Motivation vs. Discipline

Better Aligned by Outwork Sports Performance

210 W Thomas St. Hammond, LA

Here at Outwork, our mission is to ultimately have an influence on as many people as possible when it comes to health and fitness. Even though we offer niche specifics on training, our overall goal is to get as many people on a healthy fitness regimen no matter what their background is. As we begin to gain more and more clients, we are learning that everyone has something a little bit different that keeps them motivated. Some of my favorite answers I've gotten as a trainer; "I train consistently to keep myself in shape so I could have play time with my grandkids." Or another one could be, "I suffered a shoulder injury at work and after multiple hospital visits subsequently followed by therapy, I now have a better understanding on the importance of weight lifting altogether."

These are external factors that play a big role in determining your consistency with the gym. However, it is not something that you need. If asked anyone, they would probably express that the reason they go to the gym is motivation for something or from something. A good thing to have, yes, but intrinsically is it a necessity? No.

Relying solely on motivation from some specific occurrence is not what keeps you going back to the gym. The answer is discipline. Everyone should express some extent of discipline when forming a program or deciding frequency. Having a sense of discipline is what separates the beginners from the advanced. It has nothing to do with exercise selection or strength. Anyone can have discipline, and in my opinion, it is a foundational characteristic of beginning or progressing anyone's fitness journey. There have been instances with clients where I was expected to generate sole motivation for them to get through their workout. Even though I do not have a problem doing this, I think it wrong for clients to lean on their trainer for that. Ultimately, what if the way the trainer tried to motivate the client did not work? The truth is, it is not going to work every time or get you through every workout, but if you have a great deal of discipline that looks a lot different intrinsically.

Let's display an example. Say, for instance, you just began working out with a new trainer 2 weeks ago. You are set to start the 3rd week on the following Tuesday at 8am. Say you wake up that morning and its pouring down rain. You have 30 minutes to make your training session. Instinctively, you would probably think to skip training because of the rain. But what is the true driving factor that gets you up out of the bed? Is it motivation or is it discipline? Motivation says, "Its sunny outside, I slept great last night, and I've had a healthy breakfast to start my day. Now let's complete my morning with a good workout." Again nothing wrong here, but here's the difference: Discipline says, "Oh, it's raining pretty hard outside, I also didn't really get any sleep last night because of the thunder. However, I made a commitment to myself to stay consistent in the gym." The difference is external factors driving you, vs. YOU (intrinsically) driving yourself. Discipline is the purest form of self-love & please everyone, Love yourself.

If you want to start your fitness journey, start with a FREE Fitness Consultation from us at Outwork Sports Performance. Let us help you build defining habits that will completely transform your way of life! Contact us at

campoutwork@gmail.com or by phone (985) 507-0120 and get started today.