having trouble finding motivation to exercise and ab training

Hello,

I am having trouble finding motivation to exercise. I want to exercise and not think about it so much since I have mentally demanding course of study. Eventually, I will place more mental effort into lifting, but I feel like I cannot do it right now. I want to start with simple even more simple than the Barbell Medicine Template like basic bodybuilding and some deadlifts that I can add as well as minor conditioning. Then, I will switch back to the Barbell Medicine Beginner Template. I just want to feel good and maintain my weight and maybe gain a little bit. What are some suggestions? Also, what is the best amount of ab training every single week? I would even do some bodyweight training. I want to progress, but I do not have the adequate knowledge to build my own program.

BB,

Sorry to hear about the motivation woes right now. I’ve definitely been there before during some particularly stressful times in my life and/or when training hasn’t been going well.

Allow me to push back a little here though, as I do not think a program’s “simplicity” has much to do with adherence or motivation. Rather, the enjoyment and personal involvement in making some key decisions about what you’re doing probably are far more predictive of both.

Further, I do not think a “basic bodybuilding template with deadlifts” is a good approach if the Beginner Template was the right amount of training for an individual, though admittedly I don’t know exactly what that template would look like either. Further, gaining weight during a period where training resources are presumably low is probably not a great idea. I also don’t think you have to do any direct ab training ever unless you want to maximize your training results across all domains. In that case, leaving muscles untrained is not the best approach.

I may be reading too much into your post, but I’m getting a sense that you’re feeling a bit helpless right now, like you can’t do this. I don’t know you personally, but I suspect that you are able to take responsibility and do many challenging things in your day-to-day life. Feeling like you have some control of the outcome (a behavior in this case) and are responsible for that is pretty important. Without it, I don’t think any program is likely to work.

My recommendation would be to pick 2 or 3 variants of a squat, push, hinge, and row that you want to do, and plug them into the beginner template using the write-in feature. These could be machine- or dumbbell based if you want them to be and you could bump the rep schemes up on some movements if you want it to “feel” more like a bodybuilding specific program. Ultimately though, I don’t think that me deciding for you is the best option. I need you to be involved in the process.

-Jordan

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