A&H

Motivation

Jevon Swinscoe

Active Member
Hi All,

I want to start training ready for the start of the new season but I am seriously struggling to motivate myself.

What ideas do you have
 
The Referee Store
I think it is important to focus on what you want to achieve and why. Motivation can only come from within so you need the right reason to do something.

Then set achievable targets each week and make those visible somewhere in your house e.g. Fridge door. Schedule the time in when you are going to do them and then knock it out of the park!

I find the best time to do exercise is first thing after getting out of bed. Get it done and out of the way. Your body also responds better to early morning exercise better than later in the day.
 
realistically you should never have stopped excercising when the season was shutdown, and kept a base level of fitness. As a ref in my forties I also run as a hobby so keep fit through the year, but even being furloughed it has been dificult to keep motivation. i agree excercise first and then get on with the rest of your day. try 1 long run a week a med fast 5k run some short sharp sprints and cycling but also remember to rest your body, but you need to get your head motivated first. for example your head has to be able to run a marathon before you start the training. hope this helps.
 
Agree with whats been said so far
Worrying that someone should lack the motivation, if you dont feel it inside, have the desire and the will, then, its never going to happen
And if it sounds like a chore, you are never going to enjoy it
And who on earth does a hobby, that they dont enjoy....thats an oxymoron in itself

no issues we all get a day we are not feeling it, and of course we live in a strange ever changing climate these days, nobody can be faulted for impact to the mental state

self pride is key here, if you want it enough, you will do it
If you dont do it, then you never really wanted it in the first place

agree with esp Timo, it comes from the head, the legs merely take you where the head wants to go......

Ps, as active referees, we should all be fit and train, in whatever form that takes for us all.
 
Your body also responds better to early morning exercise better than later in the day
'Fact Check Police' here... cardiovascular efficiency peaks in the late afternoon
That said, many people swear by exercising first thing. Personally, I like to prioritise bowel throughout the morning!!

Motivation roughly equates to momentum btw... Like moving a big rock with a small stick to begin with
For the first 3 or 4 weeks, I'd suggest taking it really easy on yourself. The tough stuff can wait 'til you're back in the groove, otherwise you might chuck the towel in before you've got going
 
'Fact Check Police' here... cardiovascular efficiency peaks in the late afternoon
That said, many people swear by exercising first thing. Personally, I like to prioritise bowel throughout the morning!!

Motivation roughly equates to momentum btw... Like moving a big rock with a small stick to begin with
For the first 3 or 4 weeks, I'd suggest taking it really easy on yourself. The tough stuff can wait 'til you're back in the groove, otherwise you might chuck the towel in before you've got going


Not so relevant today because of the variety of kick off times,, but, was always strange clubs trained, or at least had the players in, say, 10-2pm, instead of 1-5pm, which would be apx the part in the day they would be needed on a Sa
the body clock would then be constant, instead of four/five morning shifts then all of a sudden, an afternoon one.
Food, sleep etc wise too.

other point on fitness, it sits in the controllable section
When we step onto the pitch, we dont know how the game will go, how the players will behave, how our assistants will perform, if it will rain, if the ball will burst, there are more than enough variables for us to worry about
Fitness, we control,,so one less issue on the day
 
Not so relevant today because of the variety of kick off times,, but, was always strange clubs trained, or at least had the players in, say, 10-2pm, instead of 1-5pm, which would be apx the part in the day they would be needed on a Sa
the body clock would then be constant, instead of four/five morning shifts then all of a sudden, an afternoon one.
Food, sleep etc wise too.

other point on fitness, it sits in the controllable section
When we step onto the pitch, we dont know how the game will go, how the players will behave, how our assistants will perform, if it will rain, if the ball will burst, there are more than enough variables for us to worry about
Fitness, we control,,so one less issue on the day
Indeed, folly to train in the evenings for a half marathon that kicks off at 9am (for example)
Whenever I've participated in morning runs, I'd have to get up really early to 'trick' the body into 'readiness'. I'm an owl and pretty sluggish until my third coffee and fourth pain au chocolat
 
Indeed, folly to train in the evenings for a half marathon that kicks off at 9am (for example)
Whenever I've participated in morning runs, I'd have to get up really early to 'trick' the body into 'readiness'. I'm an owl and pretty sluggish until my third coffee and fourth pain au chocolat


our big essential fitness test one summer started at 8am.
Fine with me, I managed it no matter when or where, but crazy time esp as it was drummed into us to try train as near your game times as possible..
 
'Fact Check Police' here... cardiovascular efficiency peaks in the late afternoon
That said, many people swear by exercising first thing. Personally, I like to prioritise bowel throughout the morning!!

Motivation roughly equates to momentum btw... Like moving a big rock with a small stick to begin with
For the first 3 or 4 weeks, I'd suggest taking it really easy on yourself. The tough stuff can wait 'til you're back in the groove, otherwise you might chuck the towel in before you've got going

Yep I googled it and your right. Wonder where I got that idea. Anyway workout whenever suits you. Just start small and build.
 
