The Next Fix

Confidence is a drug.

In the beginning… every time I stepped in the gym I hit some new milestone. The weights went up, and up, and up; and my confidence went up, and up.

And up.

Kinda like when I started running pretty seriously: the times came down, confidence went up.

Or like when I immersed myself in yoga: I hit new poses; my confidence soared.

It’s the honeymoon phase: You start working out; you improve indefinitely; you feel amazing; and then it’s over. You peak. You could work a little harder to find that next level of fitness, but the amount of work it takes to continue improving is more than you can realistically invest. You have kids, a job, a life.

You keep working out; but the electricity, the buzz of confidence that came with improvement is more and more illusive.

Like a Box gym but without: membership fees, gym bros, selfie culture, raids, working in.

Straight Dope

That amazing feeling of accomplishment and achievement comes from your brain’s release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a role in pleasure, motivation, and learning.

“Dopamine causes you to want, desire, seek out, and search. It increases your general level of arousal and your goal-directed behavior. Dopamine makes you curious about ideas and fuels your search for information. Dopamine creates reward-seeking loops in the sense that people will repeat pleasurable behavior, from checking Instagram to taking drugs.”

To working out.

The first time I nailed wheel pose I was bragging to strangers in line at the grocery store: that’s dopamine.

When I PR’d in the mile, or the bench: dopamine.

Dopamine is the carrot at the end of the stick. When we improve, or accomplish goals our body rewards us with dopamine to ensure we continue striving for that next carrot.

What happens if the next carrot proves too elusive?

Or if we only allow ourselves to feel good when we accomplish something we deem important?

How do you get excited for a 5k after you’ve just run an ultra marathon obstacle race?

We get into a rut. Working out becomes a chore, and we lose momentum.

More Carrots please

Four ways you can keep your momentum going, the dope flowing, and muscles growing.

1. Set short term goals- A few months ago I had the goal to do 1,000 chin-ups, 2,000 pushups, and 3,000 air squats in a month. I’d never brag about doing 33 chin ups, 66 pushups and 99 air squats in a day. But bet your ass I'm humble bragging about it after doing it for 30 days straight.

2. Set long term goals- I’m presently on week 10 of a 12 week mobility cycle. You know what I’m going to be bragging about in 2 weeks: how amazing I feel after working on my mobility for 12 weeks.

3. Celebrate the small victories. I suffer from this affliction my therapist calls ‘I’ll be happy when…’. Working out requires one to delay gratification, but don’t do so at the expense of overlooking your small wins along the way. Sometimes the 5k you run in the rain at a slow pace is more satisfying than finishing the marathon in record time. They’re both great. They’re both worth celebrating. Don’t downplay one because it’s “easier”. Find your happiness along the way.

4. Switch up your work outs. Try something new. It’s easy to make progress and grow when you’re starting from scratch. Get into kettlebells, achieve a goal, pivot to yoga, achieve a goal, pivot to weight lifting…

Feeling Blah

It’s March. The weather sucks. Your bracket just got busted. People at work are ornery. Your spouse is ornery. Let’s inject some dopamine into your life.

It starts with a goal. What’s important to you? What slows your doom scroll on insta? What’s gonna make you feel good?

Is it a race? I know a trainer who can help.

Is it strength? I know a trainer who can help.

Mobility? Yoga? Weight loss…

You want it we got it. We’re slinging that straight dope.