How to make GST a habit, for a squirrel chaser?

I've had GST (Fundamentals, F1, and H1) for a while now, but I've not been able to make a consistent habit out of it yet.  What's the best way to ease into it for making it a consistent habit?  I'll see what looks interesting for that day, do a Core here, a Handstand there, and Stretch over here sometimes, and then an Upper Body, etc.  Working on diligence and so far this year, I've stretched more than ever, (mostly Daily Limber though.)

I know GST is the best, but I've just not been able to get it a consistent habit as of yet.

Thanks for you help!

3 hours ago, Josh Martin said:

I've had GST (Fundamentals, F1, and H1) for a while now, but I've not been able to make a consistent habit out of it yet.  What's the best way to ease into it for making it a consistent habit?  I'll see what looks interesting for that day, do a Core here, a Handstand there, and Stretch over here sometimes, and then an Upper Body, etc.  Working on diligence and so far this year, I've stretched more than ever, (mostly Daily Limber though.)

I know GST is the best, but I've just not been able to get it a consistent habit as of yet.

Thanks for you help!

Hey Josh, this is a great question. 

What works for me is consistency on a daily basis. I can't be consistent on things I only do once a week. Just doesn't happen. I have to make it a part of my daily routine.

With GST, six months ago I picked a time every day that I was going to work out, six days a week. 

That is 10x easier for me to stick with than 2-3 days a week.

At first I was just alternating F1 workouts. Then I added in the front split series, and then middle split... Now I'm doing all 5 courses every week.

Another good tip here is to separate the steps of building the habit from actually making major gains in your workouts, at least initially. For those first few weeks, it's better to show up and do SOMETHING than to try to be a stud every time. 

But the first step really is: You gotta want it. Decide if this is something you really want to pursue, at the expense of other things you could do with your time. 

If it is, buckle down and get to work.

Hello Josh,

Occasionally we find ourselves mesmerized by something extraordinary.  Something which inspires us to reach above and beyond what we already are.  To break out of our rut and strive to stretch our boundaries.  

From there on out however, the journey to self actualization only gets tougher and ever more demanding, as those initial moments of enthusiasm fade, and we are left with only the strength of our individual resolve to overcome our very human and seemingly unlimited ability to procrastinate.

Those who succeed do so due to an inability to accept defeat.  A hunger.  A burning in their belly.

Without this indomitable fire within, there can be no long lasting commitment to taking action.  And without a long lasting commitment to taking action, it is impossible to achieve a substantial level of success.

It is going to be difficult.  It is going to be painful.  It is going to be monotonous at times.

It is also the only way to win.

This hard truth is the reason why there are so many daydreamers in the world; and so very few achievers.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

On February 14, 2017 at 7:05 PM, Coach Sommer said:

Hello Josh,

Occasionally we find ourselves mesmerized by something extraordinary.  Something which inspires us to reach above and beyond what we already are.  To break out of our rut and strive to stretch our boundaries.  

From there on out however, the journey to self actualization only gets tougher and ever more demanding, as those initial moments of enthusiasm fade, and we are left with only the strength of our individual resolve to overcome our very human and seemingly unlimited ability to procrastinate.

Those who succeed do so due to an inability to accept defeat.  A hunger.  A burning in their belly.

Without this indomitable fire within, there can be no long lasting commitment to taking action.  And without a long lasting commitment to taking action, it is impossible to achieve a substantial level of success.

It is going to be difficult.  It is going to be painful.  It is going to be monotonous at times.

It is also the only way to win.

This hard truth is the reason why there are so many daydreamers in the world; and so very few achievers.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Very well put!

You'd better copyright these words Coach before some unethical personality appropriates them as his/her own and tries to make money off of them.

Well said Sir @Coach Sommer 

Thank you all.  Great job!  @Coach Sommer, is there a way to obtain a fire within when you don't have one?  What part does discipline, doing something you don't necessarily want to do play in it?  

Thank again.

Hi @Josh Martin I hear you,

Sometimes it's hard to keep up your motivation for long periods of time; I think that's only human!  I've been doing GST for a couple of years now and I find what gives the fire a boost is a combination of things...  Here's what works for me if I need a re-boost or a re-inspire:

• Listen to any of coaches podcasts with Robb Wolf.  Any of these podcasts
• Listen to any of Coach's podcasts with Tim Ferriss:       Podcast #1      Podcast #2
• Follow Gymnastic Bodies on Instagram, there are posts every day that will remind you where you're heading. (If you're not already signed up, I recommend doing so just for the sake of keeping you inspired ) GB on Instagram here

That's what works for me, maybe some of those will help you out too. :-)

Motivation is a feeling, and feelings come and go. It's completely normal to not feel motivated at times IMO. For anyone to do GST on a schedule it HAS to become a habit. Meaning if you don't do it or miss a workout you feel incomplete. You feel something is missing. But unfortunately habits take the time to form. The time between motivation waning down and habit forming can be large enough to stop working out. I think this is where one needs to make a commitment to themselves that no matter what, no matter how they feel they will stick to their plan. They will not skip workouts. Once you do it long enough it becomes part of you. 

