Best way to motivate self to do (intense) exercise with no workout partner.

[KurtCobain]

I have been accepted into the United States Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer and have until April 13th to get sufficiently in shape. In the past, I've responded well to having an accountability partner at the gym to push me past what I'd normally be willing to do naturally. For several reasons, I'll need to exercise alone. Does anybody have suggestions on creating that structure for myself so I can get my run time back down?

 

[The Cat]

You picked a hell of time to enlist.

 

[KurtCobain]

You picked a hell of time to enlist.

I know, but I lost my day job about a year ago, and all the money I had saved to self-fund my masters degree has instead gone to survival, and then I had to live on credit cards after that. Despite the troubling current political environment, I see this as an opportunity to not only repair my credit and savings, but also have the GI bill for a Masters Degree in Social Work after I get out in about 5 or so years from now. I taught high school for 5 and a half years as a special ed teacher at a Louisiana public high school, and got beyond burnt out.

 

[Maybe this helps]

It helps most if you get a proper "rest and diet schedule" to stay consistent. In the military, they usually exercise in the morning and it helps start your day, so it's good to get in the habit. If you train later in the day, it can effect sleep and rest. Avoid caffeine, large meals, or showers close to bed time. Practice methods of shutting down your brain almost as a form of sleep meditation to get productive rest. I wasn't always good at this, but it works if you can do it. And it's especially helpful when you'll be inevitably sleep deprived. If you need help waking up, maybe if you don't get a lot of sun where you live, you could try a sun alarm.

Diet and caloric intake is important. And anything you can do to make training easier on yourself, such as doing body resistance training at home, if you aren't in the mood for the gym or playing a fast moving sport like Tennis to reinforce the joints or rock climbing to build up great core, if you need something more fun. Swimming is useful too, especially if you are going into the Navy, you will want to learn how to tread water best and unfortunately the more muscular you are, the harder it is to float. You can practice wearing weights in the water too to simulate any gear you might carry. Make sure to change up your exercises too. Training many muscles, including fast twitch can help with PT scores in general, even with running, to finish faster.

Since you're going officer, you're basically becoming a high performing athlete, so almost all of the same advice applies, and it will hinder your promotions if you don't perform as well as the other officers, unfortunately. And you are expected to perform better than most of the soldiers. And good luck with the crazy politics happening now! Hopefully you don't end up fighting in the Middle East (apparently right now the Navy is defending trade ships from Iranian attacks in the Gulf of Adan) or China Seas because of strange politics! China has been eyeing and planning military exercises around Taiwan for a long time now, unfortunately.

 

[Coriolis]

I have been accepted into the United States Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer and have until April 13th to get sufficiently in shape. In the past, I've responded well to having an accountability partner at the gym to push me past what I'd normally be willing to do naturally. For several reasons, I'll need to exercise alone. Does anybody have suggestions on creating that structure for myself so I can get my run time back down?

Is running your only area of concern? When I was in the Air Force, that was mine, too. I was never a great runner. Hiking, cycling, even those aerobic fitness classes I could do fine, but barely made my run times. Do you know why your times are slow? Do you need to lose some weight? Do you get winded easily, and need to build aerobic capacity? Do your legs tire and you need to work on leg strength? Are you just out of practice?

The three things I suggest you pay attention to are routine, progress tracking, and motivation. Figure out when the best time to exercise is. I always preferred at the end of the day, after work. If you work out at a comfortable time, you are more likely to be faithful to your routine. Structure your routine for best results: warmups, run, perhaps some other exercises. If you need to build aerobic capacity and don't like running, alternate running with an aerobic activity you do like.

Break your goals down into milestones and track your progress. When I was trying to run better, I focused on distance first, building up to the required distance: so, several days at a quarter of the distance, then a third, then half, etc. Then I focused on bringing the time down. You can add milestones for other exercises, too, if needed. There are lots of phone apps now for tracking. I use a very simple one called FitNotes that doesn't require any account or online access.

I can suggest two parts to motivation. First, arrange your workouts to be as enjoyable as possible. Choosing the right time of day is a start. Getting some mileage out of non-running aerobics if you hate to run would help. When you do run, run somewhere you enjoy if possible. I always hated running in circles on a track. so would run on the streets where I lived. Listen to peppy or motivational music. The second part is to reward yourself for meeting milestones on the way to your goal.

And, keep in mind your ultimate goal of taking up your Navy commission. The Navy is a great service. Sometimes I wonder if I should have joined that instead of the Air Force. We are all in for a rough ride for awhile, but military officers are likely to be in a better position than most. I suspect you will have better job security and status. Also, you will get an inside view to some of the goings on that may help you be ready. Make the most of it, and take care of the people you care about as well as you can.

 

[Tomb1]

I know, but I lost my day job about a year ago, and all the money I had saved to self-fund my masters degree has instead gone to survival, and then I had to live on credit cards after that. Despite the troubling current political environment, I see this as an opportunity to not only repair my credit and savings, but also have the GI bill for a Masters Degree in Social Work after I get out in about 5 or so years from now. I taught high school for 5 and a half years as a special ed teacher at a Louisiana public high school, and got beyond burnt out.

You don't have to explain yourself. It's your life decision, your choice. You don't want to be too extreme with the political bs that you just turn into an excuse factory and your motivations go from the personal and familial to the idealogical....there's also never going to be a perfect time to do anything. Though I am anti-state and opposed to compulsory service, I am also a pragmatist in strategy.

The military can offer you a degree of action, adventure, responsibility and opportunities that make it a worthwhile option so long as you have the mental toughness to endure the environment without breaking into frustration and the nerves of steel to steer the ship through potentially harsh waters. But ultimately, the fact you're doing it to open up opportunities for yourself is a sound calculation and shows that you're taking action here from a position of strength even if you have to put up with all the whining and complaining and barking out of orders....just let it roll off your shoulders and keep your eye on the prize. All good strategies for advancement in the street fight of life carry a degree of risk and sacrifice.

So it sounds like the structure is already there....you've got the date April 13th. The April 13th date is your structure. Now you don't have to go crazy and run yourself into the ground, just progress gradually. Remember, sufficient shape. You're not training for the Olympics.