'Fact Check Police' here... cardiovascular efficiency peaks in the late afternoon
That said, many people swear by exercising first thing. Personally, I like to prioritise bowel throughout the morning!!

Motivation roughly equates to momentum btw... Like moving a big rock with a small stick to begin with
For the first 3 or 4 weeks, I'd suggest taking it really easy on yourself. The tough stuff can wait 'til you're back in the groove, otherwise you might chuck the towel in before you've got going
I think it's variable. If early afternoon is too hot your heart rate is going to be higher which increases lactic acid production and feeling fatigued which is the opposite ofwhat you want when training, is it not?
 
Hi All,

I want to start training ready for the start of the new season but I am seriously struggling to motivate myself.

What ideas do you have
Tips:
Imagine: if you go out and run/cycle you will see real people!
Place: find somewhere you like to go, could be a park or a path, the take it from there.
Invent a goal: km or mile time, 10k, 40m time, yoyo test, fifa 4k interval test. Pick one. Compete with yourself.

Any goal will do. Doesn’t matter if it’s sprint, run, interval, cycle - anything that gets you going is good. Youtube for training tips if relevant.

If you want to try to spend your way out of a funk then buy shoes and a watch to embarrass yourself into action! I have an old Garmin and I’ve just rediscovered the Connect app - route planning, workouts, intervals blah blah
 
Get in a routine and have a plan, start small, so a short 1km run (whatever, pipe down back there), a few sprints; it can be trifling exercise at the start because we're just building momentum.

If you plan 4 days worth of exercise, and start with small sessions, you can soon scale them up as you find things getting easier.

And here's the key thing; It's okay to quit if you can't be arsed or you're feeling not up for it on the day. As long as you move the day's session and do that exercise on another day. Early on, it is absolutely fine if you miss an entire session and only do 3 sessions.

I stress this as acceptable, because there's nothing more offputting early on than being too strict that you end up packing everything in. So, early on, you can sort of be flakey, as long as you're hitting most of the targets along the way.

Once you get a month or so into the training sessions though, you absolutely should be growing out of this mindset and into a more serious regimen, where you're nailing four sessions minimum and only ever rescheduling due to serious conflicts (i.e. The Wife's birthday).

Still, if that isn't motivation enough, some of the benefits to getting into exercise are;

1. Better fitness
2. Better refereeing thanks to your fitness.
3. Weight loss
4. Better sex life - I'll let you work out why. :p
5. Overall, better self-esteem from the benefits of training.

If you cannot get into it on your own, consider getting a personal trainer - the cost alone will make you turn up, and sometimes, having someone do the planning and admin work, as well as help you face-to-face is all that is needed to get you up to speed to train on your own.

If even that fails... You just have to accept that you will not get very far in refereeing (or with the fitness tests, unless you're just naturally fit), but hey, if you're content at the lower rungs of refereeing, that's okay too and there are lots of matches that will need refereeing.

realistically you should never have stopped excercising when the season was shutdown, and kept a base level of fitness.

Unfortunately, not always easy to do. I've been in two-minds on training since most of my training is gym-based. Myself and my partner have lung issues, which means trying to avoid all the people who are flouting the lockdown rules. We also lived in a crap area for running. Thankfully, we've moved house now, so can run with impunity, but I'm back to square 1 after basically two months of inactivity. Just have to train extra hard to get back and beyond I suppose. :)
 
Indeed, folly to train in the evenings for a half marathon that kicks off at 9am (for example)
Whenever I've participated in morning runs, I'd have to get up really early to 'trick' the body into 'readiness'. I'm an owl and pretty sluggish until my third coffee and fourth pain au chocolat

I personally don't think it makes that much difference in the grand scheme of things. Your body's either capable of it or it's not.

As I got past my 40's, I realised that early morning phys was a sure way to risk injury as opposed to later on in the day when my joints/muscles/bones had already been moving around a bit more. On the other hand, doing phys first thing in the morning (before breakfast) as a young squaddie was always the way, and if nothing else it ensured that you were physing on an empty stomach, preventing the customary "pavement-pizza" production often prevalent when exercising within 2-4 hours of a meal. ;)
So, I don't think "body clock" has anything to do with it. Granted, you'll probably feel less energised for phys at the end of a long day at work, but that's (I believe) statistically when most people go to the gym so the "early morning is best" theory doesn't hold up for me. :)
 
4. Better sex life - I'll let you work out why. :p

Eeeww. :meh:

No way man.

Sex is for hippies.

What d'ya need sex for anyway when you've got beer, curry, football, rugby and guns? :wide:

Sex is just something women want when they don't have any chocolate .... :rolleyes: :D
 
Back
Top