Staying Motivated, how hard is it?

Now this is an often spoken about subject, and very rarely is there any reasons or solutions given haha, and I'm sorry to say I don't have the answers for you here either.

Since owning this gym I have been able to see the ups & downs of training in people lives, and I guess it just follows the ups and downs we all have in our lives.

Training Jiu Jitsu is probably one of the hardest things I've ever done in my life, and I can see people when they join our gym they always start off in a blaze of glory attending every class we have on offer. I think to myself man I hope he or she keeps this up as they show real potential, unfortunately it generally only lasts between 1-3 months and the attendances start to drop off. Small, niggling injuries start to pop up and all of a sudden it is easier to say to yourself "ahh i'll have tonight off" so I can rest this injury. Then it's two nights off and in the blink of an eye it's two weeks. Once you have those two weeks off the commitment needed to get back to consistent training is sometimes too much.

And don't worry I see the same Ebs & flows in all of our programs, MMA, Bootcamp & Cardio Kick Boxing. All these programs are full some nights and empty the next lol. People start them all with that exuberant energy of a child and before too long that energy hears the couch calling out "stay with me, don't go to the gym" hahaha. I could almost guarantee most forms of fitness would be the same.

What is the answer you ask? Sorry but I have no idea haha, I'm lucky as many times I don't want to go to the gym...but I own it so I don't have a say in the matter. I think this helps me only have short moments like this. But it does make you sit up and respect people who do put in 110% every day, rain, hail or shine. People like Coach Bodey, he trains everyday except Sundays, he never whinges, he never makes excuses, he just does it. He has niggling injuries like everyone, or maybe even more than most because of his mat time but he doesn't let that dictate to him. Injuries can be bad, and don't confuse what I'm saying as you should train through injuries lol. That's not it at all, bad injuries need rest and recovery time, my point is some people like to also use injuries as an excuse not to give or put in 100%, when you do that you are just robbing yourself.

There is no simple answer to this, I think it comes down to finding a happy life balance and deciding what you want for your chosen sport. If you want to be the best in your chosen field, well you need to grind through the bad times as best you can. Being the best isn't luck or skill, it is hard work plain & Simple. If you are just in it for the social aspect, commit to your certain nights of training and make it happen every week, even if you don't want to be the best, you too will go through patches where you don't enjoy it etc, but you also need to push through these as it will pass.

So I guess I have really given you nothing in this haha, but my advice is never give up. Keep pushing through, be consistent, be the best version of you. Life is short, make the most of it. Fitness takes sooooo long to get, but is soooo quick to disappear.

A small piece of advice for you parents, train with your kids as it's the best thing I have ever done. They both bash me now but it's worth it.

Cheers All, Coach.