For most working adults "life" almost always gets in the way and a rock-solid workout routine may give way to less frequent or irregularly scheduled workouts. Also, for somebody with access to outdoor equipment the winters sometimes bring bad weather which can easily derail one's progress. (Bent Arm Chin Hangs come easily to mind here.)

Oh, and I forgot to mention those pesky injuries that often appear unannounced and completely through us off as well. (Since beginning GST, I've had one that took between 6-8 months to heal, and another that took 1½ yrs to heal.)

What keeps me coming back despite life's interruptions and my "unforced errors" (i.e., injuries) is when I look at how far along the journey I've come despite the set backs and irregular training. I used to dread doing dislocates; now I do them every week and don't even bother to schedule them because they're kind of like "brushing one's teeth" in terms of not being able to forget doing them. I used to see @Jon Douglas do natural leg extensions shoulders to the ground (STG) and thought he wasn't from this planet; I now do likewise with ease.

So progress is what keeps me going. And trying not to do what my body cannot handle right now; patience is what it's all about. Taking a long-term view makes GST a cinch.

Not once in my life did I regret to get my ass up and move - motivated or not.
I've always felt better afterwards, happy, relaxed and satisfied with myself that against all odds I got it done. Training is probably rather mentally than physically challenging AND rewarding. 
On the other hand, repeatedly skipping training because I'm lazy, sick or (worst case) injured, makes me moody if not depressed.   

Hi Josh,

In order to build good habits I'd reccomend to start gradually, this is how Fundamentals and Foundation are built.

If your schedule allows you, try to get your workout done in the morning. At least get up a few minutes before you're due to do your daily limbering routine. 

Begin by doing your workouts once a week each, once this becomes a habit you can consider to add more. 

Some suggestions from Chad on how to keep yourself motivated. Another thing that might motivate you is to write your goals down. Find some short term and long term goals that you really want to achieve. Keeping these in mind and constantly remind yourself of them might get you to work  

On Wednesday, February 15, 2017 at 10:05 AM, Coach Sommer said:

Hello Josh,

Occasionally we find ourselves mesmerized by something extraordinary.  Something which inspires us to reach above and beyond what we already are.  To break out of our rut and strive to stretch our boundaries.  

From there on out however, the journey to self actualization only gets tougher and ever more demanding, as those initial moments of enthusiasm fade, and we are left with only the strength of our individual resolve to overcome our very human and seemingly unlimited ability to procrastinate.

Those who succeed do so due to an inability to accept defeat.  A hunger.  A burning in their belly.

Without this indomitable fire within, there can be no long lasting commitment to taking action.  And without a long lasting commitment to taking action, it is impossible to achieve a substantial level of success.

It is going to be difficult.  It is going to be painful.  It is going to be monotonous at times.

It is also the only way to win.

This hard truth is the reason why there are so many daydreamers in the world; and so very few achievers.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks Coach.

Well said by Coach, as always!

Seneca wrote:

"We are not given a short life but we make it short, and we are not ill supplied but wasteful of it... Life is long if you know how to use it."

Beautifully said Coach.

Motivation needs to be something that you build internally, a drive to try and get better. Very few of us will get the chance to stand on an Olympic podium, but we all have the opportunity to strive to be a better version of ourselves. 

If you constantly need to find external sources to motivate you then you are in for a rocky ride. Motivation and commitment is not some magic formula that is passed on to the lucky, it's something that needs to be trained so it can become stronger. 

The amazing thing with Gymnastic Strength training and the system that Coach has built for us is that it mimics life. It is through hard work and dedication that we can achieve things that we are proud of. 

On 2/14/2017 at 7:05 PM, Coach Sommer said:

Hello Josh,

Occasionally we find ourselves mesmerized by something extraordinary.  Something which inspires us to reach above and beyond what we already are.  To break out of our rut and strive to stretch our boundaries.  

From there on out however, the journey to self actualization only gets tougher and ever more demanding, as those initial moments of enthusiasm fade, and we are left with only the strength of our individual resolve to overcome our very human and seemingly unlimited ability to procrastinate.

Those who succeed do so due to an inability to accept defeat.  A hunger.  A burning in their belly.

Without this indomitable fire within, there can be no long lasting commitment to taking action.  And without a long lasting commitment to taking action, it is impossible to achieve a substantial level of success.

It is going to be difficult.  It is going to be painful.  It is going to be monotonous at times.

It is also the only way to win.

