting in lines at the supermarket. While not directly related to building strength these soul-sucking interactions and activities induce lethargic feelings and an overall fogginess of the mind. Get a pen and paper and document everything that consumes your attention for a day (you may want to do this for 2-3 days if you have an irregular schedule). Then, systematically work towards eliminating as many unnecessary attention-grabbers as possible. In this way you can focus on what’s important to you.
- Do things well. People like doing what they’re good at, and when you like doing something there’s no need for will power or dragging yourself apathetically out of bed to do it. And even when you’re a beginner there are certain exercises that naturally work for us. Focus on these at first. I found that I was fairly adept at banging out a few pull ups, and the fact that I do them well makes me excited to do more of them and improve my technique. This can lead to an imbalance in your training at first, but as you improve your skills in one area you’ll eventually expand to other exercises without feeling like they’re a burden.
- Identify the pain. What will happen if you don’t gain weight and build muscle? This isn’t exactly an optimistic approach but when you create a sense of pain and desperation you can do amazing things and your goals no longer remain as “I should do this” but become “I must do this…no matter what.” But do be careful about focusing on this pain. You don’t want to lower your self worth by dedicating your thoughts to your flaws for extended periods of time. Use these pains as jolts, not sustenance.
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