What is the most difficult part of working out for most people? Finding the motivation to do it. It’s probably not a big issue for many people reading here. We love to work out. We enjoy it. But that’s not the scenario for the average person. And even so, we all go through days when we’re just not feeling it.
What is the most difficult part of working out for most people? Finding the motivation to do it. It’s probably not a big issue for many people reading here. We love to work out. We enjoy it. But that’s not the scenario for the average person. And even so, we all go through days when we’re just not feeling it.
A Recap on EFT
In 5 Workout Remedies for When You Feel Weak, I discussed some of the strategies you can take when you feel that way before training. There, I introduced the idea of using Emotional Freedom Technique, or EFT, and that’s what this article is all about.
This is the third in a series of articles on using EFT to improve your performance in the gym and sports. If you missed it, the first article introduced what EFT can do for you, covering both anecdotal and scientific evidence for its use. The second article was all about how to do the technique. It’s important you read both of those articles before continuing here.
Make Sure You Are Ready to Work Out
A bad state can lead to a bad workout. It’s hard to be at your strongest, best conditioned, and most skilled when you feel bad. Of course, this is not always the case.
There are times when you feel like crap but get started anyway and have a phenomenal workout. So what’s the different between the two?
It’s useful to be able to tune in to your body. Does your body feel weak? Does your body feel like crap physically? Or is it mentally or emotionally so?
The body and mind are a system and you can’t affect one without affecting the other. That being said, knowing where the issue originates is important.
If the physical body is overtrained, then rest may be the best thing for you. But if you’re not feeling like working out because of stress at work or in your relationships, this can typically be easily dealt with to allow you to focus on getting results in the gym.
And even if you feel like working out right now, ask yourself, could it be better? If you rated your excitement to train right now on a scale of zero to ten, how high would it be? This can show you that even if you’re good to go, you may not be completely optimal.
The Personal Record Amplifier
I call this technique the PR Amplifier (PR stands for “personal record”) because I found that by doing it I tended to more easily hit personal records when I trained. Here are the five steps to this process:
1. Take note of your starting state
Rate it on a scale of zero to ten. Zero being absolutely no desire to train right now and ten being you can’t wait to get started and are full of enthusiasm.
2. Tap the karate chop point while saying the setup phrase
This needs to match where you’re currently at and how you’re feeling. Here are a few examples:
- “Even though I feel like crap right now, I choose to have a great workout anyway.”
- “Even though I feel okay right now, I choose to have a great workout.”
- “Even though I’m unmotivated to train, I know I can feel more optimistic and energetic.”
3. Run through the tapping sequence
Say your reminder phrase with each point. Here’s the list of points once again and example reminder phrases:
- Inner Eyebrow
- Outside Eyes
- Under Eyes
- Under Nose
- Under Mouth
- Under Collarbone
- Breast Bone
- Under Arm
- Seams of Legs
- “Feel like crap.”
- “I feel okay.”
- “Unmotivated.”
4. Now that you’ve covered your starting state, switch over to the desired state as you continue tapping through the main sequence of points
- “I choose to have a great workout.”
- “I feel optimistic and energetic.”
- “I know I’m going to set some personal records today.”
5. Take note of your new state
Once you’re finished take note of your current state and how much you want to work out now. Is your current state high enough for you? I like to be at an eight or above before starting.
If you haven’t reached the desired state, then you can repeat the process. Also, if any specific issues came to mind while you ran through the tapping, then be sure to deal with those at this point, too.
This whole process generally takes a couple of minutes. Considering that the state you’re in will have a big impact on the results you get in your workout, this process is worth doing every time. Please give it a shot and report your results in the comments below.
In my next article, I’ll go into detail on how you can use EFT to see immediate improvements in just about any exercise.
Photos courtesy of Shutterstock.