This hard truth is the reason why there are so many daydreamers in the world; and so very few achievers.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

And that's why I call him Coach. I've not yet had the privilege to meet him but he's still my coach.
As to what you said @Josh Martin, I can only say that the things in my life I'm most proud of and thankful for were all the toughest. We live in a fast-food culture, in which so many things have been made easy and instant for us. But mastery comes only through consistent, patient, repetitive practice. Ask yourself where do you want to be 5 years from now, and then ask yourself if you can get there without applying yourself daily? I think it's a universal law that there is never a shortcut to excellence. So isolate whatever it is that is holding you back and attack that, overcome it, and press forward until you meet the next challenge. Then do it all over again. Before long, you'll look back and be surprised at how far you've come, and that should help inspire you to keep going.

Thank you all.  I've read from a book by Mark Divine (Navy Seal) about discipline.  I figure Special Operators can discipline themselves into the toughest situations, physical, cold, dangerous etc.

Summary follows:  Embrace the suck.  

He said to face your fear of suffering.  There's good pain (growth and getting stronger) and bad pain (hurts and is associated with injury or regret).  We tend to avoid all pain in all forms, whether good or bad.

Avoid the bad pain, lean into the good pain.

The secret is to acknowledge the pain, and then immediately focus on something else, such as the positive benefits it brings.

I think there may be more to getting things done than being motivated to do them. Another thing I've found in my research about discipline is blog post about Discipline > Motivation.

Thanks again.

@Josh Martin, for me, if I really want something, I make it the highest priority. Obviously, I need to work to feed myself and my dog  but then my GST takes the priority. I put all my training "appointments" into my calendar, just like I do my clients and other important stuff. And I make sure it will happen every day. If somebody wants something, or socialize, if I have free time in my calendar, I do it. If not, I politely decline. I would never do it instead of my training. I am obsessively focused. I am aware that some people say we "need balance" in life… often I find these are the people who don't have the discipline to stick with things when they get hard. For me, I need to be obsessively focused, because it creates discipline and it makes things much easier. Even when I am a little tired (at times, maybe the loud neighbors prevented me from getting a good night sleep, etc) and maybe don't feel like training, I just do it. It's no option. It's in my calendar  :-)  The feeling of having it done when it was hard to start, is truly empowering. 

Maybe this will help you too… 

I wanna share my experience when I first started GST. When I was starting Foundation One, I was always online and checking everyone's progress and admiring them. Everybody was on a different level and I was inspired and motivated to train. I also used to skip elements in the Foundation Series and by doing that I was able to plateau fast and expose my weaknesses. But after hitting a wall, instead of complaining about the program, I decided to restart from PE1 again. Believe me that there is nothing fun about training by yourself and doing the same thing over and over again. Even when you are training solo, it doesn't mean that you are alone. Somewhere out there, there is another person, another athlete, another GB Athlete that is also doing what you are doing. This is what kept me going at FIRST. After that phase, it all boils down to how much want, how bad you want to surpass your former self. Developing a habit/discipline in training is crucial to success. Nobody can do it for you and this is also the same in real life. People will be there to support you but only you have the power wether you want to stay comfortable where you are now or strive to better yourself. I hope this helps.

On 2/19/2017 at 0:57 AM, Leo Trinidad said:

I wanna share my experience when I first started GST. When I was starting Foundation One, I was always online and checking everyone's progress and admiring them. Everybody was on a different level and I was inspired and motivated to train. I also used to skip elements in the Foundation Series and by doing that I was able to plateau fast and expose my weaknesses. But after hitting a wall, instead of complaining about the program, I decided to restart from PE1 again. Believe me that there is nothing fun about training by yourself and doing the same thing over and over again. Even when you are training solo, it doesn't mean that you are alone. Somewhere out there, there is another person, another athlete, another GB Athlete that is also doing what you are doing. This is what kept me going at FIRST. After that phase, it all boils down to how much want, how bad you want to surpass your former self. Developing a habit/discipline in training is crucial to success. Nobody can do it for you and this is also the same in real life. People will be there to support you but only you have the power wether you want to stay comfortable where you are now or strive to better yourself. I hope this helps.

Great replies @Leo Trinidad and @Suzanna McGee!  Thank you.

It has taken me a long time to be honest. When I first bought the programs I was just interested doing the "cool moves" like the side lever and Hollow Back Press. I stupidly pushed past my limits at the time and ended up injuring my shoulder and did the program haphazardly till about Fall last year. It was then that I realized I had the whole F1-F4 course and had barely made it off the PE1s. I then decided to take is slow and focus on doing things right. I have started posting more form checks, and video taping every session for review even if I don't post them. Just today I had a lot of work to get done and I didn't feel like working out but I finished even though I didn't start till midnight. It wasn't pretty but it got done. Sometimes I still struggle with motivation but I have a motivational playlist I listen to every day and one of the quotes that really gets me going is :

“When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you'll be successful.”
― Eric Thomas, The Secret to Success