Sticking with strength building is perhaps the most difficult aspect, and over the past few years as I’ve constantly quit and then restarted my routines has seriously hindered my progress (essentially voiding any work I did do). And that’s why I want to promote the idea of sustainable strength, of focusing less on quick gains and overnight success, and more on building habits that can last a life time.
- Develop conducive habits. Instead of looking as “muscle building” as a large area of your life you need to work on, break it down into a series of small habits you can begin to implement. For example, instead of “working out” on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, why not start by just developing the habit of doing pull ups on those days? After that habit is ingrained, add maybe push ups to that routine etc.
- Ease the pressure. Only commit to 1-2 weeks of progress. This sounds counterproductive, but by easing the pressure, by not “having” to workout 3 times a week for the next 6 months, you’re able to get into a positive groove, and form the necessary habits. Instead of shifting your behaviors with a flash-in-the-pan method, take your time to make the switch. Taken to the extreme you could try promising yourself to stick with your goals for just one more day – and then continually make that promise to yourself as each day passes.
- Make it fun. It all comes back to fun. You have to enjoy the process. Some people may get through based on their desire for muscle alone, but I’d imagine they’re in the minority. Discover ways you can make muscle building fun and exploit the hell out of them. I’d go as far as to say sacrifice effectiveness in favor of fun. Your gains may be slower, but achieving them will be more likely.
- Realign your motivations. There are both implicit and explicit motivations, and you need to understand which side of the fence you’re on. You’re most likely on the explicit side, which are unfortunately fairly weak motivations. Find out about implicit motivations for ectomorphs.
- Connect with a purpose. What is your why? Why do you want to build muscle and what is your overarching purpose? Having a clear, definitive purpose – a burning desire – is one of the oldest success tricks in the books yet I’ve never seen it applied to the overcoming of skinny-ness. Read more about this idea in my discussion of muscle building as a means, not an end.
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